There are lots of cat ladies out there. By which I mean women who own more than eight or so cats at once. There are also cat men, or at least men who take their wife's many cats to the vet, but these are but a tithe of the population.
This phenomena really confuses me, since I have owned cats in the plural and the only one who was happy with the situation was the dominant one: the other lived what she viewed as a stunted life, unable to really develop her potential until the first had moved on. This is nothing compared to three or more cats in the same house while the situation is actually made worse if the animals are allowed outdoors as well, since that always increases cat's negative behaviors.
When I'm entering a couple of new records for a person who was already pretty well into the double digits, I find myself musing at what a homecoming there will be. The owner, believing their household to be more than ever one big happy family, carries the new animals bodily into an atmosphere already thick with feline hostility. Cats range through the rooms, strung out with stress and frustration since no matter how many times they mark their territory the interlopers Just Won't Leave. And although the human is excited to have saved another furry life from the grim reaper, the other inhabitants are saving their party until the census count debits their house and credits the happy hunting grounds.
