Expert: Ali - 6/22/2009

Question
Hello there, i have a loverly bengal called Narla. she has just turned one! the breeder of her has just had some more kittens. We are thinking of getting her a playmate, as they are half price to us. Do we go for a male or female, and how old do i get the kitten? Also is this even a good idea as she comes first and i just want whats best for her, i don't want them to fight, she is my little baby! xxxxxxx

Answer
Gemma,

Before considering a new addition to your feline family there are a few things about cats and what they need in order to have things turn out as peacefully and comfortably as possible for the human caregivers and felines involved. Over the time that I've been a volunteer expert on this site I've noticed that many pet parents haven't been provided with much information that will help them to introduce a new arrival into a household with one or more cats already in residence. What many pet parents aren't told when they adopt a new cat or kitten from a breeder, shelter or animal welfare organization is that cats are creatures of habit, they do not cope well with sudden changes, this includes an improper introduction to a new cat or kitten coming into their home. I normally recommend that kittens stay with their mother until they're 10 weeks old at minimum because this allows mom to teach them some important lessons so that the know how to be a polite, well socialized cat who behaves properly with other cats and people. Try not to undo mom's good work by allowing anyone to play with the new arrival using any part of the human body because this can lead to some pretty unpleasant behaviors such as biting or scratching people because the cat believes that's what s/he's supposed to be doing.

Cats are very territorial by nature, they hate it when things in their environment change suddenly and most cats really are suckers for security and routine. When a pet parent leaves the house, comes back with a new cat or kitten that they've adopted and allows the new arrival to wander around the resident cat's house freely things aren't likely to end well in most cases. A proper new cat introduction is done gradually to allow the new arrival(s) get comfortable in their new home. A gradual introduction has important health and behavioral benefits for any cats already in residence as well as new cats joining your family.

During the 2-3 week (longer if necessary) introduction process the isolation acts as a quarantine period of sorts until you've had a chance to see the veterinarian and confirm that the kitten hasn't been exposed to any contagious viral or bacterial infection that s/he might pass along to your resident cat and vice versa. Slowly integrating a new kitty into your household and keeping him/her confined for a couple of weeks allows you to learn basic things about your new kitty's sleep schedule, energy level, eating, favorite toys, drinking and toilet habits as well as traits or quirks that are unique to that specific kitty. During the introduction it's important to make sure that each cat has at least 2 litter pans filled with unscented clumping kitty litter so that house soiling to mark territory is less likely to happen. You can certainly switch beds between the new kitten and Narla on a daily basis, that's another way to ensure that they get comfortable with each other's smell, litter boxes can also help to serve the same purpose.

I don't actually know your cats so I can't predict whether the first face to face meeting between the cats goes off without a hitch. Exactly how bad things get between the resident cat(s) and any new arrival(s) really depends on a few things. When it comes to cats I've noticed that just like people all cats have their own unique personalities and temperaments. I don't think that it's unreasonable to say that there are some cats out there who thrive on creating as much drama as possible as a way to communicate their agitation, jealousy, anger and frustrations. Some cats will do a minimal amount of posturing when they come into a new environment and attempt to make peace by playing with their new four legged family members. For the most part most cats and kittens fall somewhere within those basic personality types and each individual's actions and reactions will often be clear based on how they react to stresful situations. Over the years I've found that it's not uncommon for cats to have a sibling relationship (including the usual squabbles and attitude problems) with other cats in a household and it doesn't really matter whether or not they're related.

It's best if we as human caregivers take a step back from the situation and recognize that some cats will feel anxious and/or jealous when a new kitty comes into his/her territory. If you decide to pick out a feline sibling for Narla it's important to provide her with plenty of attention and affection before, during and after you've successfully introduced the new family member. Narla needs to feel secure in the knowledge that she's still loved and her place as your number one girl hasn't changed. Cats are sentient beings that are quite capable of feeling jealous and having their feelings hurt. While many pet parents mistakenly spend an inordinate amount of time heaping attention and affection onto the newest member of the household this is a mistake.

If Narla doesn't get the love and attention she's accustomed to getting when you bring home a new kitten she's likely to become jealous, anxious and angry which often leads to some pretty nasty discussions between the two cats if you happen to be watching what's going on from the human point of view. I'm certainly not suggesting that you completely put the new kitten into the room that was set up for him/her and ignore her for 2-3 weeks. The new kitty needs attention and cuddles too so that she can build a lasting bond with her human family members as well as finding his/her way into Narla's heart.

In situations like this finding the delicate balance that will keep everyone as happy as possible is a tricky thing to figure out when you first start integrating a new kitty into the household. Once you've found a way to provide each kitty all of the love s/he needs in any given day all of the hard work pays off and the results are well worth the time you spent working towards keeping things harmonious within your household. New cat or kitten introductions usually go off without any problems when pet parents take the time, effort, understanding, patience and love needed to work through a proper introduction so that everyone ends up healthy, happy and safe for everyone involved.

