Shelving for multiple cats: what a cattery study reveals about conflict
Published by Planète Pets · managing editor: Clément Lacaille · how our guides are written
Two cats staring each other down across a hallway aren't necessarily about to fight, but they aren't relaxed either. A study by Emma Desforges, Anne Moesta and Mark Farnworth, published in 2016 in Applied Animal Behaviour Science, followed 29 cats housed in a group at a boarding cattery over two baseline days with no added furniture, four days with a shelf-furnished screen added to the communal room, then two days after its removal. Unfriendly behaviour dropped markedly during the screen phase, then rose again as soon as it was removed — a direct, reversible effect of the setup, independent of anything else changing.
Contents · 5 sections
Why a simple shelf shifts the group's dynamic
The screen tested wasn't just a perch: it broke direct lines of sight across circulation areas while offering several resting levels reachable without crossing the floor. Two cats that don't see each other head-on don't have to negotiate a passage, and a cat able to climb above a rival avoids confrontation without losing access to the room. It's this dual function — visual barrier plus elevated resting area — that explains the measured effect, more than height alone.
Reproducing this result in a multi-cat household
Rather than a single cat tree in the middle of the living room, spread two or three high points across different walls, at varying heights, so as to break the direct sightlines between each cat's usual spots. A wall shelf near a door, a platform above a low piece of furniture, and a walkway connecting two points in the room fairly closely reproduce the tested setup. Our guide to wall walkways and shelves for cats covers the fixings needed for different wall types and the heights to aim for.
Don't rely on layout alone for established tension
The effect observed concerns cats that broadly tolerate each other but handle close quarters poorly — not open conflict between two cats that fight regularly. In that more serious case, vertical layout still helps but isn't enough on its own: key resources — bowls, litter trays, water points — also need duplicating in separate areas, as covered in our article on introducing a second cat. How many cat trees a given household actually needs is addressed separately in our article one cat tree or two, for two cats.
A setup that also benefits a single cat
Even without difficult cohabitation, breaking up the straight sightlines of a long, narrow home reduces the situations where two cats meet nose to nose in a hallway — often the trigger for a chase. Find all our layout benchmarks in the cat bedding and habitat section.
Frequently asked questions
Should the screen or shelving be removed once the cats are used to it?
No — the study shows the opposite: unfriendly behaviour returned as soon as the setup was removed. The effect depends on its continued presence, not on a one-off learning process.
How many high points should I provide for two cats?
At least three, spread across different rooms or areas, so that neither cat has to pass in front of the other to reach one.
Does this layout replace a behavioural consultation?
No. It eases tension linked to close quarters, but repeated, open aggression between two cats warrants a veterinary behaviourist's opinion.
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This guide is part of Planète Pets’s Cats universe. Our advice is general in nature: for any health concern, your veterinarian remains the only reference.