Why Do You Have Six Cats?
Updated: Oct 16
Why Do You Have Six Cats?
A perfectly reasonable question ... with a slightly less reasonable answer.
Nobody wakes up one morning and thinks, "Today seems like a good day to acquire six cats." At least, I didn't ...
We have always had cats, the odd one here and there but in 2020 we only had 1, just Lola who we had since for many years before even contemplating getting any more.
Roll onto Christmas 2020 and as Christmas Eve got closer and closer, I felt like my Christmas shopping for my four girls was a bit, shall we say, lacklustre. So I randomly decided I wanted to surprise them all with a new kitten. I searched and searched but to no avail, it wasn't kitten season and as much as I tried I couldn't find one anywhere close enough or affordable. Until, that is, Christmas Eve when I found a gorgeous black and white kitten. I tried to hide him upstairs in my bedroom for the ultimate Christmas morning surprise but alas, his meows were heard all over the house, and so my girls got their kitten on Christmas Eve, and that's how we came to have Grinch. We were very happy to now be a two cat family.
Grinch was the most amazing kitten ever, he was as obsessed with my youngest daughter, Lauren, as much as she was with him. They were literally inseparable. We still didn't have any plans to get another kitten. Grinch was more than enough, he filled the house with joy he was an amazing cat. I absolutely adored him.
The around July 2021, I was randomly scrolling on Facebook, as you do, when I came across a post from Millstream Animal Shelter. There was around 6 or 7 kittens all needing homes. I had no previous intention of getting another cat at this point, but as I looked at the pictures, one just stood out to me and I felt like he was looking straight at me. Something told me to enquire about him and the next thing I knew they had replied to my message and we went to collect Ted soon after. Ted was such a character, he very much chose me as his human and he even played fetch just like a dog. Grinch and Ted were instantly like brothers, they slept next to each other, they washed each other, it was lovely to watch their bond. We were now very content with our three cats.
Then one Saturday morning in 2021, the unimaginable happened. We discovered Grinch outside our house - he had been run over and killed. Words cannot describe how bad the next few months were, especially for Lauren. She was only 11 years old at the time and she cried for weeks. She used to tell me she felt broken and like her heart would never work properly again. This was also the very reason I went from believing that every cat needs to go outdoors - that they need to run through the grass and climb trees to deciding that we were never having an outdoor cat ever again. After all, times have changed, the roads are busier, it just didn't seem safe anymore.
We were now down to just two cats.
By late 2021, I was beginning to worry about how to make Christmas Eve bearable for Lauren, as that was the anniversary of when we got Grinch and, as much as I knew it would be absolutely impossible to replace Grinch, I also knew I had to soften the blow somehow. The only thing I could come up with was to get another kitten.
This time I looked well in advance, as I knew I couldn't get one that looked anything like Grinch. I just needed one that caught my eye and looked like he could heal a broken heart.
I searched for weeks and weeks, none seemed to be the right fit. I mean don't get me wrong I love all kittens, but I just knew this one had to be special. Bear was the chosen one - he literally looked like a black grizzly bear. Again, Christmas Eve was a success and a very emotional evening for everyone and we now had three cats again.
That was more than enough ... or was it?
In February 2023, one of my older daughters moved back home. Of course, I was delighted to have her home again ... but guess what she brought with her?
Not one, but her two cats Ferry and Blue. And just like that, we went from three cats to five. There was not one ounce of me that ever thought to tell her no she couldn't bring them home with her. Ferry and Blue were instantly part of our cat family, all loved by each and every member of our family. All indoor cats (apart from Lola, as she had been going outdoors since she was a kitten and at age 12 it seemed cruel to stop her doing that). I was more than happy to put up with numerous litter trays and all that came with it, happy to build them a catio so they could still go outdoors, just happy they were all safe and away from being killed on the roads.
So we were a five cat family at this point, when in June 2023 my eldest daughter happened to mention how their veterinary practice was overrun with strays and kittens that had been found abandoned and they had nowhere for them to go. She quite regularly mentions them and how sad it is, she's very much a cat person, just like me. She told me there was a young kitten who was in a cage in the basement of the vets and he was just crying all the time to come out, I casually asked her to send me a picture of him ... probably shouldn't of done that really!!!
The picture that arrived on my phone was of a kitten, the absolute double of Grinch but tiny. I felt like I was looking at Grinch all over again, the kitten was a boy and straight away, without hesitation, I told her I wanted to give him a home and we collected Fury the same day. Unintentionally, we were somehow now the proud owners of six cats.
Sadly, in November 2023, Ted suddenly became very ill and I had to make the awful decision to have him put to sleep. Sad doesn't come close, I was completely heartbroken. We were now down to a four cat family, and I was adamant that no other cats were coming into my house, I was literally so distraught at losing both Grinch and Ted at such young ages, I couldn't face even thinking about getting any more.
And at five cats we stayed ... that is ... until 20th May 2026.
Once again, my eldest daughter had sent a picture of kittens that had been found dumped and handed in at the vets. There was one that stood out and was looking at me. Sadly, those kittens had a lot of health issues and could not be rehomed at that time. I couldn't get the image of him out of my mind and neither could my youngest daughter, Lauren. We started to look around for a kitten that was similar and lo and behold a couple of days later, we went to collect Bean. Another kitten who was obsessed with Lauren and she immediately bonded with him, although she loved our other cats, this was the first time she'd actually properly bonded with one again since losing Grinch and the pair have been inseparable ever since. Six cats once again.
So there you have it, how we came to have six cats.
Definitely enough cats for one house ... or is it?
After all, Christmas Eve is coming round soon, so you just never can be too sure ...
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