I am in a bit of a predicament about adding a new kitty to the house. Here is a little background info: I have a 9 year old male bengal who is neutered (since age 1), I adopted him when he was around 4 moths old. He was poorly socalized and borderline feral when I rescued him, he is a great man cat now and interacts well with others, he is very strongly bonded to me. When he was about 2-3 years old, we adopted a male bengal kitten, who we also got neutered. At first he wanted to kill the kitten so we took a very long time introducing the two. By the time our kitten had grown to 5 months, him and our resident bengal were best friends, like brothers. After about a year and a half, the adopted bengal kitten (turned adult) was diagnosed with HCM and he died only a few weeks later. My husband and I as well as my older bengal boy were absolutely devastated. It was amazing how much my bengal showed his grief. A short time after that a sweet little stray fuzzy girl showed up on our door step. She is a domestic long hair, was 5-6 weeks of age at the time, and we took her in. Our introduction was slow, she had her safe room for almost a month before we let them see each other. They eventually began to interact but there was much anger from our male bengal, he was at this time about 3-4 years old. It has been 5-6 years now since they were introduced and they still fight at times, sometimes its very aggressive. when my older male bengal and the younger male bengal would play, I don't remember it being anymore than what you would expect from two boys playing. They slept curled up together, they licked each other, they were buds. Now, when my older male bengal and the young lady who arrived years ago are in each others range they either avoid one another or they fight. Never do they lay near each other, he wont go on the bed if she is there and same goes for her. Also, my bengal is about 12-14 pounds of muscle and my domestic is about 8-10 pounds of fuzz and fat. They basically tolerate each other. Another point to mention is my bengal boy is so very attached to me, he is very emotional and will become behavioral when upset. He does not spray or pee on anything but he is more passive aggressive, like choosing not to sleep in my room when upset or ignoring me entirely when he is upset. He also can be very affectionate when he is happy, making muffins, purring, sleeping by my head, etc. Here are my thoughts: - he (bengal) sees her (domestic) as an "outsider"? -she (domestic) is afraid of how rough he (bengal) plays -he (bengal) is bored and wants to play, but can't because she (domestic) sees it as an assault -he plays differently by stalking, she feels hunted.
Here are my ideas/concerns: -adding a male kitten, getting him neutered and slowly introducing him to both will give my bengal a playmate and save my domestic from some rough play? -the two bengals will fight for alpha? -the two bengals will attack and both stalk my domestic girl? -there will be a territorial war? including urine -the new bengal will take the role of mediator? -an F2 male kitten will dominate the entire house? -an F2 male kitten with be a great addition for both bengal and domestic as well as my husband and myself? -my bengal will develop behaviors or become emotional (more so than his baseline) -my bengal with be happy to have a pal again?
with all this being said, I want to make the most prepared decision possible. I would love to have an F2 but I don't want to be unfair to my bengal and domestic, this is their home more so than it is mine. I know that bengals are very territorial, I have seen my bengal lunge at a dog for trying to lick my face. He has sprayed visitors bags if they leave them out, even shoes left inside can be a problem. We have no problems now with that. I mostly want my bengal boy to have the most happy life possible and give my domestic girl a break. It makes sense to me to give them the gift of a friend but I can't help but address the hazards. Plus, I don't want to put additional stress on a new kitten, they are already going through so much leaving mom and siblings.
I appreciate any input. It has been about 6 years since I introduced a kitty in the house.
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