Hello! I just signed up today because I'm having a bit of a hard time introducing a new bengal kitten to our current bengal cat, and am hoping for some advice and support. By ways of introduction, as I haven't done one yet, here is our bengal cat, Moose. She's three, a total sweetie, super playful and very affectionate:
We've been thinking about getting her a friend for a while, and finally decided to bite the bullet. Moose, like all bengals, loves her some attention. We play with her often when we're at home, but we thought it would be good for her to have a friend to pounce on, stalk, and snuggle during the day. So, this weekend, we brought home Pepper! 3 months old, female, super confident and playful, and a total lovebug.
We knew that this wouldn't be easy at first and were prepared for there. We put the kitten in her own room. For the first few days, we didn't let the cats see each other, but swapped out bedding and toys. Moose would hiss and growl a bit at the kitten's bedding, but eventually quieted down. I rubbed a towel on the kitten's face and then on Moose. When we pet the kitten, we then pet Moose. After several days—last night—we put up a baby gate for a little while just outside of the kitten's door, so that Moose could see the kitten.
Moose was furious. She growled and hissed. The kitten got super puffy and kept her head low, but made no noises back, then eventually forgot to be scared and started playing. We've put the baby gate back up on and off throughout yesterday and today. Moose has gotten progressively closer (she seemed scared of the little one) but is still growling quite a lot. When the kitten gets really excited in play, Moose looks intrigued, but then starts growling if the kitten looks at her funny. I'm a bit worried that she's going to lunge, but then some of the time she just tucks her paws underneath her in her usual "hen" position and looks totally harmless.
Any advice on the next best steps? Is the baby gate a step too far if there's still growling? Should we scale it back to scent swapping? Is some amount of growling and hissing to be expected in a face-to-face introduction? Any advice on how to make this go more smoothly?
I know this part is tricky, I just don't want to do irreparable damage to their relationship, and am trying to convince my husband that it will all be okay, while not being so certain myself. Hoping for some help from you kind strangers on the internet!
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