Hi. I'm possibly (if landlord says yes) about to acquire a cat from a home with too many. The woman means well, but can't stop collecting cats, and I get the impression that there's at least more than 10 in the premises.
I've asked for personality descriptions for the three that are available and apparently none of them are too friendly towards other cats -- I'm not taking this at face value as I can imagine any cat, even friendly ones, wanting to get away from cats when living with that many in a small space. I think they're all indoor cats as well. I believe they're litter trained and in reasonable health, but I can't be entirely sure. Two of them are unspayed, which is worrying to me but I'm unsure if there have been any unneutered males there recently, and one is spayed. She's already managed to pass a few on to other people.
So, basically, what am I letting myself in for? Am I right in assuming that in a colony of that size, the cat's 'people' personality hasn't come out yet and wanting to be away from the other cats is not an indication of being cat-unfriendly? Would a single cat react badly to being taken out of a huge group, would it be kinder to take on two cats instead of one? (I can't really afford it but we'll look into our funds in more detail if it would be.) Or is it really not going to make a difference?
I don't want to say too much because I'm planning to direct the lady here if she can't find homes for them herself, but I'm not saying anything against her - I understand how things can get completely out of control even when you're trying to do the right thing - but it must be a stressful situation for the cats as well and I really want to make sure I know the best way to (possibly) go about this.