Multicat Households, can I pick your brains?

[ILoveDolly]

I have managed to acquire three gorgeous adult rescue cats. I've never had three all at once before, and while I'm satisfied that they will have plenty of space (and lots of area to roam once they're allowed out) I wanted some of your expert top tips on managing groups of cats harmoniously.
They have been here five days, are settling in well, and still love each other but I don't want to hit any snags.....
Any good tips?

The main thing really is to ensure there are enough resources and watch out for bullying, it's very subtle in cats. Maybe have a look at some cat body language videos on YouTube. I highly recommend feliway diffusers in multi cat households too. And ensure there are plenty of places they can retreat to for peace, preferably at a height. It's lovely of you to take on all 3, good luck.

Thanks I will check out the videos.....

We have two rescue cats. They have a great life with no unnecessary items. They amtiems smack each other but that's siblings for you. Relax. While it's going fine do what you're doing. As long as they can have space they'll be fine. I wouldn't be buying feliway etc until if and when you need it.

Make sure they can't guard resources, such as blocking access to the litter tray or food. Ideally, you should have 2 or 3 different trays around the house. Fwliway helps, as does a good cat scrather, a few toys and lots of attention.

We have 4 cats, 2 male and 2 female which we got in pairs. Girls are 9 and boys are 2. Initially we kept the boy kittens in a large dog cage in the same room as the girls then slowly let them out to eat at the same time. We also used feliway for 3 months.

Now we have the odd grumble and growl (especially if one has caught a mouse and the others are interested) but no actual fighting.

All of them were neutered at about 20 weeks old which may have helped.

We have four cats...all get on fine other than the month they were introduced to each other.

I'm guessing your three were all adopted together, as in they came as a package already?

If so, they are likely to already be bonded and have sorted out any pecking order issues some time ago. Unless you see any signs of bullying or aggression you shouldn't need anything specific.

Here are two of mine now...I had the fluffy one four years before the grey one and they live together happily

Yes, they were all together and although the rescue were advertising them as a pair and singletons, they had always lived together so it felt wrong to split them up. They seem to have a distinct hierarchy with the younger one at the bottom of the food chain even though he is the biggest/noisiest. I love hearing about your cats! Just tell me all the things

We have five cats plus an extra one.

All of ours are rescues, all got at different stages on their own and added to the household. There is always that period of adjustment when a new cat comes in but generally they adapt pretty well and get over any issues they have. We use felliway and have floor scratching boards which are covered in dry catnip. Messy but they love it.

We have three litter trays, 1 upstairs, one at the bottom of the stairs and one in the conservatory. I am going to get another one for the living room as we have Extra cat at the moment.

They have a huge cat tree in the living room and two smaller ones in the conservatory plus two sofas in there as well. Most days you will find at least four cats sprawled across the sofas in the winter sunshine.

Extra cat is probably going to be here for a couple of weeks. She's a stray and tiny. She is in DD2's room but keeps escaping when you open the door and shoots downstairs to raid the biscuits :o