How to Get My Cats to Get Along?

Are you planning on adopting a new cat to keep your kitty company? Perhaps, you’ve already adopted more than one cat because you want your cat to have friends.

It’s worth knowing that most times, two cats just don't get along. While occasional disagreement between cats is quite normal, you need to intervene in regular conflict to prevent the issue from escalating.

If you’re always faced with kitty quarrels and fights, here is good news for you. Here are some ways to encourage your cats, make them more civil, and get them to get along as friends rather than as foes.

Identify the Cause Of the Conflict Amongst Your Cats

The very first step to take when you notice a conflict between your cats is to identify the cause(s) of the conflict. 

You may need to take some time to observe your cats and carefully identify the triggers of unwanted behaviours in your cats. Observe whether your cats quarrel mostly over resources or during playtimes, meals, or near food and water. Check whether the conflict is due to lack of personal space or attention, illnesses, over excitement, fight over territory, and so on.

When you identify the cause, you will be able to limit or eradicate the conflict and get your cats to get along together.

Give Each Cat Its Territory

Naturally, cats don’t like sharing their territory and resources most times and can become aggressive with territory and resources. Cats tend to be possessive when it comes to basics like food, water, litter boxes, and so on.

They can also be territorial about an area, a favourite towel, a catnip toy, a pet bed, a cat tree or condo, favourite window perch, and so on. If the conflict is due to a fight over territory, ensure that these basics are in abundance and placed in different locations around the house or apartment. 

You should also ensure to give each cat sufficient space for themselves.

Increase Resources for Your Cats

Another thing you can do to get your cat to get along is to increase resources for them. Similar to territory conflicts, insufficient resources like food bowls, water bowls, litter trays/boxes, toys, window perches, scratching posts, and so on can cause fights between cats.

Try as much as possible to get individual resources for each cat in the house – get extra if possible. Keep one resource per cat and don’t keep them all together in the same location. Make sure that these resources are in different locations throughout the house and also easily accessible.

When you do this, there will be sufficient resources in the house and each cat will have its preferences. More so, your cats would be able to handle resource conflict much easier.

Visit a Vet

Sometimes, the cause of the conflict may not be territorial behaviour or personality issues but stress or illness. Your cats may exhibit aggressive behaviours due to illness or pain. So, if you notice that your once peaceful and calm cats have started to fight, it’s wise to visit your vet doctor to ensure that nothing is wrong.

If you’re wondering whether the steps above will help your cats to get along go ahead and give them a try. With a little bit of patience and some experimenting your cats should be friends. However, be sure to give your cats enough time to change their attitudes.