Written by Anne Moss
Living Space
Make sure your cats have plenty of room. Overcrowding will stress them. It is a sure-fire recipe for hostility among your cats.
The big question would be "how crowded is too crowded?" There is no simple answer. Some situations can be overly-crowded. If you're keeping ten cats per room then that is probably too much. However, throwing a figure of cats per room or per square feet can oftentimes be misleading.
A lot depends on the cats themselves. Some cats require more personal space, while others are relatively immobile and don't mind other cats bouncing around them.
Another factor to consider is vertical space. If the cats are allowed and encouraged to utilize the upper level of the room, than they have more space than the sum of the square feet of floor tiles. Try adding cat furniture, shelves and climbing ramps that will make their territory larger without adding a new room to your house.
Litter boxes
Make sure you have at least one litter box per cat.
This doesn't mean that each litter box is used by one specific cat. On the contrary, the cats will probably share. It does mean that no cat should have to wait in line to use the litter box. If your cat needs to go and finds that the litter box is occupied, she may have to resort to your carpet instead. And who knows? If she likes it, she might just keep going there.
While you may be lucky enough to have your cats share a smaller number of litter boxes, unless you have enough litter boxes, you are risking litter box avoidance down the road.
Food & Water
Make sure your cats never have to compete for food or water. Have enough food and water dishes for all. Depending on the number of your cats, you may want to consider setting up several feeding locations. Preventing the cats from crowding around the dishes will help to minimize mealtime aggression, and will also relieve stress. Be sure and feed the most dominant cat first. That will also go a long way in easing tensions that sometimes result during feeding time.
Attention and TLC
The golden rule for cat care is: "to each by her or his needs". Make sure you spend quality time with all of your cats both individually and collectively, while being sensitive to their specific requirements. There is no need to divide your TLC equally. Fulfilling each individual needs will depend on what the cat desires, not what you want. Some cats may crave attention and petting, while others may be shyer and prefer a more distant interaction. You should become the expert on the different needs of your cats.
Anne Moss is the founder and owner of TheCatSite.com. She is a cat behaviorist and a member of the Cats Writers Association.
The Multi-Cat Household 1
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