Our cats live with us. They have access to a covered outdoor courtyard and an outdoor courtyard. Everything is of course secured so they can´t get out and other cats can´t enter. They have climbing trees and beds everywhere and most shelves in the living room is empty so the cats can lie there. Some things are glued to the shelves so that they do not push them down. My cats are somtimes naughty and don´t always agree whit me on what is standing on my shelves. Since we also have dogs, our cats are used to share the space and beds with the small dogs. The 2 big dog´s is not in the living room. My male dog thinks he need to mark the furniture so therefore they are not in the living room. The have the kitchen and hallway which lead down to the other end of the house where our four children have there rooms and we have our bedroom. Since our two smallest boys have asthma, there are no cats in their rooms. Our daughter has her own cat that she rescued the summer 2014 and she comes down with her and sleep every night. The two of them have a unique relationship.
Ouer big son has his dog with him every night. The small dogs we have are Chihuahua and the 2 large are Tervuren.
Our male cats have their own outdoor courtyard. Their inside is our bathroom. YES. It requires a lot more cleaning, but it is intentionally we have chosen this. They have our contact several times a day. Our males are not the only ones who go out there, our neuters have access to the males cats yard as it suits them. Both of our males go together and we have no problems.
Our male chihuahua goes with the male cats when the bitch´s are in heat. They have fun together. They have grown up together and I had a litter of kittens and a litter of puppies that were born the same day with a few hours apart. They love each other