Cats in multi-cat homes find ways to share space

Cats in multi-cat homes find ways to share space by living parallel lives and time sharing space. One major conclusion of the BBC series Cat Watch: The New Horizon Experiment was that in homes where there is more than one cat, they find ways to share the available space. They do this because the domestic cat is halfway between its wild cat ancestor felis silvestris lybica and a fully domesticated creature entirely suited to living with humans in the 21st century. When the wild cat was first domesticated it was suited to the semi-domesticated lifestyle of that era thousands of years ago in the same way barn cat life better suits today’s domestic cat in some ways.

Having taken that conclusion on board as have other commentators I asked Ruth to diarise, in outline, where her cat companions, Jozef and Walter positioned themselves throughout the day. This little, basic test does not include nighttime of course and at night cats can have a way of life which people are unfamiliar with particularly if they are allowed out as they please.

The conclusion from Ruth’s mini-diary is that Walt and Jozef live parallel lives finding their own space and doing their own thing. There is a good level of harmony as well due to the cat’s ability to find a compromise. I feel that this supports the findings of the BBC cat experiment.

Here is the diary:

One Day Diary Of Two Cats Sharing A Home

6am

• Jozef on Ruth’s bed announcing it’s time to get up (He always knows whose turn it is to get up early with them)
• Walter waiting at the top of the stairs

7am

• Jozef out on his morning rounds
• Walter sitting on his high chair next to Ruth’s computer desk in the living room

8am

• Jozef just in from his rounds and eating in the kitchen
• Walter eating in the living room

9am

• Jozef on the couch in the living room
• Walter out on the patio in the back garden

10am

• Jozef on the couch
• Walter in the armchair

11am

• Jozef out, not in the garden, so probably across hunting mice on the embankment
• Walter asleep in the armchair

12 noon

• Jozef still out
• Walter sitting in the front garden

1pm

• Jozef still out
• Walter sitting in the living room window

2pm

• Jozef still out
• Walter on high chair by Ruth’s computer

3pm

• Jozef just home and eating in the kitchen
• Walter eating in the living room

4pm

• Jozef asleep in the cats chair
• Walter asleep lying on Babz in the arm chair

5pm

• Jozef still sleeping in the cats chair
• Walter sleeping in the armchair having turfed Babz out

6pm

• Both eating in the living room

7pm

• Both out

8pm

• Jozef still out
• Walter on high chair

9pm

• Jozef on couch next to Ruth
• Walter out

10pm

• Both eating upstairs as we prepare for bed

Jozef stays upstairs on one of our beds, Walter goes back downstairs to sleep in the armchair, but both cats wander around in the night, having a snack and a look out of the windows.