While I don't think cat lovers are "crazy" I do think there are more lapses in basic hygiene when there are cats in the house. I frequently see cats on kitchen counters, islands, tables and other surfaces that reasonably might come in contact with food. That strikes me as unsanitary. I'd never dream of putting my dog on a counter to walk around and then prepare a meal as I have seen cat owners do. I don't blame the owner, it is hard to train a cat but an animal wandering around on surfaces where you prepare food is gross. Even if it is an indoor cat, its feet have been on the floor, litter box etc. It also drives me crazy when people let their children (esp. toddlers) sit/climb on countertops so it isn't limited just to cat people! Cooking surfaces need to be kept clean!

It's a lot easier to be a crazy cat lady than to be a crazy dog lady. Cat's do not require as much care or interaction as a needy giant dog, and so while a crazy dog person (LIKE ME) might be limited in their abilities to care for just 2 or 3 dogs, a crazy cat lady can easily amass many many more.

But really, all caring pet owners are friggin nuts. My dogs have more toys than I do. THEY HAVE A DOG NANNY to come and play with them during the day while I am at work. I will spend 40 bucks on a hot collar for my dogs, but my limit on shirts is $20 at Kohls. When my dog Rosie had lymphoma, I would spent all weekend preparing home cooked no-carbohydrate meals for her, and I would eat Kraft mac n cheez. I am crazy, and can respect the crazy cat ladies.

dcdiva: can totally relate. I work at a local pet food store in B'more just to keep my dogs and cats in toys and a diet that is better than mine.

When I picture a crazy cat lady, I think of news stories where old ladies were found to have a hundred cats living in their house, irking the neighbors. I think I'm going to go with at least a half-dozen as the magic crazy cat number. Unless you're on a farm, then maybe >dozen. Or maybe it's a cat:people ratio. The most my (3-member) family ever had were 3, but they were outdoor/garage/basement.

The most animals that we have ever had at one time was 4 dogs and 2 cats. I think that might qualify us, or certainly me, as crazy...My husband says that we can never divorce because he knows that if we did, the first thing I would do is go out and get 40 dogs. So, in order to protect society from ME, we have to stay married. Gee, I thought it was because he loved me!!

My family has made it clear to me that 3 is the magic number that would put me on the slippery slope to becoming the crazy cat lady. I was able to justify getting my second cat by explaining that the first cat needed a companion, but I know if I even mention getting another they'll be staging an intervention.

I actually got the Tidy Cats info e-mailed to me (must be on a mailing list) and immediately forwarded the information to my friend, who has 13 cats. When I tell people she has 13 cats, they don't believe me when I also say, in the same breath, that when you walk into her house, you'd never know it! I think that, as long as you keep up on scooping the litter pans every day and resolving / preventing any territorial, health, or behavioral issues, a multiple cat household doesn't have to be "crazy", cluttered or smelly. My friend has an intricate way of dealing with all of this, and she's REALLY good at it!

Cats are also meticulously clean animals. I've never seen a cat that was unkempt, unless it had health problems. Of course, you have to clean up after them since they can't do it themselves, and since they jump and walk on furniture and countertops, you have to be especially careful with these areas. Just as I mop and vaccuum my floors because I walk across them in shoes that have been everywhere, I take the same care with my furniture and countertops, tables, etc. that my cats like to use to travel around my house!

That said, I've seen ONE cat households that fit the stereotype mentioned - the kind when you walk in you KNOW a cat lives there. You can't hold us cat lover's responsible for the carelessness of someone who doesn't know how to care for their house or their pet!

I do hate the stigma associated with multiple cat households. It's all about education. I'd like for every person who believes that all, or even most, multiple cat households are associated with this negative stereotype to visit my friend. I'm sure seeing her "tidy" dwelling will change their minds!

In regards to the number it takes to be a CCL: I'd say it is a matter of ability to care for the cats. My formula is going to be 1 daily cleaned litter box per 2 cats. So, if you have 2 cats and never clean the litter box, you are still a CCL. However, if you have 8 cats and 4 well maintained boxes, then you are not a CCL, but someone who really loves their cats.

To me, the CCL label doesn't come from a certain number of cats someone has, but a lifestyle. Labeling a woman as a CCL is another way to dismiss her for deciding not to go the conventional route of marriage/kids/PTA activities/throwing dinner parties for your husband's coworkers/etc. Women who are called CCLs are often single, have no kids, have a cat or two (I have one cat and I've been given that name more times than I can count) and are - gasp! - actually content with their life. Of course these women have time and money to devote to their cat(s), but that doesn't make them weird or their priorities/interests any less important than a woman who has a more "traditional" lifestyle (traditional isn't meant to be an insult, I'm just not sure how else to label it). If it's between being called a Crazy Cat Lady or an Old Maid, I'll choose #1, thankyouverymuch!

I'm the cat lady that Angelic mentioned; and true, I do have 13 cats, the majority of which were rescued. I'm actually known as the 'Cat Lady' not the 'Crazy Cat Lady.' I've learned through experience that keeping a cat happy, makes for a happy clean house. I have cat furniture by every window and probably have 10 litter pans, all of which are cleaned every day...the major key to keeping a cat happy! Of course, love helps too! I keep them entertained with bird feeders. I have males and females, all neutered and spayed, each one has their claws intact, they are all indoors and everyone of them uses a litterpan - not my house! I've been in my own house now going on 8 years, and my furniture is still furniture. As Angelic said, there are people with one cat and you can tell it. I recently visited a house with 4 cats, and the house reeked of urine. I believe Angelic was impressed with how my house is and my love for cats - and their love in return, that for not being a cat person, she now has 3, plus one dog! I'd really like to write a book some day...."You CAN Do It! Keeping Multiple Cat Households Happy and Clean!

