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I've went back home a couple weeks ago, and my mom has a cat, and I have three cats. A door was put up separating the upstairs from the downstairs to keep the cats separated. My cat, Isabelle, tends to get irritable when visiting home. My cats have access to a good size living room, a bedroom, small laundry room, and a hallway (pictures below). After I clean the bathroom, they may have access to that area, too. It seems to be similar sizing to my tiny house rental, but a different layout. In my tiny house, there were no hallways, and just doors leading to other rooms. There was also a loft, a large bed to go under or ontop of, etc. At my mom's house, Isabelle seems irritated when the kittens pass her in the hallway, since the hallway is maybe 4-5 feet across.
I also was not able to bring any of their cat trees for them to climb on, but grabbed some of the extras from upstairs. The downstairs here does have a nice ledge along the outside wall of every room to create more levels. There are also a few couches downstairs and I kept them away from the walls to create "tunnels" for the cats to explore between the couch and the wall. I'm thinking of buying a large cat tree, like the on I had before with multiple levels. Isabelle did not use the tree much, but the kittens did.
I had two feliway plugs running (one living room and one bedroom), but went to only one feliway in the living room. The second one was just replaced in the bedroom to see it that helps.
Since Isabelle used to live here before I went back to school, she knows there is a whole upstairs area and has already escaped past my legs when I've went through the door. I always grab her and bring her down right away. She has started to claw at the carpet by the door today, which I am trying to prevent and I may buy some double sided tape to deter her from this behavior. She wants to go upstairs.
The kittens seem to be doing fine, and just seem very cautious walking past Isabelle or will run past her and are aware she does not want them passing in a more narrow hallway.
Isabelle has shown this higher agitation behavior before when coming back home, so this is not unusual behavior for her. She growls and hisses a lot more. My anxiety has also been on high, and I wonder if this is affected her, too. Sunnie (upstairs cat) seemed to want to stalk her and bother her when they used to be together in the past, so that is why they are staying separated.
Isabelle also seems much less tolerant of the kittens being near. If the kittens come to cuddle in my arms while Isabelle is in my lap, Isabelle is leaving more often when growling and not tolerating the kittens.
Although, Isabelle also has times when she is okay with the kittens being near. The other day Persia jumped up on the couch and asked Isabelle to lick her, which Isabelle spent about five minutes grooming her. Persia laid down, closed her eyes, and enjoyed it. It was so cute! Then Isabelle groomed herself and growled at Persia to leave her personal space.
With the limited amount of space, what would you guys suggest? I've tried playing with Isabelle because she has been calling for me to play and carrying a toy to me, although she gets irritated when the kittens get playful when I'm playing with her. May need to try separate playing sessions for Isabelle. Thinking of also adding something to the hallways for the kittens to jump up on and travel at a different height, like a small table or bookcase, but it would need to not inhibit human passage.
Pictures below, sorry about the crappy quality, no flash on my phone. Living room:
Thinking of moving this cabinet to open up more space here.
I also was not able to bring any of their cat trees for them to climb on, but grabbed some of the extras from upstairs. The downstairs here does have a nice ledge along the outside wall of every room to create more levels. There are also a few couches downstairs and I kept them away from the walls to create "tunnels" for the cats to explore between the couch and the wall. I'm thinking of buying a large cat tree, like the on I had before with multiple levels. Isabelle did not use the tree much, but the kittens did.
I had two feliway plugs running (one living room and one bedroom), but went to only one feliway in the living room. The second one was just replaced in the bedroom to see it that helps.
Since Isabelle used to live here before I went back to school, she knows there is a whole upstairs area and has already escaped past my legs when I've went through the door. I always grab her and bring her down right away. She has started to claw at the carpet by the door today, which I am trying to prevent and I may buy some double sided tape to deter her from this behavior. She wants to go upstairs.
The kittens seem to be doing fine, and just seem very cautious walking past Isabelle or will run past her and are aware she does not want them passing in a more narrow hallway.
Isabelle has shown this higher agitation behavior before when coming back home, so this is not unusual behavior for her. She growls and hisses a lot more. My anxiety has also been on high, and I wonder if this is affected her, too. Sunnie (upstairs cat) seemed to want to stalk her and bother her when they used to be together in the past, so that is why they are staying separated.
Isabelle also seems much less tolerant of the kittens being near. If the kittens come to cuddle in my arms while Isabelle is in my lap, Isabelle is leaving more often when growling and not tolerating the kittens.
Although, Isabelle also has times when she is okay with the kittens being near. The other day Persia jumped up on the couch and asked Isabelle to lick her, which Isabelle spent about five minutes grooming her. Persia laid down, closed her eyes, and enjoyed it. It was so cute! Then Isabelle groomed herself and growled at Persia to leave her personal space.
With the limited amount of space, what would you guys suggest? I've tried playing with Isabelle because she has been calling for me to play and carrying a toy to me, although she gets irritated when the kittens get playful when I'm playing with her. May need to try separate playing sessions for Isabelle. Thinking of also adding something to the hallways for the kittens to jump up on and travel at a different height, like a small table or bookcase, but it would need to not inhibit human passage.
Pictures below, sorry about the crappy quality, no flash on my phone. Living room:
Thinking of moving this cabinet to open up more space here.
