Time for A New Addition, Part 2: Stretching Out

In the first post in this series, I discussed that adopting a pet means giving them their best. I don’t mean diamond studded collars or fresh caught tuna! I mean the best in terms of everything a cat (or cats, dogs, birds or whatever creatures you want to share your life with) needs to be happy and healthy.

 In terms of space, we happen to live in a four-room apartment (not four bedrooms – I mean a bedroom, bathroom, living room kitchen then a large hall that connects these rooms). Is the space big enough for two cats? The actual rooms are quite spacious, but will the cats have enough room to roam. That of course also depends on the cats – age, temperament etc.

Outdoor cats are not an option for us. First, we live on the fifth floor! Also, we believe an indoor life is healthier for cats and wildlife. We do have a balcony, but we would not allow the cats to be on the balcony unsupervised. Therefore the space is limited. How much is enough for cats?

Another consideration in terms of the space is where will the cat related items go. There are the basics such as litter boxes (most experts recommend one per cat) and food and water dishes. We also feel a climbing tree with scratching posts will be a necessity with the limited space in the apartment and no access to outside.

Going back to litter box and food dishes, there are specific space considerations here. Cats do not like to have these things near each other. Do we have appropriate spaces for these items that the cats will be happy with? Do we have appropriate space that we will be happy with (out of the way but still easy to clean)?

As always, there is a wealth of information on the Internet. No answers, but some guidance.  I started here for some general information on indoor cats: RSPCA on Indoor Cats

Another part of this issue is the number of cats. We are looking at two because we want them to have companions, as we both work during the day. We will stop with two, but many people don’t which can be very unhealthy. This article tries to answer the question of how many is too many: How Many Cats are Too Many

The section titled ‘Social Concerns’ was particularly interesting for me in this article: Preventing Your Cat from Getting Outside

There really does not seem to be a definitive answer on this question, but there is loads of information on keeping your indoor cats health and happy. This website has some ideas: Basic Needs for Indoor Cats