Do I have a pet problem?

I have my four rats and a stray cat who adopted me, and recently got three baby ferrets.
I was only going to get one, but they were so cute and needed a home, I couldn’t say no.
Additionally, I am petsitting for my friends 8 rats at the moment.
Meaning, there’s 16 animals in my one-room mezzanine flat.
As a recovering addict it’s very worth asking myself: Do I have a pet problem?

I’m already asking myself if
I signed up for more than I can handle.

I keep trying to see myself from the outside, like others would:
Am I a crazy cat lady yet? Do people walk into my flat thinking “Oh dear lord”.
Do I just enjoy being a caretaker and martyr, chasing the high of a new pet?
Or do I simply have a problem saying no to myself?
I wasn’t going to get two more rats, but my two seemed so lonely.
I wasn’t going to get three ferrets, but it just felt so right!

As cute as they are,
is it still healthy?

My gut instinct says yes (of course).
I make sure they all have clean cages, varied food and plenty of bonding time.
They are the happiest, but I can’t deny my own self-care suffers for it.
I can no longer meditate or do yoga in the morning as the ferrets won’t leave me alone.
Surely, the 8 rats will leave soon, and the ferrets will grow out of their biting phases, and yet.

It’s not really the pets that worry me,
but the trend that they represent.

Can I say no? Do I have healthy boundaries?
Do I worry too much about having a pet problem if they and I are happy?
So to conclude, I don’t think I have a problem as long as I don’t get any more (I’m not planning to).
The rats won’t be around for much longer unfortunately, the cat is a stray and comes with the flat, so really I mostly just have the three ferrets.
I think the biggest issue is caring about other people thinking I’m over doing it instead of me actually over doing it.
Do you have any similar issues?