Living in a Multi Cat Household

I've always been a cat lover and for some reason, cats always seem to gravitate to my home. I have five now and three of them aren't technically mine but they certainly own me. I have four females and one male cat and the male, Fluffy, always looks very harassed! The other four; Binks, Misty, Monty and Shreddy go through phases of either being sweet and loving or bossy and domineering. Binks is the neurotic one who needs a lot of cuddles, Misty has a split personality, Monty is very bossy and Shreddy is the calmest one of them all. She loves to sleep and eat.

If you like a challenge then living with five cats should test your patience, your nerves and your bank balance because within a few months, you will need new curtains, new sofas and quite possibly, a new house because cats love to climb, especially up net curtains and I now have thousands of tiny holes in my nets. I also have holes in my sofas and my wallpaper has very fetching shredded lines on it but that's not the most stressful part. Feeding time is very challenging to say the least with paws lashing out and hisses filling the air and me tripping over a mass of furry bodies as they all race to their feeding bowls at the same time. For a few minutes all is quiet as their bellies are being filled but then its back to normal and I become a door opener as they all troop outside to go to the toilet.

It is hectic but they are an endless source of amusement and fun and noise and they know how to manipulate me to do what they want. They can race around the house knocking stuff off tables, tearing my rugs up and then roll over onto their backs, all four paws in the air when I go to tell them off or threaten them with taking them to a animal rescue centre. I must say though, that they are clean animals and have always used the litter tray, to the extent that then youngest cat always uses the tray and never goes outside. She will go and play out in the garden for ages then come in to use the tray which is very strange.

I wouldn't be without them though and if the old saying, that if you stroke a cat, you live longer, is true then I'm looking forward to reaching a hundred!