Hi guys,

We currently have a 6 month old bengal and feed her natural instinct, royal canin biscuits and use clay clumping cat litter however, we are about to buy another and the lady we are purchasing her from is using completely different food and litter. Can you advise how is best to transition the new kitten over to what I currently use? I am aware I cannot just change due to their tummies but is it a case of putting 50/50 of what I use and she uses and gradually increase what I use? Any help with this and tips on how best to introduce another kitten would be grateful!

Thank you
Tasha

That's what I did when changing food and litter, 50/50. It worked for us! Good luck.

It really shouldn't be a problem, because you need to keep them apart for a while anyway, right? Both to insure that the kitten gets "quarantined" and a vet visit, shots and all that, and to help the kitten get his bearings, and for the resident cat to get used to the idea that there is another, non-threatening cat in the home. So that gives you some time, to start with 100% of what the kitten is getting/using at the breeders, and when you are sure that he's eating confidently, and feeling good about his new home, then you can gradually start to switch. 100/0, 90/10, 80/20... 0/100 that sort of thing. But that of course is sort of best-case. The eating routine is going to have to change for awhile anyway, because kittens need more meals than older cats (5 or 6 a day or so) so you are going to have to provide for that. Also there is of course a possibility that the kitten may not take to the new food at all. Either because it will give him runny poo or he just won't enjoy eating it, so you have to have some contingencies too.

For the litter, for Neytiri for example, I just kept it to what the breeder had for a week or so, then switched it over completely. I didn't see a point in mixing it. Perhaps if that hadn't of worked and she started going on the floor or something I would have reconsidered, but I think it's the kind of thing that will either work or not and you'll know very quickly if it did.

But the point of keeping them initially to what the breeder had, is that this is such a huge change for the kitten, you want the kitten to have every little bit of continuity that you can give him initially to help him.

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The little monsters 3