Dr Liesel van der Merwe is a small animal medicine specialist. Send her your questions: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Dr Liesel van der Merwe

I recently found an article on cats in multi-cat households and another on how cats are evolving to adapt to manage in the new urban environment. One statement caught my eye: “the cost of patrolling a large home range”.

So, the idea of a cat wanting a large home range versus needing a home range to make sufficient food resources available twigged for me. The expenditure of unnecessary energy in nature is not a good survival tactic. Younger animals play, but generally physical resources are expended on survival: getting food, water and breeding, not wasted on long walks to view the scenery.

I have personally always felt a bit sorry for indoor-only cats . . . having this idyllic idea of cats loving to roam around, climb trees and survey their range. But then I look at mine, who lie around most of the day and barely leave the patio. Never mind that I stay on a largish urban property with some natural bushveld, as I adjoin a reserve.

Mine are very old now, so they did venture further when they were younger, but they were happy staying close to the house for the most part. They would, however, not tolerate another cat coming into their territory. The home range is described as the larger area they patrol, which may overlap with that of another cat. The territory is theirs alone, no strangers welcome.

The average domestic cat has not been placed under selective breeding pressure to develop certain characteristics as has happened with dogs. Most cats still look like each other and act similarly and show a blend of solitary and social behavioural traits. The variation among many of the dog breeds in shape and behaviour is, however, profound.

Yet the cat is responding to environmental evolutionary pressures to change its behaviour and now lives in a variety of environmental situations. In many places they are thriving and may be causing a negative environmental impact. The most important factor affecting how their behaviour is changing is the availability of food.

Feral cats are defined as cats which were once domesticated but returned to a “wild” situation and are not dependent on humans for food. This “type” of cat is prevalent where food is not easily available and is a resource which is fought over. The density is lower than that in urban environments where cats are fed by people at feeding stations.

This occurs commonly in European countries. In these cat populations behaviour has changed to adapt. These cats live in large groups or colonies of adult females and often several males. There is minimal friction within the group, even among the males. The females will share kitten raising responsibilities and they will all eat at the same time from the communal food resource.

This is not typical in wild felids, such as the smaller regional wild cats in the area: the African and European wild cats. These urban cats are also not as adverse to human interaction.

So, multi-cat indoor households can be happy. It has been determined that the effect of individual environmental variables had less effect on how cats adjust in a multi-cat household than the effects of personality behaviour or breed. Early socialization, before nine weeks of age, is essential because they adapt better to human contact.

To avoid tension in a multi-cat household each cat must receive individual attention away from the others. Cats require personal space and they do experience stress in densely populated environments. So, there is a limit to how many cats can be accommodated.

Increasing the utilization of vertical space can help, as it adds another spatial dimension and satisfies a need to climb and survey their surroundings. It also provides additional space for the establishment of small personal spaces.

There are still lots to learn about our felid friends. It is essential to make the effort as we have changed their environment and it is our responsibility to make the one we have created as suitable as possible.

The reference used for this article is suitable for layperson reading and contains more information: ‘Advances in Small Animal Care 5 (2024). Cats Living Together: How to cope with a multi cat household.’ Bergamini et al.