We’re proud owners of a Male Bengal Kitten, which we have had for 11 days now and he already, rules the house with full of confidence and curiosity.

We kept the kitten in a single room for 1 day, then opened up a second and so on until he had investigated the whole house and while we kept the existing cat away from the new kitten and tried to fuss her as much it has been hard. The older cat is 11 years old and she has always been the only cat in the household.

We let the older cat have the rest of the house at bed time and she sleeps in our room or just outside while the kitten is in what we call a safe room downstairs in the dining room.

They older cat is now spending more and more time outside and away from the kitten who isn’t that freighted of her and runs up to her and then the older cat starts to swear/hiss and he returns with a growl.

Does anyone have any tips/advice of how we can integrate them together as I’m frighten that we are now pushing the older cat out of the house.

I haven’t forced her into the house and every time they do meet I’ll let her out of the cat flap as the little one/ corners her.

Many Thanks for any tips/advice.

Andy

I know you don't want to do this, but you might need to keep your older cat in the house for a few days which will increase the amount of contact they have. I had a problem the opposite way round - I introduced 3 moggy kittens to my Bengal and she reacted by leaving the house every time she came across them, even just a glimpse across the room. She even disappeared for 3 days and I was beside myself thinking I'd driven her away. She came back and I decided not to let her take the "soft" option by avoiding the moggies any more so I kept her in for about 4 days. The house was big enough for them to have their own space but they still encountered each other several times a day and Dolly got used the moggies much more quickly than if she'd been able to disappear outside every time she saw them. It was really hard to do but it helped enormously and they now mix quite happily so I'm glad I was cruel to be kind. Could be worth you trying it.

Alternatives are things like feeding them with treats together or playing with toys together but those things depend on you getting them in the same room together which I just couldn't do because Dolly shot out of the catflap all the time.

I hope you find a solution - it's heartbreaking when you go through it but time and patience are important. Good luck!

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Hi, thanks for all your advice. I suppose it has only been just over two weeks. She is still hissing at him and he just wants to play! Pipa our present cat like going out a lot and is very independant so its also hard to give her a lot of fuss, but we do try when she is in and have kept her in deliberately for a while to give her fuss and for them to see each other.
We'll just be patient a little more...

Hi, we are so incredibly lucky to have a friend who moves in for the duration and looks after our 3 cats and 4 fish tanks. I pay her £10 per day, so its a good deal for her too! I'm pretty sure there is a company called Animal Nannies who do housesitting but have never used them so can't say what they are like. Selina