Multi-cat households are a significant source of feline welfare problems. Understanding cat social structure and managing resources appropriately reduces stress-related disease and behaviour problems.
Multi-cat household welfare is frequently underestimated by owners who assume cats form natural social groups. Unrelated adult cats in shared territories experience chronic social stress from competition and unwanted social encounters. This chronic stress manifests as FIC episodes, inappropriate elimination, overgrooming, and intercat aggression. Resource distribution - providing multiple feeding stations, water sources, litter trays, and resting areas in different locations - reduces competition stress. Vertical space gives subordinate cats escape routes from dominant individuals. Many cat behaviour problems that owners attribute to 'personality' are actually responses to social stress from inadequate multi-cat household management.