Companion Animal Care Articles used with permission from All-Creatures.org

Cherie Hans shares the charming story of her multi-cat household and discusses the joys and challenges of sharing your life and home with many feline companions.

A Multi-Cat Home
From Cherie Hans, MVCLE, Main Street Vegan Academy, MainStreetVegan.com
August 2025

Image from MainStreetVegan.com. Photo credit: Cherie Hans

Originally printed in the Main Street Vegan blog, MainStreetVegan.com.

We share our home with six amazing cats. That means six times more head bumps, purring laps, and the comforting weight of a feline friend resting nearby. Every one of them came to us through the same dedicated rescue team that saves cats from the streets, takes in surrendered animals, and pulls them from kill shelters.

Photo credit: Cherie Hans

To ensure our feline family is comfortable and constantly stimulated, we’ve transformed our small home into a veritable cat playground. Tubes, cubes, boxes, towering cat condos, cozy beds, soft blankets, and an endless array of toys fill our space. Honestly, we sometimes joke that this house is for the cats; we’re just visiting.

All of our cats are black or tuxedos, a deliberate choice because they’re often the least likely to be adopted. Why do these beautiful felines get overlooked? Superstitions still unfortunately plague black cats, and their dark fur also makes them notoriously difficult to photograph well (shallow much?). Tuxedos, meanwhile, are sometimes deemed “too common,” though I find their classic markings utterly gorgeous and unique. There was also a practical reason: when I rented, having them all look alike made it easier to discreetly squeeze five cats into an apartment building that only allowed two!

How We Got Here

My journey into multi-cat parenthood took a delightful turn when I met my husband, Al, in 2012. He casually mentioned he had a cat, and I genuinely thought he was kidding. Turns out, his cat, Dusty, was already 16 years old.

At the time, I had two cats, littermates Felix and Fifi. Knowing they wouldn’t get along with an older male cat, we made a unique arrangement—we paid Al’s mortgage and my apartment rent for a few years until Dusty passed peacefully at the remarkable age of 19.

Photo credit: Cherie Hans

While living in my apartment, I ended up rescuing a few more cats. Once Al and I finally moved into a house together, our feline family swelled to eight at one point—four boys and four girls, just like the Brady Bunch, plus two!

Strategic Introductions

Cats don’t always naturally get along, but we were strategic. We only brought in one adult cat, Mimi while the rest were kittens. They were small enough to “sneak in” without too much disruption. Initially, most of the cats ignored the newest additions, but our female alpha, Fifi, always kept the newbies in line. Felix and Mimi, meanwhile, took on the roles of mentors and nurturing role models to the young ones.

Photo credit: Cherie Hans

Challenges of a Multi-Cat Home

We now have six cats and, at 59 and 60 years old, we’ve decided our rescue days are behind us. Considering cats live, on average, 13 to 17 years (and we’ve both had cats live to 18), it’s a practical decision. Each of them requires individual love and attention. We’ve also realized, in retrospect, how challenging it can be to pinpoint which cat threw up or had a litter box issue in a multi-cat home. “Get a nanny cam!” some suggest. But who has hours to watch footage just to identify the culprit?

Photo credit: Cherie Hans

Mimi was our first joint rescue. She joined Felix and Fifi, who were five years old when Mimi was three. Felix instantly became her best buddy, but Fifi was fiercely jealous, unwilling to share us or her space. I’ll admit, there were moments I regretted bringing Mimi home, but surrendering her was never an option. Eventually, things settled, but it took five full years before Mimi would cuddle on our laps or next to us. Now, she’s my nightly companion. Chris, who handles adoptions at the rescue, had labeled her “unadoptable” due to her shyness. She needed a patient home where she wouldn’t be pushed. We gave her that, and now she’s our oldest and most cherished companion.

Over the years, we’ve sadly said goodbye to Dusty, Felix, Oscar, and Fifi. Our current cherished family includes Mimi, Alfie, Kiki, Sasha, Lucy, and Lucky.

The greatest advantage of a multi-cat home is that no one is ever truly alone. They always have company for cuddling, grooming, and playing. The disadvantage? The vet bills multiply! But honestly, that’s a small price to pay for the boundless, unconditional love they give us every single day.

By Cherie Hans, trained and certified as a vegan lifestyle coach and educator by Main Street Vegan Academy, www.MainStreetVegan.com

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Cherie Hans holds certifications from Dr. McDougall’s Starch Solution and Dr. Campbell’s Plant-Based Nutrition programs. She holds a Master of Science in Bilingual Education from St. John’s University, New York, and a Bachelor of Arts from the City University of NY: Queens College in English and Spanish, and currently teaches adults in English as a Second Language. After graduating from Main Street Vegan Academy, Cherie started the blog Fit and Fifties Vegan and now contributes to the Main Street Vegan blog a few times a year. Cherie has been a vegan for 19 years and is involved with a local animal sanctuary where she has made many friends—both human and non-human. She is from Queens, New York, but now resides in New Jersey with her husband and many rescued cats.

Photo credit: Eroula Dimitriou Photography

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Posted on All-Creatures.org: December 5, 2025
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