Cats are not fully social animals and multi-cat households create welfare risks through competition for resources, social stress and inter-cat conflict.
Chronic social stress in multi-cat households is often silent - cats rarely escalate to overt fighting but may show sustained low-level tension through avoidance, resource guarding and stress-related illness. Spatial enrichment, adequate resource provision and careful introduction protocols when adding cats are the most impactful welfare interventions for multi-cat households.