Cats and small apartments

I currently have 2 cats and would love to get a third but I live in a very small space around 250 square feet. Would a third cat makes things too crowded? My two right now seem fine and I have a loft bed which increases my floor space and 3 cat tress and a couple of condos so there is a lot to do. Also have 2 literboxes. advice greatly appreciated.

Sounds like a pretty small space to me...but if you have a way to be sure the kittys get enough exercise, then I`d say it`s up to you.
Linda

I would be very careful about adding a 3rd kitty to such a small space. Things are going well the way things are...why mess with success?
In the future, when you live in a larger space...then you can have lots of sweet kitties.
I am glad to know that you are taking such loving care of your kitties.

I agree with xocats. If you've got a happy cat family now, don't mess with it. You never know what kind of social upheaval another cat will cause, and with that limited space, if you have two cats that don't like each other, they have no place to go to get away.

250 sq. ft.... That's like 25 ft. by 10 ft. I probably wouldn't add another cat into the apartment, especially since it would be impossible to introduce them properly. Having a new cat confront your resident cats immediately could go very badly. I had enough of a problem introducing my kittens in a 450 sq. ft. apartment, I couldn't imagine doing it in a smaller area.

Originally Posted by GirlieQ

250 sq. ft.... That's like 25 ft. by 10 ft. I probably wouldn't add another cat into the apartment, especially since it would be impossible to introduce them properly. Having a new cat confront your resident cats immediately could go very badly. I had enough of a problem introducing my kittens in a 450 sq. ft. apartment, I couldn't imagine doing it in a smaller area.

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Im not really worried about introducing my current cats to another cat especailly a kitten because they are used to other cats. I take them to visit my parents who have 2 siamese and a german shepard all the time and they live together with no separation (xcept from the dog who is separated from the cats at night and when no one is home) for weeks at time.They also go to my aunts house to visit who had 3 cats now down to 2 (RIP SAMMY). Bottom line is I know they wont fight and they will get along but Im just afraid there will not be enough room for all 3. My current cats are very easy going and get aong well with othe animals/On the flip side I have yet to introduce an invader into their territory, they have always been the invaders on somone elses territory. And jsut to clarify, I actually live in a 2 bedroom but my roomate who is currenly residing in the dining room is mildly allergic to cats and my other roomate is not a huge fan of cats so when they are home my cats stay in my room but when they are away they get to run around a little more. My room is 250 square feet (thankfully I got the master bedroom) but they do get around an hour a day outside in the rest of the apartment. Thanks for all the advice everybody.

There are several issues to consider before adding another cat to your household:

Increasing the number of cats confined together can really increase the chances for personality conflicts. When I moved with my cats from a 1000 sq ft apartment into a 750 sq ft one, they started having problems - the two younger cats ended up ganging up & picking on the older one, who responded to the stress by urinating on my bed (not fun to cope with - for me or for little Felixia!). Now that we're in a house and they have more space, they get along fine. If you choose to add a cat & things don't work out, what would you do? Would you be able to move to a larger space, or return the cat, or find another good home for it?

If you add another cat, you'll need to add another litterbox too - do you have space for an additional litterbox?

Cats can live up to 20 or more years - can you commit to keeping and caring for all of your cats through that entire time? Another cat means additional physical and financial responsibility, and veterinary care for an ill or senior cat can get very expensive.

Then there's the multiple-cat mystery factor - if someone starts having urinary troubles, diarrhea, or even vomiting, unless you catch the cat in the act it can be hard to see who's having the trouble, which may mean a trip to the vet for testing for all the cats.

Regarding allergies: Each different cat produces slightly different dander (a substance in the cat's saliva that dries on the fur & floats around in the air causing allergies in susceptible people). I'm allergic and have become used to my own cats, but exposure to a new cat really bothers my allergies. An additional cat may make your roommate's allergies worse.

When you allow the cats out into the rest of the house when no one is home, they'll still spread dander about the house. It's probably a good idea for you to use allergy wipes on the cats before you let them out into the house to cut down on the dander they spread, especially if you choose to add another cat to the mix. If your house or apartment has central air, be sure to change the filter regularly.

I'm not trying to discourage multiple-cat ownership - just trying to point out some of the issues to consider in making your decision. Whenever you take on a pet, you're taking on a big responsibility - best to consider carefully

One thing that I'm a bit surprised hasn't been mentioned yet is that cats view their space not just in terms of floor size, but also in terms of height. If you have lots of shelves or cat-walkways or cat trees, that adds to the "space" of the apartment (in a cat's mind, at least--if only it worked that well for us humans!). Two cats occupying the same room but different levels of the room may well see themselves as occuping entirely different "territory," if that makes any sense? For instance, in the house where I used to live, we had an enclosed front porch with an awful lot of junk on it, including a very large cat "island" and a king-sized mattress turned up on one end, leaning up against the window. My cat Spike didn't get along terribly well with their little calico, who simply would not tolerate him within her territory. However, when they were both out on the porch together, she didn't consider him to be within her territory so long as she was on top of the mattress (the heighest point on the porch, and therefore the "choicest" location) and he was anywhere else on the porch.

All that being said, however, I certainly agree with everyone else's comments on multi-cat ownership. I don't find a big difference between living with one cat or two cats, but if you've already got a happy home with two, adding a third could upset the balance of things. Your cats might get along fine with other cats in other settings, but how will they feel about a stranger invading their territory? (This can be very different from them being the "stranger" cats visiting other kitties' territories.) It's just something to consider ... They're your cats, so really only you know for sure how they're going to react. Good luck making it all work out, whatever you decide to do!

Another thing I forgot to mention would be housing availability. I don't know how it is where you live, but many landlords won't rent to people who have multiple cats...for some reason they're OK with the idea of 1 or 2 cats, but if they hear a number higher than that they'll freak out and think that your cats will pee all over the place & tear everything up. Unfair, I know, but that's just the attitude I've run across. It made finding an apartment with my 4 cats really tough.

I lived in a 435 sq ft apartment with 3 cats and 2 people. It was way to small. Of course 2 of the cats were kittens and have boundless energy. We finally moved to a townhome slightly under 1200 sq ft and it is so much better! They get so much more room to run and stretch their muscles, particularly the stairs. The small apartment only lasted 3 months with how cramped it was. I wish I could afford a cat wheel . I know my kitties would love it. And talk about exercise!!

I would think long and hard before adding a thrid cat to that small of a space. I have what I consider a small, one bedroom condo that is about 700 square feet. I have 3 cats here and there are times it seems like too much to me. When Hallie was alive it was 4 cats for a short time and that was definately too much. Also, the more cats you have in a small space, the more behaivior problems arise. It doesn't matter if the current cats are used to other animals.... it becomes a totally different thing to them when it's a 24/7 thing.

One other thing I wanted to mention. My co-worker moved into a room mate situation and had to start keeping her 2 cats confined in her room. It was also a good sized room and the master bedroom. But when she started confining them, one or both of them started peeing and pooping on the bed and in the closet.

We moved from a 1500sq ft town house to a 1000sq ft apartment and you can definitely notice the difference, they just seem to be always under our feet now. Although in terms of the actual cats, I think they are happier in the apartment - they get along a lot better these days.

I can't imagine having more than one or maybe two in 250 sq ft, any more would definitely be too much IMO. The major concern would be introducing them in such a small space and the fact that if they didn't get along, there wouldn't really be a separate space for the new kitty.