I love talking cat products largely because I have a small online shopping problem and tend to soothe myself by buying things for my cats. I’ve covered topics such as why you need cat furniture, how to pick out quality items for your cat, and even where to place cat stuff. How do you know when you have enough cat stuff, though? The answer is complicated, but I’ll let you in on a few secrets to make the correct choice.
How Many Cats Do You Have?
The more cats you have, the more cat stuff you need. While some cats may happily share items, cats are territorial creatures. They are more likely to share things peacefully if there are plenty of resources around. This amount of stuff you need depends on the number of cats that you have. The more cats, the more cat things.
(That was an intentional repetition because it’s a really simple but really important concept.)
In other words, that single scratching post for your three cats? Not enough. Even if you add in a handful of cardboard scratchers, chances are you may not have enough scratching posts. A good rule of thumb? If you feel like you have enough, you probably need a bit more. Most people get it wrong and they get it wrong on the low end.
Your Cat’s Personality Is A Factor
Do you have a cat who is more on the wild child spectrum? You’ll need more stuff to climb on, scratch, and more. Some cats may be okay with less stuff, though keep in mind them being able to tolerate not having a lot of stuff doesn’t mean they’re happy.
Your cat’s personality determines one other thing to consider: how much of a particular type of cat furniture you need. For example, a shyer cat may like hiding more and will require more cozy but covered cat beds. A cat with more energy? More climbing space required.
Size (Of Your Home) Matters
Do you have a sprawling mansion? Get that credit card out because you’ll need a lot of cat things to make your cat happy. You can’t get away with just a single cat room. There should be multiple cat things spread out in multiple locations. And yes, that means litter boxes outside the basement.
For those of you living in small spaces, you still need plenty of cat things. You may be able to get away with somewhat less (keeping in mind that your cat be thriving, but you can technically get away with it), but your cat will probably appreciate multiple of each resource. You can live with a cat and keep them happy in a small home, but you need to be strategic about resource placement.
An Easy Gauge
Clearly, how much stuff you need for your cat depends on a few things. While this won’t be 100% accurate for every cat, I’m going to give you a quick, easy gauge for common items as a place to start for most cats.
- Litter Boxes: You need the number of cats you have plus one extra litter box. You should also have one box on every floor of your home the cats have access to. If these numbers are different, the larger number is the correct choice. For example, if you have two cats but four floors, you need four litter boxes.
- Scratching Posts: You need at least one actual scratching post per room the cats spend significant time in. Larger rooms may need more than one. If your cat is still scratching your furniture, you may need to add in more scratching objects, rearrange them, cover your furniture with a scratching carpet, or change the type of scratchers you have.
- Water Bowls or Fountains: One per floor, but more if your cat seems to be guarding them. If you have multiple cats, you should get as close to the number of cats as you can.
- Feeding Locations: One per cat spread out in different locations. For automatic feeders, you need one per cat even if they aren’t RFID tag activated feeders or microchip feeders.
- Toys: You need a variety of toys, focusing on interactive toys that you can play with your cat with directly. If your cat doesn’t appear to like toys, try ones that are different from the ones you’ve tried (or try the Cat Dancer if you haven’t already) or change how you play with your cat. Avoid laser based toys, especially automatic ones where you don’t control the laser.
You don’t need to make it so your home isn’t functional for you because of cat stuff, but most people tend to not have enough stuff for their cats. Once you hit the point where you feel like you have too much stuff for your cat, you probably are still a bit short and should get them just a little more. If you’re still not sure, I’m here to help!
