Cats are territorial animals that can experience significant stress when sharing space with other cats. Understanding feline social needs helps prevent chronic welfare problems in multi-cat homes.
Chronic stress in multi-cat households is a significant and often unrecognized welfare problem. A cat that is constantly surveilling for threats, avoiding another cat, or unable to access food, water, or the litter box due to social competition is experiencing ongoing psychological and physical stress. This manifests in health problems including urinary disease, over-grooming, and immune suppression. Unlike dogs, cats do not signal distress obviously - a stressed cat may simply hide more. Owners who assume cats are 'fine' because there are no overt fights may be missing subtler signs of chronic stress. Resource provision is the most practical and immediate welfare intervention available.