Hi all,
I've been a Bengal slave for the last 3 1/2 weeks, and so far I am loving it! Sierra is a serious snugglebaby and so far, has been quite well behaved.

At the moment I'm a student and I spend quite a lot of time at home. I'm not working at the moment, however that will obviously change in the next few years. Am I better off purchasing a second Bengal now while Sierra is so young, so that when I do join the workforce she'll have a playmate of a similar age to keep her busy?

Secondly.. if I did acquire a second Bengal, how much more work would that involve? I know every kitten/cat is different, so it would be impossible for anyone to predict exactly how much more work it would be. But.. I was hoping people who have two Bengals (and have owned just one on its own in the past) could pass on their wisdom. How much more playing per day is involved? I currently play with Sierra for at least an hour per day. etc.

Also -- I do own a dog, a five and a half year old Maltese. Would he be sufficient company for a Bengal? They don't really play to together (at this stage at least).

Thanks,
Kattiar.

Each situation is different so I'll answer according to my personal preference and experience.

If I were to get another bengal, I'd get it sooner rather than later. It would be easier to socialise them both while young, as opposed to having an older cat, set in it's ways, habbits, territory etc. We have four bengals, all share the same dad, the silvers have one mum, the browns another mum. They were in separate cages at the breeders, but when we put the deposit down they were already 16 weeks old, and the breeder put them all in one cage together until we picked them up a month later. Consequently, they are all happy together today, they eat, groom, sleep, play, fight together, with no real problems to speak of.

How much extra work? Well, it's twice the vets bills, you'll have to keep two eyes on them, instead of just one, you might get through scratching posts a little faster, and of course food, but really, the biggest change is going from 0 to 1, once you have 1, x more is just the same stuff, just slightly more often and more cost. As for playing, two cats plus a dog, (maybe depending on involvement) would probably play with eachother and keep themselves amused mostly. Our four are nuts, borderline insane, but that's exactly what we expected and planned for. If one or two of ours doesn't want to play, they'll just jump on one of the 10 cat shelves or two cat trees and watch his brothers.

The dog part, I wouldn't worry about. We are socialising our four with my mothers poodle, and so far it's all good, mind, Titan weighs more than the poodle. Cats and dogs will do either one of three things, 1) fight. 2) be neutral. 3) be best friends. It sounds as though your dog is placid and accepting the bengal, so I'd like to think that's a good sign if you decided to add another bengal to the mix. If indeed you feel you need to.

We had Bruno for 4 weeks and decided to get another luckily we found Bruce just 2 weeks younger it was the best thing we did they are like brothers and run around like lunatics lol . Just consider insurance and vet bills not to mention they eat like a horses.

If you definitely want a second one, I'd get it NOW. I think it's so much easier when they are kittens together rather than trying to introduce a kitten to an older cat or two older cats. Introductions sometimes don't go easily, but I think it will be easier for both the kitties. As for having a dog. I don't know that a lot of cats play with dogs. It's just important your cat gets along with your dog.

Naturally the cost for food increases, litter, and if you want to try and walk them at the same time on a harness and leash ... good luck! LOL The vet bills are another thing. If you're prepared the spend the money and spend the time with them, including additional cat trees, scratching posts, toys, then it will be so worth it.

I have a 3 year old bengal and a 5 year old Maltese as well. I have also added an adult cat into our home when our other bengal was 2 and I will be getting a kitten in 5 weeks time. Here is my advice, if you want or even think you may want another bengal DO NOT wait. It was incredibly stressful adding in an adult bengal to our home with another adult bengal. I can't say how kitten to cat introductions go but I will be able to in a few weeks. Based off of my experience before I have to say I am really nervous about introductions. With that being said I think you will see a totally different side of your Sierra. Everyone has their opinions of either single cat household or multiple cat house hold. Even tho our situation didn't work well with Jasper, he and BB would romp and play like crazy cats. I have never seen her play so hard and I haven't seen her play like that since he left. It does take a little extra work and a little extra money(if everyone is healthy) but IMO it's totally worth it.

_________________

Potentially, getting a second bengal around the same age could be a really good thing. If they get along really well, it can actually greatly reduce the burden on you to provide for much of their entertainment. Feeding and cleaning up litterboxes and such isn't that much harder since you're going to have to do it anyway. In addition to them entertaining each other, another really big benefit is that you get to see all that cat-to-cat behaviors that you would never witness with just a single cat. So I don't really think getting a second cat is much more "work" as such, unless the second cat is himself more of a trouble-maker.

I think one significant downside though to consider in your situation is cost. Not just the cost of purchasing the second cat, but the food bills and vet bills pretty close to double, in addition to extra cat beds, trees, litterboxes and all that. In your situation you really should think about contingencies for what you'd do if one of your cats gets sick (and in fact the first year seems to often be a particularly costly year, with some inevitable kitten illnesses, plus spay/neuter). Also it seems more and more like when you bring in a new cat from a breeder or shelter, the odds of him bringing a parasite like TF with him is pretty high, which can of course necessitate both cats needing costly treatment.

_________________
The little monsters 3

I think with me, particularly with what I am going through at the moment health wise with my Dexter I would only be having one cat from now on.

_________________
Oscar and Jasper (or one ear and two ears as dh calls them) black rescue mogges

RIP my sweet baby Dexter, Snow Bengal 19/5/14 to 5/3/15 and my lovely dear old friend Muskey, Brown Burmese put to rest aged 15 on 14/11/15.

Debbie

Part of me wished that I had gotten two kittens, mainly for company when nobody is home.
Don't think it would be possible now, Benji really does not get on well with other cats! Mind you that's strange cats on the street so who knows with careful introductions.

Anyways having a Bengal and working is no problem, at least not in my experience. They get used to a routine. As long as they have plenty cat trees, space to run about and receive plenty of attention then they will be happy alone or in a pair. Changing routine can change the behaviour, ie if you are away for the weekend you will see higher energy levels when you get back. Even if you arrange a cat sitter.

If you're going to do it, do it asap as other folk have said. But make sure you have plenty of space. I decided there was not enough space for two cats and three litter boxes without making other compromises.