How many cats doth make a hoarder?

My ex wife and I began our marriage with one, indoor cat. When we divorced four years later, she had 17 indoor cats. There may or may not be a correlation.
I can't stress enough how important it is to spay and neuter your pets.

Spay and neutering did not aid me greatly when a mother cat with four kittens all in bad shape show up at my doorstep asking for help.

Before this event I was down to three older cats and very happy to be so.

Ended up with five indoor cats now the three that I started with and the mother cat and one of the kittens.

Thank god I was able to find what I hope are good homes for the other three kittens.

The one kitten who I ended up with needed human hand feeding and I bond with her damn it beyond my ability to give up.

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Thus spoke the dog person.

Mags, here is some info from the SPCA, maybe it will help answer your question:
http://www.aspca.org/fight-animal-cruelty/animal-hoarding.aspx

Thanks, Green Witch. According to that definition, we are definitely NOT hoarders. All cats are spayed or neutered, up to date on shots, and provided with a dazzling variety of nutrition and clean litter boxes.

depends just how much inside space there is. 6 cats with 10 rms. isn't usually as frightful as 6 cats in 2 rms.
My sister and brother in law had 7 in a 5 rm. apartment which was excessive. They then went and moved into a muti level house and it wasn't near as bad.

We live in a six-room house

Holy Cat Hoarder! lol!

hahaha! SO TRUE!!!

At one time, I had three. When I had two, I figured out that one was the ideal number. Number three was a necessary rescue, but an only cat seems to undergo personality changes as soon as number two moves in. Anyway, how often does one want to change litter pans in one week? For that matter, how many bags of litter and food does one want to pay for and drag home?

But to the real hoarding question, I guess it becomes hoarding when there are no cats left over for your neighbors.

LOL. There are plenty of cats left over, Roger. I agree that moving from one to two cats creates upheaval; when we moved from four to six recently with the adoption of two kittens, it was seamless. The only cat inconvenienced was our 18 year old, who hates the kittens.

Don't you know that one is the loneliest number?

I watched one of the animal hoarding shows on Animal Planet.

What they considered to be hoarding made me kinda sick, through the tube. Unhealthy conditions for the animals and the humans. Homes reeking. Pet hair everywhere. This applies to dogs, cats, and chickens. Yes, there was a show where a man had over 50 chickens in his home. Didn't watch that one.

Having pets that are pets. That are well cared for and well fed. Dogs that are walked, cats that are cleanup up after. Not hoarding.

When they open my lungs after I die they will likely find at least a pound of cat hair.

good gravy.

I am thinking about chickens here at the farm.

but not 50 of the noisy buggers.

and not within 100 feet of the cabin.

yuck.

we have no reeking, pet hair at a minimum. These guys are part of our family. Oh, and did I mention that we also have a rescued standard poodle?

You cross the line to hoarder when you do not take into consideration your ability to care for the cats in the way they need to be cared for.

I caught one of the shows on animal hoarding last night (after I saw this thread). A woman had many cats, dogs, and boids. Not sure how many. Her family would no longer bring the grandchildren to visit. Her husband developed asthma in the unhealthy environment. At one point the woman speculated on what she would do if it was a choice between her dogs and her husband! She wasn't sure!!

After a visit to a doctor where she was told that the animals were creating an unsafe environment for both her husband and her, she managed to part with all the birds and all the cats. Great triumph, right? She still had 10 dogs. Don't know if she's still married.

I really don't think hoarders are trying to do wrong. I believe they think they are doing right by the animals but lose sight of the fact they cannot properly care for them. You are right, it can create a very bad environment.