At some point, I plan to visit my family home and I usually stay with my parents. They have one cat, an older moggie who was originally an outdoor/barn cat and was used to hanging out with the other barn cats. He now lives in my parents home permanently, with select visits outdoors supervised.

Anyway, I will now have a bengal kitten that will be tagging along with me from now on. I have read about how to introduce new kittens to resident cats, but I am unsure of how to do this if it is temporary.

My parents live in a 3 story home, with the top floor completely off-limits to the resident moggie (Shadow). If I do have problems, I can just restrict my bengal's access to the upstairs rooms if need-be. However, I would love it if the two cats could get along and my bengal could become one of the family back home :)

I want to avoid stressing out my kitten as much as possible, and traveling (about an hour and a half), visiting in a different place with new smells and a new cat on top of it, and meeting new people (my parents) seems that it could be a big no-no situation.

Additionally - my mom is concerned that introducing a new kitten into the house will cause the moggie (or the bengal) to spray/toilet inappropriately. Shadow has never had an accident in all of the years that we have had him, and I would really hate for this to occur.

Personally, I would keep the kitten to the floor of the house which the resident cat doesn't use. The journey, a new place, and meeting new people (I'm sure they will visit!) is enough change for a kitten to take on board and she will take some time to settle in. I wouldn't try to introduce the two cats as it can take some time for them to accept each other. All that disruption (including, possibly, toileting misbehaviour) and then you'll depart again. Both cats will smell the presence of the other, anyway, I just wouldn't take the chance of putting them together, if it's not for a long time.

All the best for you trip

Since we live so close, sometimes we will visit frequently - which is why I ask. I think it will be really confusing that we are in a new place, but do you think he will come to recognize that we are "going to grandma and grandpa's" after some point?

I guess it would be best to just stick to my bedroom upstairs where Shadow isn't allowed to go - but I have a feeling he will be sitting right outside of the door making a big fuss about it the whole time!

(Shadow has outdoor friends that will visit the back patio door. They will watch each other and "smell" each other through the glass door, sometimes he will let out a yowl to tell the other cat to go away, but never anything more than that. They seem to have their daily routine about it)

With the drive only being 1 1/2 hours... is it really necessary to stay? You could just keep your kitty at home where he is most comfortable... visit parents and then come home. And how often are you planning on visiting?

When we drive down, we usually stay for at least a day or two, and I don't feel comfortable leaving my kitten alone for so long :(

We visit at least once a month, I would say. With the holidays, we have been visiting more often - but our kitten won't be here until after the holidays are finished. I think our first visit home would be sometime in February to give him a chance to get to know our home and become comfortable and to have both cats checked up by the vet first to prevent the spread of any illness.

I agree with Mort and Bobcat. I think it's overly ambitious to expect that you can integrate your kitten as a occasional guest into another household with adult cats. And even if things go relatively well this first time, when the kitten becomes larger it will probably get harder and harder, especially on the poor moggie cat.

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The little monsters 3

I don't know how to help introduce them. But as for visiting your parents often; I have a friend who takes her cat on holiday (to a holiday home by the beach) quite often. The drive is about 2 hours, and the cat is fine with it. She seems to know when they get in the car they are going to the holiday home. She is pretty much the only cat in that area, so she loves going there. They even let her out the holiday house to roam about, and she doesn't run away.

I think if you take your kitten often enough it will become routine for him/her. I'd expect it will be quite nervous the first few times, so maybe don't stress it out any more by introducing the cat.
Once your kitten is used to visiting grandma and grandpa, then worry about letting the cats meet.

One or two nights a month I would be more inclined to have a friend/neighbor pop over, versus the added stress of being dragged out and put into another cats turf on a monthly basis and possibly risk bad behaviors. Not saying it won't work, just that cats are much more territorial and I just see issues arising. If we were discussing a dog instead of a cat... I wouldn't see a single issue.

Thank you all for the advice!

I wish it were possible to bring him with, as my parents never come to visit me, and they wouldn't have a chance to see him :(

Also, I live in the city - so all outdoors time would either mean walks through the concrete jungle of downtown or a drive to a state park or something. My parents have a large plot of land in a very rural area. I thought it might be neat to offer the opportunity to explore the woods/fields that I know very well safely on a harness.

I would also like to have my kitty familiar with car rides, as my OH and I enjoy road trips! We will see what his personality is like I guess and possibly play it by ear. If he is friendly and ambitious, I think I may give it a shot after he becomes well adjusted in our home. However, if he seems timid and not very confident we will have to find alternative arrangements :(

Above all - I appreciate all of your honest advice and extremely helpful tips! Thank you!

My friend regularly cat sits her mums cat when her mum is on holiday and vice versa, so both kitties have had to get used to having the other kitty in their home for short periods of time. It works for them.

I can't say it works for everyone but it can...

lol it sounds like you need a kid rather a kitten :P

I think you're overly anxious and planning too much. You still have a month or so til ya get him? He will need some time to get used to your house and his new life let alone visits to other places and such, and even then it's gonna always be on his terms. Put yourself in his paws lol

I'm a newbie though too so take my advice with that. I think constant trips like that are extremely stressful for any pet though.

I'd say go for it. Make sure you take a bed, litter box and feeders from home plus some familiar toys. Make sure the carrier is available as a safe place. Make sure the kitty has something with your scent on it. If it all goes downhill, at least you will know. And it may go surprisingly well. I wouldn't expect the cats to get along, but I think your baby could do well on the trip.

Thank you for all of the tips :)

I think I am going to try and bring him with us when he seems like he is doing well at our home. I plan on bringing his own litter box (with a bit of old litter in it so he remembers what it is for) and all of his other essentials from home. I will leave the carrier open in my room in a quiet place where the resident cat never goes (and isn't allowed access to). He will have a trip or two to the vets before then, and a 5.5 hour drive home from the breeders under his belt - so by then we will know how well he travels. If he does not travel well, we will make short trips in the car around town until he is comfortable with traveling.

If he becomes uncomfortable at my parents' house, I will close the door to my room and make it his 'safe room away from home', furnished with all of his favorite things that smell like real home.

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The little monsters 3

Does his history as an outdoor cat living in harmony with several other cats have any impact on that?

There is a cat that readily walks past the back patio and they stare each other down and occasionally have growls but there is never any real confrontation. When he goes outdoors where the other cat had been/peed he doesn't mark there either. He hasn't showed interest in marking his territory near the doors or anywhere other than his litter tray.

I guess I am overconfident that he will not have a huge issue with another cat in the house.

Would it help if I left my kitten home for a trip and just brought one of his beds or blankets with us so that he can get used to the scent? There is a bed that a friend gave me that her cat never used anymore, and it smelled like another cat I'm sure - but he took to it and never improperly toileted or gave a big fuss about that.