I get a large number of questions from about the proper way to introduce a new cat or kitten into their household when they already have a resident cat. Sometimes as a result of a botched new cat introduction the cats are fighting amongst themselves and things have had time to get pretty ugly. In these situations human caregivers are at a loss when it comes to trying to fix the problem. In some of these cases cats are actually marking their territory with urine/feces throughout their home in addition to getting into serious fights with each other. Once things like this have been happening for a week or more it can be difficult to start over and restore peace in the household.

Ultimately when it comes to vets practicing only conventional medicine situations like this can end up requiring the intervention of a veterinarian, a behaviorist specializing in cat behavior and prescription drugs such as sedatives, anti-depressant/anxiety drugs are often used to try and control the situation. Often these treatment options either don't work at all or end up functioning as a temporary fix. My recommendation would be to seek out the advice of a holistic veterinarian so that you have the opportunity to allow the cats to heal themselves. Dr. Christine Chambreau is a holistic vet on the Ask a Vet portion of this site and she offers consultations. My family veterinarian is absolutely fantastic, she uses homeopathic remedies in place of or in addition to conventional medicine and I've seen some amazing things happen when everything falls into place together.

Even when you've made sure to make your new kitten's introduction into the household a gradual process and taken all the time you need to do things right it's normal to see some amount of posturing from the new kitten and Narla when they meet face to face for the first time. Cats have a very complex social hierarchy and it's important that Narla and her new kitten work on establishing who will be the boss within the household, this is a process that takes some time and you may see two grumpty kitties for several days. So long as fur isn't flying, nobody's being bullied away from the necessities of life (food, water, litter...) and nobody's bleeding it's best to simply watch both cats very closely for any sign that things are getting out of hand. Cats have to figure out where they fit into their changing household and I would suggest keeping interventions to a minimum and making use of humane disciplinary tools such as a water pistol)spray bottle, a shaker can (container filled with dried beans), the lid securely taped on and shake loudly to startle the cats out of bad behavior or a can of compressed air (meant to clean electronics and computer keyboards). Watch closely because for the most part if you've been patient and taken the time to properly introduce the new arrival everything should go well, any aggression should be purely a matter of posturing for each cat to get his or her point across, if everything goes well then nobody should get hurt.

It's very important to remember that all cats and kittens differ in personality, intelligence, temperament and attitude so there's no way to absolutely predict how Narla or a new kitten will handle being introduced, ultimately adding a new kitten to your household will most likely give Narla a playmate, she will probably become the kitten's role model and teach him/her about the house rules. Some cats will be more vocal and put on more of a show than others when they first meet face to face. I don't know Narla personally so I can't really offer much of an opinion in terms of how she's likely to handle a new sibling, but I think she's likely to enjoy having a younger companion to play with.

If Narla tends to be a fairly difficult kitty when it comes to accepting changes in her environment it will be very important to take whatever amount of time you need to properly introduce the new arrival, you shouldn't rush into a face to face introduction because if things go badly you'll most likely have to go backwards and there's a chance that there will be some problems with how the two kitties interact. Depending on how vocal Narla is normally, what her personality is like and how well you prepare her for a new arrival if you decide to bring a new kitten into the family

In the unlikely event that all hell breaks loose I recommend keeping a couple of things handy - a large, heavy towel and a can of compressed air (the ones used for cleaning computer keyboards and electronics). First I'd like to pass along some very important safety instructions about using a can of compressed air as a humane disciplinary tool with your cats before I explain the next step in the process. When using a can of compressed air it's extremely important that you never aim the can directly at your cats, yourself or any other person. It's not a good idea to shake the can before use or pull the trigger while your holding the can on an angle because there are propellents in these cans that can cause frostbite and if these products are used improperly they can be dangerous. It's very important that you never aim a can of compressed air directly at your cat or use this tool at close range.

Gender really doesn't matter provided of course that you plan to spay/neuter the new arrival and Narla is already spayed, after all you don't want to contribute to overpopulation and risk that any of the kittens could end up in homes where they aren't spayed or neutered and ultimately end up making their own contributions to the already serious pet overpopulation problem animal welfare organizations and shelters are dealing with worldwide. Spaying and neutering are truly lifesaving surgeries both because they prevent reproduction and they prevent serious health and behavioral problems that can lead to euthanasia.

On that subject I wanted to include a few words about pet overpopulation and spay/neuter surgeries. There are way too many unwanted cats and kittens in this world that are homeless and although some end up in shelters where they face the possibility of euthanasia others aren't nearly as lucky. I recommend that all pet parents spay or neuter their cat or kitten as early as possible. There are many medical and behavioral benefits to having a cat spayed or neutered and ultimately preventing euthanasia by preventing overpopulation is one of the kindest things that you can do for your cat or kitten - as far as I'm concerned it's a humane and ethical choice that should be made whenever possible for our pets. Hopefully this answer has provided you with some basic information about introducing a new kitten into your household. If you need more information about proper new cat/kitten introductions I would recommend checking out all of my previous answers on this subject. In the event that you need me to clarify something in this (or other) answers or you have further questions, please feel free to contact me again.