Have a Multi-Cat Home Without a Multi-cat Headache

Since I brought home Ichigo and Kisuke, I've had a lot of people asking me "how do you manage four cats without any fighting?"

There are two answers. The first answer is simple: There's always some fighting, the trick is to keep it to a minimum. The second is even simpler: I listen to my cats.

That may sound like a lot of new-agey hogwash, but it's the truth. Each cat is an individual, and each cat has their own requirements for space, kitty litter boxes, and food. And as long as I make sure each cat has those, and plenty of play time and attention, we have a happy kitty house.

So, how can you listen to your cat and figure out what he or she is saying and why they're making your life a kitty hell?

I'm so glad you asked.

First things first; did you know that multi-cat households are supposed to have a litterbox per cat plus one? A lot of people have no idea. And if you have one litterbox for three cats, I guarantee you that's the primary source of your problems. Cats mark territory with their urine and feces (another thing a lot of people don't realize) and if your alpha cat is going and marking that literbox, then your other two (or three, or even one) might not get the chance to use it- and thus you find little surprises in random places, and you yell at the kitties, not realizing that all they're doing is following what their Alpha cat told them to do!

If you absolutely can't have litterboxes equal to the number of cats plus one- you absolutely must have at least two, preferably in opposite corners of the house, or at least in different rooms. Cats will block access to the litterbox when playing dominance games, and it's important that the lower-status cat be able to back down and go to find an alternate litterbox to eliminate in. If the litterboxes are too close together, the cat can't- and thus, again, you find a surprise, and aren't happy, when all the cat was doing was being lower on the totem pole than the other cat.

Similarly, if you're not feeding your cats at the same time, and monitoring food, you may have a problem where one cat eats all the other cat's food- if you are free-feeding, this is probably less of a concern, but always pay attention to your cat's weight, and make sure that one cat isn't significantly skinnier than the other.

A third thing that all cats require is a "safe spot" away from other cats and away from humans, that is inviolable. We've all had the moments as cat owners, where suddenly we look around and no cats are to be seen. I've done it in the past, before I learned how important it was for the cat to have his or her little hiding spot- you go hunting, often with kibble or treats, calling the cat's name frantically, until you find the cat hidden in the closet/under the bed/behind the couch, etc. Well, don't look. Know that Fluffy is fine, needs his space, and will come out when he's hungry. (Unless, of course, it's been a day or two, or Fluffy is sick and needs medication on a certain schedule. There are always exceptions.)

So, say you've done all these things and the cats are still continually fighting- well, then you have a problem. Either your house is too small for the cats in question, or you have two alpha-type personalities in the space, and you need more intervention. There are things you can do- there is a thing called a "comfort pheromone" (sold at regular pet stores like PetSmart) that you can use to help your cats stop being so agressive. You can use catnip- some cats will become relaxed when exposed to catnip, and will want to play. You can also try separating them- if your house is big enough, try encouraging one cat to stay in one part of your house, and the other cat to stay in the other. You will see the difficulty of this particular strategy- it's about as easy as herding cats. :)

Now on the other side of the issue- say you are preparing to bring home a new kitten or cat. What do you need to do to make sure that the new kitty fits in? First off, separate one room of the house a day or two before you bring Kitty home. Put the new litterbox, new waterbowl and food bowl in there, and get the other cat or cats used to the door being closed. Then, when you bring Kitty home, they won't immediately notice the difference, because the door has already been closed for a few days.

When you do bring the new Kitty home, keep them in the closed room, away from the other cats for at least a week, preferably two. Give them plenty of time to grow acustomed to the new kitty's scent on your clothes and hands from when *you* go in to pet the new kitty and get it used to you. If you have a loud new kitty, he'll make his presence known, and you may have a lot of hissing and growling through the door. Don't be distressed by this, just keep the door closed, and let things run their course. You'll know when it's ok to open the door- it will be when the house kitties walk past the door and ignore it completely.

You'll want to make sure that all interaction is supervised at first. While usually it's just a lot of spitting and posturing, cat claws can do a lot of damage, and on that rare chance that there's physical contact, you want to make sure that no one gets hurt, or if they do, you want to be able to separate them and take the injured party to the vet ASAP.

Hopefully, the kitties will do their spitting and posturing, and after a couple of days, you'll be lucky, and like myself with my boys Koga and Ichigo, they'll become best of friends and start running around and playing. Currently, I have three cats who love each other, sleep together, play and tear the house apart with their silly games- and one older cat who'd rather the other three drop dead. Thankfully, the house is big enough that we can keep the older cat mostly in one bedroom, and the boys have the run of the rest of the house. It's not perfect- but it's perfect for us, and that's what counts.

Hopefully, your cat heaven is just a few changes away.