Cats are semi-social animals who may or may not form compatible bonds with each other, and multi-cat households frequently create chronic social stress that owners underestimate because conflict is often subtle.
Multi-cat household welfare is characterized by subtle, chronic stress that owners miss because their cats are not fighting. Resource competition for food, water, litter access, resting spots, and social attention creates low-grade chronic anxiety in subordinate cats that is only visible to trained observers or through physiological assessment. The welfare infrastructure for compatible multi-cat households — vertical space, multiple resource stations, sight-line barriers, and adequate territorial buffers — is understood but rarely implemented. Owners who recognize that cats are not naturally gregarious and provide accordingly create significantly better welfare outcomes than those who assume cats will simply sort out their social arrangement.