Hi,

I am slave to 2 11 year old bengals (littermates), 1 male and 1 female. I love these two toerags to bits they are kept indoors but do have an enclosure they can go in and out of freely all day and night. They have free run of the house except my daughters bedroom (she's 8 yrs old) which they only get into if she is in the room playing or if we are in the house.

Thing is, my daughter is mad for getting a kitten as the two we have are definitely mummys babies and don't really bother her much. I have, in secret got a kitten that I will collect in a few weeks to surprise my daughter. My worry is how do I introduce the new kitten to my current babies? I don't really have a room I can put the kitten in to separate them all, will I be OK to introduce them straight away? My thinking is to maybe keep the kitten in a cat box for a wee while and lett the older two have a good smell before letting the kitten out.

Any advise would be fantastic.

TAI
K
x

There is alot of good advice out there, including this link.
http://www.felinebehaviorsolutions.com/ ... -patience/

Besides the safe room concept and taking it slow, they mention using a sock to exchange scents. Helping them be comfortable with each others scent is key. I have in the past used baby powder or a spritz of cologne to make them all smell the same, but no longer recommend using anything that might be toxic. But there are yummy things you could smear on all 3 like wet cat food or tuna. Confuse their senses. Besides if the cute kitten has cat food smeared all over it, the older kitties just might have to lick it off.

This might also be a good time to use FELIWAY pheromone diffusers and/or Sargeant's Calming Collars to put smells of friendship in the air.

Give more attention to the older cats, and avoid showering the cute ittie bittie sweet adorable piece of fluff with too much attention in front of the other cats. Maybe only your daughter should handle the kitten at first. You want to avoid jealousy.

And this may sound crazy, but talk to the older cats and tell them you got THEM a new pet and playmate. That the kitten is THEIR kitten.

Here is another trick. Have your daughter hold the kitten and cause it to meow pitifully. That might bring the older cats running to protect it. Once they identify it as something they should protect, they should have fewer issues.

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I think there are two separate issues here. First, getting the kitten acclimated to the new home, and second, getting the bengals to accept the kitten.

I'm not at all a fan of keeping a cat in a crate, except when it's absolutely necessary due to medical reasons etc. I consider that cruel, but also counter-productive. I think you have to try to put yourself in the kitten's shoes and ask what you'd want in that circumstance.

It seems to me like you have at least one pretty decent option. Keeping the kittin in your daughter's room. I think that could potentially accomplish several things:

1. It lets your new kitten get acclimated to the new home, slowly and safely.
2. It doesn't rub your bengals noses into the fact that you've brought in a potentially unwelcome new family member, and lets them process and get acclimated to that fact slowly and non-confrontationally (by smelling the newcomer through a closed door).
3. You are getting this kitty for your daughter anyway, so may as well get the bonding going early (if you think your daughter can handle it).

But I think you'll have to supervise that carefully. The first thing to figure out is: how scared is the kitten? Some kittens are good to go almost immediately, but if the kitten is scared, it's important to let the kitten hide until he's ready to interact with the room's inhabitants, so that has to happen by his choice and on his terms. So no grabbing the kitten and wrenching him hiding places if he's scared. That would do a tremendous amount of damage to building trust. I would keep the bengals completely out of that equation. Keep a closed door between them and the kitten for at least a few days, maybe longer depending on how upset (or not) they are about it.f

Then, when the kitten is no longer scared AND the bengals are curious but no longer openly hostile, have short, highly supervised introductions. The minute there is growling, hissing or worse, end the encounter before anything worse happens.

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The little monsters 3

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The little monsters 3

I would suggest your daughter's room as the 'safe" room for the new kitten. That would allow her to start the bonding process. Throwing three cats together immediately would be a disaster. The new kitten will be stressed out at leaving mom and siblings and being put into a whole new environment. Add strange cats to that and you may get an injured kitten. Seriously .... adding a new kitten to the mix takes time and patience. I'm dealing with a friend now who is trying to introduce a new "barn" cat to her indoor kitty. I've told her to let the cats take their time in accepting each other -- don't rush it. Your two litter mates are bonded with each other and have marked territory throughout your home. The new kitten arrives with none. Imagine how scary that will be having new people and voices around.

If you want your daughter to care for this new kitten, then her room is probably the best room to start out in. Unfortunately, that mean food, water, toys and a litter box in there, but she might as well get used to caring for the kitty. Exchanging scents is a great idea. You can eventually feed the cats in the same general area or have all three of them together playing with wand toys. Know this is not a fast process. They can either get along famously immediately or you can be dealing with a month or two -- if ever. Make sure you have at least TWO cat trees and never leave your new kitten alone with the other kitties until they are great buddies.

Good luck.