Two Cats in Small Apartment

[ellyr]

Hi all -

I recently moved to a new apartment. It is a very small (650 sft) one bedroom, and since I moved my two cats have been going NUTS. At my old place, there weren't too many problems at night - they weren't constantly chasing each other under the bed, or getting into spats. I could close my bedroom door and they'd just quietly find a chair to sleep in. In the new place, if they get too rowdy in the bedroom and I close the door, CHAOS. They howl, they beat at the door, they try to scratch their way under it. The rowdy playing seems like the lesser of the two evils.

Okay guys, what can I do? This weekend I am definitely getting them a larger cat tree with two tiers so they'll have more vertical space. I feed them about an hour before I go to sleep. I should admittedly step up evening playtime with them. Is there anything else? I know several people coexist with multiple cats in spaces that are as small as mine or even smaller. How'd you manage it?

[Nan]

Most cats don't like closed doors. I hope the new cat tree helps. They have to sort out the time shares in their new territory. Do they have cat beds? That might help too.

In fact, I wasn't sure mine still snuggled like they used to until I saw them together in one cat bed in the hallway a couple days ago.

[Nell]

You might want to give a product called Feliway a try. It's a pheromone diffuser that is supposed to have a calming effect. It seems to work for my cats. Buying it online is cheaper than in store.

Also, if you want to keep them out of the bedroom during the night, I'm afraid there will be an adjustment period where you'll likely have to put up with the scratching and howling for a while (and hopefully your neighbors won't hear). They key is to ignore them completely. If you're consistent and don't respond to them in any way, they will eventually give up. Put something under the door to prevent damage if you need to, and get a pair of ear plugs for sleeping if necessary. Keep in mind that if you give in or give them any attention for it, you're most likely back to square-one.

Good luck!

[3furbabies]

I agree with closed doors. My younger two are ok and at our old place we would close the door at night. When we adopted our older cat, we closed the door like always and she went nuts like yours: howling, pawing underneath and scratching the door literally all night. We can't close it anymore and at the new place we have to keep all doors open. Sometimes we have to close them away in room(like when we moved) and she scratched and howled the entire day. I also agree with getting a taller tree.


Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App

[3gatos]

I have 3 cats and a dog in an apartment about 750 sq ft. They were originally in a place that was 610, never had a problem. In the morning and at night they run around the place, but for the most part, they just laze around.