Hi there!

My name is Sara and me and my boyfriend have a 1 year old brown rosetted Bengal boy named Loki. He's come to be our best friend and always keeps us entertained! He is an indoor cat but we have started harness training and he now enjoys going out the back door into our enclosed garden and having a walk around on an extendable lead :) we have no other pets but our neighbour also has a male Bengal who is outdoors and the two cats often see each other through the window and meow, and Loki has met this cat when he has been out on his lead. The pair approached each other slowly and sniffed each other, but nothing much happened. Our neighbours cat used to live with other cats and seemed to not be bothered by Loki, and Loki seemed curious and confused by the neighbour cat, but they did not hiss or try to fight which I take to be a good sign on both parts!

We have been considering a second kitten since we first came home with Loki, and have now decided the time is right for us to start looking for his new friend! We are in touch with a few breeders around us and are looking to get either a seal lynx or seal mink, to really contrast with Loki! We are visiting a pregnant cat to see the parents this weekend and could have a new kitten by November!

I was hoping for some information and advice on introductions to make things go as smoothly as possible and we were also wondering if anyone has suggestions on a boy or girl kitten if this would make it any easier as we obviously hope our kitten will be Loki's new best friend!

Thank you :)

There's a lot of information out there on introducing two cats, which needs to go slowly. Just because your kitty didn't hiss at the other kitty doesn't mean your kitty will get along with just any other cat. My Bengal howls at all the other cats and he would prefer to fight with them. For me, I find one cat is plenty and two of them would probably drive me out of my mind. But, if I did decide to get one, I'd probably choose a female rather than another male.

We are also hoping to get a new kitten to play with our Minx within the next 6 months (hopefully). We would like to get a male as my partner would really like a big boy cat (Minx is very petite), and we are getting a kitten as we would like the experience of raising it ourselves (Minx was 9 months when we got her). We would also like to go for a different colour or marbled to contrast with Minx's brown spots. So in a similar boat to you but will probably be getting one after you. Good luck, I will be interested to hear how your experience goes, how Loki reacts and how the two get on.

I think the personality of the new cat is more important than whether it is a boy or a girl, along with the personality meshing with your current cat. Keeping a new kitten separated initially allows for you to bond with them, them to get used to the sounds of the house, you to suss out any medical or behavioral issues, and your current cat to get used to the idea and smell of a new cat. Introductions in a contained area have went well for me, like a living room or spare bedroom and then swapping places to allow them to check out the others "territory" before you let them be out together. Some cats love each other initially, some are super picky and mad for a while, it really depends on the cat.