I agree that it's more than a number thing. Crazy is crazy, regardless of the number of cats. If you can afford to care for them and they are kept clean, well-fed, healthy and properly socialized the number is less of an issue.

My family has 3 cats... but they also have 2 dogs, a guinea pig, a rabbit, a turtle... what is crazy about being an animal lover with a huge backyard? The more the merrier.

It's not crazy unless you treat them like little people. Have parties for them and dress them up. Wait, dressing them up isn't crazy.

We have 2 dogs, 1 cat, a howler monkey, and an otter.

I have seven ferrets. Am I a crazy ferret guy? I love them like my children and we do everything together.

Diane: I'd read that book on clean multiple-cat households! I agree with the commenters who are noting that it's an attitude more than a number. I do some TNR work on feral cats in my community and through that work have met people who have a large number of cats in their home at a time (many are fosters/living there temporarily etc.), but with enough care and consideration for the human and feline residents, it can be a really pleasant way to live. I live alone and have two cats, with one litterbox for each of them that is cleaned daily, and there is no odor problem (unless one of the cats is sick or something). We're all happier for it, and when people call me a crazy cat lady - which they do, especially when I am feeding the ferals - I just grin and say "Thanks!"

At the current time I possess zero cats, yet I continue to be painted with a brush used to mark frenzied feline-friending females (tm). Perhaps it is because I did a photography project on cat shows, or stuff my facebook profile with cat related videos and photos. I don't consider myself too crazy, but I guess to my friends I'm partake in a little too much of the catnip.

Thus, I believe a cat person is not defined by the company she keeps but is identified by the proportion of cat shirts one wears in a week (in a purely unironic fashion) to the number of times said cats get brought up in casual conversation.

I don't think there is a number that makes a person a crazy cat lady or man. My girlfriend and I have 2 cats. Since we live in the city they are indoor cats. I think it would be cruel to keep 1 cat trapped in an apartment/house without any company. So in my opinion it would be crazy to have only 1 cat.

That said, my girlfriend is constantly trying to get more cats. Every holiday, birthday, etc., she asks for another cat. She saw a crazy cat lady on oprah or something and they showed a clip of the lady walking down a path with hundreds of cats following her. My girlfriend admitted that she wants to be that lady. So I guess I live with a crazy cat lady even though we only have 2 cats.

Crazy Cat Lady is innate and part of who you are. You can be a crazy cat lady without any cats. So I guess the number of cats is 0. Its whats inside you that makes you a crazy cat lady...

When I was growing up, we had 8 cats. I remember telling people that we had 8 cats, and getting everything from weird looks, to crazy-cat-lady teasing! I don't think the CCL myth is true at all. I saw that someone else who commented on this blog said that cats are easier to take care of, and therefore easier to accumulate than dogs - SO TRUE!

We started with one cat, took in another one that needed a home, took in a stray who ended up being pregnant, couldn't bare to part with her kittens, kept all four of them, and then adopted one more that needed a home. When you get two or three cats, then there isn't a huge difference in adding a few more. You already have to clean the litter box a lot, you already have to feed them...adding more seems like nothing!

Then, all of a sudden, you say to yourself one day, "Wow, I have 10 cats." They sneak up on you!

People with lots of kitties aren't crazy, they just have big hearts!

The tipping point, at least in my apartment, is cat No. 4. Three is fine, but four is hard to keep track of.

I'm single,never married & have 2 Siamese cats,one of whom I just adopted a week ago after losing a cat to cancer.My dad was a major cat lover as was his late brother,sister & most of my first cousins,including 2 men,so ailurophilia ( cat loving) is in my DNA. My friends who have pets have cats,too. We're all animal lovers, always watching Animal Planet esp when they have shows about big cats. When I was a kid we had 13 outdoor cats & a dog. My cats each have their own litterbox & I make sure they stay clean & the house doesn't smell. My cats have everything they need & are spoiled rotten. I don't think a person's a CCL unless it's one of those hoarding situations where the person has "issues", can't care for the cats properly, &
the house is CATastrophically (sorry, couldn't resist!)
filthy.
Cats are wonderful mysterious creatures & owning them is like owning a piece of the wild.

I have a mission to change the label of crazy cat ladies. I have 39 cats and I can afford to keep them well fed and healthy. I am a successful business owner and active in my community as a volunteer. My home is spotless and many friends visit who are allergic to cats and never have a problem. My suburban neighbors don't complain as I have an indoor/outdoor cat environment which is safe, fun, comfortable and sanitary. I do see less wealthy people who feed dozens or even hundreds of cats, either in their own homes, or in abandoned apartment complexes, etc. and the only thing I can say about them is that their hearts are bigger than their pocketbooks. Oh, that the world would only follow their example.

Am I a Crazy Cat Lady?
Last night my boyfriend tryed to compare me w/the signs of a crazy cat lady.
This lady had collect several cats from all over & continued untill she got caught.She had cats craping all over,so week the could hardly move & they were all breeding,kittens every where.

As for my self I decided I want to raise hybrid cats.
All my cats were give all their shots tested for fip,fiv & all of the above.
I only let a few breed at a time,what I can handle.
My cats live on a grain free diet.I have everthing the need
dewormer,medication for everything.I live on 5 acers so my cats have very large runns to live in.