Yeah, I'm wondering if too playful meant too attackey? Once we got a cat who had a "clean" history. He was so sweet and snuggly except he'd get in this zone where he would crash out and attack our legs and bite. We tried everything we could think of, my partner and I had had like 15 cats previously between us. No amount of play time, novelty in toys, attention, affection, space, whatever made him not attack our ankles and bite. I started feeling too anxious to walk across the house to the kitchen. With a sick pit in our stomachs we had to bring him back to the shelter. There we found out we had been lied to and he had lived as an outdoor cat for a while, and had been returned once before for biting. We had a 3 bedroom house and a screened in porch but it just wasn't enough for him. We were also discouraged from reporting the biting as it would "make it harder to rehome him."

I don't know if I'll have another animal in my house again. The biting and scratching was stressful and awful but having to return Beau was so difficult, and felt like such a failure. I can't handle falling in love and then failing another animal.

You can't judge someone for the third hand account. Maybe OP and her dad were a much better fit and the animal is different in their home.

[–] qarbone@lemmy.world 9 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I'm sorry but 15 cats is a lot of cats. It's a bit doxx-y (so feel free not to answer) but how many were you housing at one time?

[–] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Thats not what they said. They said cumulatively 15 cats over two lifetimes.

[–] qarbone@lemmy.world 0 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Thats not what they said.

You're the one assuming things I never said. I asked how many they had at one time. Obviously, that entails ownership of cats distributed over time.

[–] ChexMax@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The most I've had at once was 6, but that doesn't really count because it was a short time that I took in a momma cat and her litter who were all adopted out two months later. I kept momma for about a year after before adopting her out. I've never had a cat its whole life. I have fostered a ton of kittens, and had cats for years, including cats that previously lived outdoors and then when I adopt, it's usually been older cats who need extra care.

Yes, 15 would be quite a lot if you assume full lifespans of the cats!

[–] qarbone@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

I thought it might have been something like that but I didn't know if you were actually older or were just a cat hoarder lol