Problem Solving & Advice by Pam Johnson-Bennett Cat Behavior Expert & Best-selling Author
When it comes to time-sharing, nobody does it better than the cat. I’m not referring to a cat’s ability to pick out a condo on the beach in Florida, but rather, the ability to co-exist with other cats. Cats are social animals (I know that surprises many people), and that social structure is built around resource availability. In a multicat home, cats have to figure out a way to make it work because the territory is smaller than outdoors and personal areas must overlap. Some cats do this better than others, but as long as there are adequate resources located throughout the home and each cat has places to retreat for personal space, they very often find a way to successfully time-share.
If you have a multicat home where one cat chases another off a chair or sits on the bed and prevents a companion kitty from using that same space, then the time-share arrangements in your house haven’t been agreed upon, or you haven’t provided enough resources in multiple locations. Adequate resource placement gives cats a choice so they aren’t forced to compete with one another.
The Mechanics of Feline Time-Sharing
How does time-sharing work? One cat may prefer a certain chair or perch during a specific time of day. It could be the window perch where a cat can watch the outdoor activities or it might be the comfy chair in the guest room where things are very quiet. Although that cat can predictably be found in that spot during daylight hours, he may have another favorite location during evening hours.
Time-sharing problems occur when there aren’t enough prime areas for each cat to claim, or one cat challenges another cat in an attempt to take over that spot. These challenges may happen when a cat with higher status wants to flex his muscles and make a cat of lower status move. Challenges can also occur when the human family member is around. For example, the cat parent’s bed may be used by a lower-ranking cat during the day but when it’s bedtime, another cat may claim that spot – even to the point of showing aggression toward anyone who attempts to jump up.
Watch How Your Cats Interact
Observe how your cats time-share and make sure there are plenty of resources and personal prime areas for everyone. If two cats fight because each one wants to claim the cat parent’s bed, then set up a window perch, cozy cat bed, or cat tree in the bedroom. This may be enough to create an appealing alternative. If cats are trying to take over a spot at the window, set up alternative window perches. If window space is limited, a multi-perched cat tree can be a life-saver because the cats can share a small amount of space while maintaining some degree of personal distance. It also can help maintain peace because the multi-level perches limit the visual contact they have with each other.
Enough Resources for All Cats
If there’s the least bit of tension in your multicat home then don’t add fuel to the fire by asking the cats to share resources. If they have to compete at the feeding station or if one intimidates the other during meals it isn’t going to help them become friends. The same is true for the litter box area. If cats who don’t get along are forced to share a litter box it often leads to one cat deciding it’s safer to eliminate someplace else (such as your carpet).
The more choice you offer when it comes to resources the less stressful the environment becomes. Set up individual bowls for mealtime if you feed on a schedule, to prevent competition. Depending on how well your cats get along, the bowls may just have to be a few inches apart but in other cases you might have to feed the cats in separate rooms. If you free-feed, set up more than one station so one cat doesn’t have to cross another cat’s turf. Cats are not social eaters so asking them to eat side by side may create too much stress.
Set up more than one litter box so a cat doesn’t have to cross the path of a more intimidating cat when nature calls. Ideally, you should have more litter boxes than cats and the boxes should be spaced out so each cat has easy access to one in their own preferred choice area.
More than one scratching post is crucial as well. Even though you can’t designate a particular post to a certain cat, the more choice you offer, cats feel threatened or feel the need to compete. Locate posts in personal core areas as well as socially significant spots. It’s all about choice.
Whether it’s the feeding station, litter box, scratching post, or favorite napping area, the more choice you offer, the less stressful the environment becomes.
As you look around your home see if there’s anything you can do to help with time-share issues as well as increasing the location of resources. Very often, it just takes a little environmental tweaking on your part to reduce the tension between your cats.
Want More Information on Cat Behavior?
For more specific tips on dealing with behavior problems in multicat households, refer to the revised and updated edition of Cat vs Cat, Pam’s best-selling book on managing multicat households. Pam’s books are available at bookstores and online. We’ve included a link to Amazon on our website.
If you have a question regarding your cat’s health, please contact your veterinarian. This article is not intended as a replacement for your cat’s veterinary care.
