How much space does my cats need?

[brazilragdoll]

Hello everyone, i m moving to new york city in the beggining of 2013 and since rents are more expensive than where i live now, i ll have to downsize my apartment. i currently have 4 cats, all male and neutered and i wonder if they can live peacefully in a 750sf (plus another 150sf balcony) apartment. i m hoping to add few cat trees so they have more  "vertical space", but i know cats sometimes tend to be a bit territorial and i m afraid they could start fighting. just to add a bit of information, my current place is around 1300sf in total and they get along just fine.

thks!

daniel

 

[kluchetta]

Hello everyone, i m moving to new york city in the beggining of 2013 and since rents are more expensive than where i live now, i ll have to downsize my apartment. i currently have 4 cats, all male and neutered and i wonder if they can live peacefully in a 750sf (plus another 150sf balcony) apartment. i m hoping to add few cat trees so they have more  "vertical space", but i know cats sometimes tend to be a bit territorial and i m afraid they could start fighting. just to add a bit of information, my current place is around 1300sf in total and they get along just fine.

thks!

daniel

What are their ages? Are they pretty active? I know my boys tend to be more active than my girls, and like to run around and chase each other.

 

[ritz]

Can you put shelves on the WALLS, that will create vertical space too.

I'd also invest in some toys that they can play with by themselves.

And have some safe places so the kittens can hide from you and the other cats to lessen territorial issues.

You might want to consult a space saving manager/expert for your OWN stuff; the less room your stuff takes up, the more room your kitties have.

Also, how high up is your apartment/balcony?  Can you enclose it in some very secure, safe manner so they can utilize that space? 

I lived in a small one bedroom apartment about 750 sq ft, but I only have the one cat.  I did have a balcony, but being on the third floor with railings and perches, I was too afraid to let Ritz on the balcony.  Should she attempt to catch that bird and fly off the balcony, it would essentially be a death drop.

Good luck!

 

[luvzmykatz]

I have 2 cats in a 640 square foot apartment they seem to do fine.  I move things around every time I clean so which keeps them from getting too bored but I'm limited on space and how much I can do because I have 12 foot kayak and mtn bike in my living room as well.  I also have 3 cat trees one in the bedroom and 2 in the livingroom.   I've seen where people have built shelves into the walls up by the ceiling for their cats to hang out on.   Also if you could screen part of the balcony off that might help too so they could use it.  I'd say multilevel cat tower with lots of stuff for them to play on would be you best bet to start off with. 

 

[brazilragdoll]

2 of them are 2.5 years old and the other two are still very young, just turned 9 months old. i d say they are active (with the exception of one, which s very lazy), but not ultra active. thks!!!

 

[brazilragdoll]

Thank you so much everyone! i m starting to think they will be fine, i dont have that much furniture and i was also thinking about enclosing the balcony; by doing so i might even be able to leave their litter boxes there

!!  Shelves could definitely add to their entertainment. A friend of mine also told me to use this product felliway from time to time in order to help keep everything in harmony. i looked it up on the net and reviews seem to be overall positive.