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I know some cats would be very miserable if they couldn't go outside. But I was wondering if there is such a thing as an "apartment cat" where a cat would be perfectly happy to live in a small flat (20~30 m2)?

Also, some kind of studies or "scientific evidence" would be appreciated as answers.

We have a few existing posts about how much space a cat needs, I have included some below. Your area is large enough for a cat. But even a larger space will not be sufficient without enough enrichment, so having toys, and things to climb on will make a big difference.

Each cat is going to have a unique personality. So you need to consider the cats personality when choosing your pet. A cat with a history of living on a farm, is not going to do as well as one who spent their entire previous life in a small apartment.

Most cities that have small flats are also going to have cat rescues or shelters. Contact a cat rescue near you, should give you opportunity to find a cat that is good match for you and your apartment.

Related:

• How much space do cats need when living indoors?


• What is the minimum space to keep a cat in an outdoor enclosure?


• What Are Some Ways to Increase Space for Cats in a Small House?

It is totally dependent upon the age at which you adopt the cat and current environment of the cat if the cat is an adult cat.

If you are adopting an already grown up cat habituated to outside life, it will be very stressful for the cat. But if the grown up cat was previously habituated to a small closed environment it should not be a problem. You only need to give the cat some time to get habituated to the new environment.

On the other hand, if you take in a kitten who has never experienced outside world, it should not be a problem at all.

Also there are some cat breeds who are more adapted for living inside small apartments than others.
Check out:
Best Cat Breeds for Apartment Living

They say Ragdoll, Main Coon, Siamese, Bengal, and Sphinx breeds do well.

Also a key to overcoming limited horizontal space for cats is utilizing vertical space. Cat trees are excellent for this purpose. Search for cat trees on e-commerce sites or go to the nearest pet store.

A lots of cat toys is also key to cat happiness for cats living in small apartments.
Check out:
Treat Your Cat to … Different Types of Cat Toys

They include Tunnels, Exercise wheels, Climbing toys, and laser pointers.

For further reading, check out:

• Is Your Apartment Big Enough for a Cat?


• Living with Cats in Apartments: How to Make It Work in a Tiny Space


• How To Make a Small Apartment More Fun for Your Cat

I can only give you an answer from personal experience. I adopted two kittens from an animal shelter when I was living in three storey townhouse that had three floors: the main floor, upstairs, and a basement. I raised them to be entirely indoor cats. When they were 13, we moved to a small bachelor apartment. They seemed to do just fine there despite having much less space to roam around. But they never really took advantage of the space in the townhouse anyway; they mostly hung around with me. And slept a lot, as cats always do. They had no desire to go outside and didn't even spend a lot of time in the windows except perhaps to bask on a very sunny day in either the townhouse or the apartment.

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As for the question of one cat or two, I deliberately chose to have two kittens for the same reasons others have given: so that they would have company of their own species, even on the occasions where I wasn't home. In hindsight, I'm not sure that was a great idea. They were initially unrelated strangers and my male kitten decided that he wanted to be the boss; the female didn't defy him so much as try to do her own thing. He got quite aggressive with her to the point where they fought quite a lot of the time and he made her quite miserable with his dominance games. After several months, she decided to give in to his will and from that point on, they got along quite well. They would lie together every day for at least a while and groom each other. (He would also try to mate with her, with her apparent consent, although nothing could happen since both were fixed.) Despite the improved relations, I rather suspect at this point that she would actually have had a happier life if she could have been the only cat in the house. I think she always wanted to be a lap cat but she only finally dared to do that once the male had passed away; before that, she didn't seem to have "permission". Sleeping was much the same; she always deferred to him and let him sleep by my chest; she was effectively restricted to sleeping no closer than my knees. After he died, she moved closer. Sadly, she died a few months after he did so I really didn't get a lot of lap time with her (and he had never tried to sit on my lap.)

I see comparable issues in my current environment. I'm sharing a house with my brother and he has two cats, also an unrelated male and female. They were a little older when he got them: the male was around 18 months old and the female was only about 9 months old when he got her a few months later. She is much more aggressive than he is and he seems to walk on eggshells when she's around. He's never tried to climb into my lap but I think that's because she's decided that my lap is for her only. The two cats had some pretty vicious fights when she first joined the family - to the point where she had him bleeding - but they eventually settled things after he apparently agreed to submit to her. Quite frankly, I think both of them would have been happier if they had been the only cat in a house.

Age difference is probably a major factor in having two cats or kittens. One of my friends had a 9 year old female, then got a female kitten. The older cat DESPISED the kitten from the first day and never stopped hating her until the day the older one died, 9 years later. The older one wouldn't even let the younger one ON my friend's bed: she was banished to sleeping UNDER the bed. In retrospect, I think my friend regretted having those two cats at the same time; she loved them both but could see that they weren't very happy to have another cat in the house. When the second one died, she got a new kitten and this time made a point of having only one. Last time I saw her, that was working really well.

Of course having two kittens or cats from the same litter is somewhat different. I've experienced that too and that seemed to go somewhat better, although even they sometimes fought. (And despite both being males, the dominant brother tried to mate with the submissive brother on occasion.)

Just my two cents worth....

It would be wonderful for you and the cat you want to adopt, if you can adopt two cats, hopefully from the same litter, so they are adapted to each other (even in a smallish apartment).

It is as easy to take care of two as one, and they do best with another of the same species around, just be sure they know each other already. It is very comforting for one to have a brother/sister around.

Also it's nice to give a lovable home to two cats, if you can, rather than one. They entertain and comfort each other. Moreover if they're used to being together, they don't have to part and miss each other when you adopt one.