We love cats and 41% of us who have a cat are owned by more than one! In the wild cats live solitary lives, only coming together to breed and raise young and only when food is in plentiful supply.
Sometimes our cats don’t get along together living in such close quarters. This can lead to tension in the home, fighting, blocking of amenities and urine spraying.
Feliway Friends is a new product by the makers of Feliway, designed specifically to help inter cat aggression. It is a synthetic version of the pheromone the queen gives off when she is feeding her kittens. If you are experiencing problems with a multicat household, along with the use of Feliway Friends we would also suggest making sure there are enough amenities for each cat.
For example lots of resting places, some high, some low and some inside things like wardrobes. The magic number for litter trays is one per cat plus one and these should be dotted around your home in quiet areas. If the tray is under the stairs people will be thundering down them, in the conservatory other cats may be watching and if the tray is near the food your cat will tend to move where it toilets if they cannot move where they eat.
Please remember that as a cat owner a litter tray should always be available somewhere in the house for your cat to use should they need to, regardless of whether there is a problem with soiling. Giving each cat its own place to eat is also important as unless your cats are related, cats generally don’t like to share. Also provide water bowls separate from feeding areas wherever possible.
We hope that you don’t have any problems and that your cats live well together but if you are experiencing any issues please contact your local branch for advice.
There is also some helpful information available on the International Cat Care website icatcare.org.
