On Thu, 2 Apr 2009 19:13:01 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

On Apr 2, 4:28*pm, John Gordon wrote:

Yes, we have exactly three. *What is special about that number?

With three cats, there is always an alliance between any given two
against the third. In this particular case, the cat with the 'funny
smell' became the victim-de-jour.

For that reason, we will never have three cats, as the mix is simply
not healthy. It is either two or 'many'. And 'many' is fraught with
other dangers. So, two do for us. But when I mentioned our big male's
wish to 'mother' any of our pets recently from the vet, that is
absolutely true. And our dogs are similarly inclined. So when your cat
was rejected, the three-cat syndrome immediately came to mind.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

I have three. Two xboys and one xgirl. I took the girl (Marlo) off the
street the previous winter when it was 8F outside. The boys were
already resident. After a few days in the Cat Introduction Room (and a
checkout and neuter at the vet) she joined them.

If there is a 2:1 alliance I sure can't see it. Any given chase around
the house involves any two of the three. Each seems to have an equal
chance of being groomed by another. That, of course, often ends in
play fighting. There is very rarely a fight serious enough to have
someone audibly complain.

The boys are both around 5 by now and Marlo is maybe 3. Nipsy is
16lbs, Espy is 10, and Marlo is 12 (and pretty chubby - she's a small
cat). The personalities are very different. Nipsy is a "Scardy cat".
Espy is a "Curiosity Killed the cat", and Marlo is somewhere between.

There's a fair amount of room since it's a house and they can
certainly get away from each other for a break, but mostly they hang
out near each other.

I've almost always had two cats and three is pushing my limit, but I
can't say there have been any cat related issues that I can ascribe to
having three.

I haven't noticed much in the way of reaction when one returns from
the vet but there is some sniffing. Still, I've read about it often
enough here to know what to do if it happens. It's hard to believe
they wouldn't recognize their own long-time housemate after a trip to
the vet, but they are all so weird.