📣My second Top Tip for multicat households: Be Proactive!📣
When you know your cats don't get along too well, the moment they walk into the same room, everyone is waiting with bated breath to see what happens. Before you know it, one cat has chased the other one out, who disappears upstairs for the rest of the day. 😩
But if we are proactive, we can avoid these situations and make it easier for the cats to be around each other. Most of the time we can tell when a cat is going to chase another, they will watch them intently and tense up ready for a pounce. This is the moment to step in, redirect them and diffuse the rising tension before any conflict begins. 😄
Two ways of being proactive that are helpful in this situation:
🐱 Distract the aggressor:
Make yourself more interesting than the 'victim' cat (sorry I hate that term!). What does your cat like? Toys? Treats? Your attention? Give it. In bucket loads. 🧶🧶🧶 Before they have shown any aggressive behaviour so you can pre-empt an attack.
🐱 Give the chasee (that's no better!) safe spaces that are easy to access:
Walking from the doorway at one end to the cat tree on the other is a scary experience when you are being closely watched by another cat and potentially jumped on. Provide high resting areas, hiding places and confortable beds near the entrance and throughout the room. 📦📦📦 Make it as easy as possible for them to be part of the family. The other cat can get to these too, but they are less likely to attack once settled and both cats can begin to relax.
#toptips #catbehaviour #multicathousehold
