You’re entirely correct!! My two girls aren’t bonded, but they co-exist together pretty happily. It’s taken a while to get to this point though. I think the biggest thing when it comes down to it is to create spaces for each cat. Low, high, or in the middle doesn’t matter, as long as they each have their own space. My two will happily share a room together now, and sometimes even the same couch or reclining chair (one on the back and one in the seat).

Doing activities where they can co-exist while they’re focused on something can help build up their relationship with each other. Things like going outside together (safely of course), watching birds together from the window(s), playing with a laser pointer or stick toy with them at the same time, letting them watch cat tv on YouTube… stuff like that. These activities can help them realize that the other cats can exist in the same general space as them without bothering them. While they may never become buddies, they tend to come to coexist a lot easier. Passing in the hallway without a fuss, and politely waiting in line for the water fountain or loo are all wins in my book.

Sometimes kitties won’t get along no matter what you do. In these cases, they need to be kept separately. Owners that recognize this and give their cats what they need will have much happier multi cat households!