Many experts agree that having more than one cat can be beneficial. They can keep each other company while you’re gone, and they sometimes find it helpful to have another cat to play and plot with.
Having a multi-cat home does have its challenges, though. Resource and territorial disputes can happen, as well as personality clashes. Here are some tips to help bring harmony back to your home.
Top Tips for Multiple-Cat Households
Making Introductions
It’s best to take a slow approach when introducing a new cat to your home. This keeps your current cats from feeling intruded upon while helping the new cat acclimate to her new surroundings.
First, keep the new cat separated in her own room with food, water, toys, and a litter box. After the first week or two, let the cats see each other as you supervise them. This type of introduction should allow your new cat to become comfortable with the noises and smells of their new home before they need to make their way with the resident felines (and canines).
Providing Personal Spaces
Cats like to have their own spaces. Your senior cat may need their own getaway place not accessible to the new kitten in the house. Make sure each cat has a bed, hiding spots, and scratching surfaces. You can also create spaces using objects around the house:
- cardboard boxes
- open pet carriers
- cat cubes
Try creating different spaces in different rooms when possible. Remember, vertical space is available for most cats. Their favorite space may be up high on a shelf or windowsill.
Offering Multiple Litter Boxes
Cats usually don’t like using the same litter box as their roommates. The suggested rule is to provide a litter box for each cat, plus one additional. Try to place the litter boxes in different rooms. While a laundry room might make sense for you as an ideal place for a litter box, noisy appliances may make that placement less than inviting to your cat.
Not only do multiple boxes keep cats from feuding over where to go, but they can also prevent a common cause of cats going outside the litter box.
Establishing Places to Eat and Drink
In a multiple-cat household, there must be numerous food and water bowls available. It’s best to place these bowls in different areas of the house. This should keep your cats from feeling the need to fight over these resources. There are automatic feeders that key off your cat’s microchip and only open to the “correct” cat, which is very helpful if one cat is on a special diet. Free feeding may not be an option in your household if competition means one cat eats too much and another not enough.
Playing for Exercise
Play with your cats as often as possible. This helps them release excess tension, facilitates their hunting needs, and helps them bond with you. This can also keep them from wanting to take their extra energy out on each other.
Also, make sure to have enough toys so that each one can have the means to play when you’re not available.
Policing the Peace
Fights can still occur after properly introducing new cats into your home. If this happens, try placing the aggressive cat, or cats, into an unoccupied room. Let them calm down before letting them back out. This should help resolve the tension when they see each other again.
Try not to be angry when putting your cat in “time out.” This is not a punishment – it’s simply giving them a chance to take a break. Reassess your cats’ environment and try to identify the fight trigger. You may need to introduce more management in terms of resting spots, litter boxes, food, toys, or even the amount of time the cats are allowed to interact with each other.
Reducing Stress with Synthetic Pheromones
Synthetic pheromones can help calm some cats. These pheromones replicate the pheromones naturally produced by special glands located on cats’ bodies, released when they rub on you or an object. These chemical “messages” are odorless to us but can signal comfort and relaxation to cats. Synthetic pheromone products are available as a spray or in a diffuser created specifically for multi-cat households.
Seeking Medical Treatment
Cats will act differently when they are not feeling well. This is why each cat must be seen annually for a wellness exam. Everything from injuries to infections to systemic disease can alter a cat’s behavior.
Did you know that cats can get heartworms? Heartworms are transmitted through mosquito bites and can infest the heart and lungs. There is no treatment for cats infected with heartworms, but there are monthly preventatives to prevent infection in the first place!
To learn more about heartworm prevention in Albuquerque, contact Petroglyph Animal Hospital today to schedule an appointment.
We hope these multiple-cat household tips work for you. With a little care and a lot of patience, most cat families will be able to get along and live harmoniously.