Hello all,
In a few weeks time we will be bringing home our f1 baby. He will be around 12 weeks by the time we get him (we could have got him at around 9-10 weeks but have to wait for some lovely permits to go through first).
We have decided to name him Luca and are very ecstatic that we have the opportunity to be getting him. I have always been fascinated with the bengal breed and it was about a year and a half ago that I really got serious about it and decided to do the research and i have arrived at the conclusion that an f1 will be perfect for us and our lifestyle!
I have spoken with many many many breeders who breed f1s and feel that i am well informed on how to take care of ours but what I would like to hear form any of you guys is your experiences with bringing home an f1 to an adult male cat that is not a bengal.
I would really love to hear first hand what you experiences have been with this.

Here are our housing dynamics:
-It's just me and my boyfriend living together though my family is over a lot as are our friends (we are hoping to socialize our kitten a lot early on)
-large apartment but he will have tonnes of opportunities to go out on a harness (once a day at least) as we liv in a residential area of downtown vancouver with lots of parks and paths and trees.
-4 year old non bengal male cat, Avi. Avi is our little baby! He is the most cuddly, playful, loving cat! He was a rescue...sort of. About 2 and a half years ago the neighbours by where my boyfriends parents live i guess had moved away and left this poor kitty to fend for himself. How they can sleep with themselves at night ,i have no idea. Anyways we was outside for days meowing, starved so my boyfriend caught on that he had probably been abandon so took him in at his parent house and fed him and put up posters. no one ever contacted him and my boyfriend didn't want him to end up in a shelter so thats how we got Avi!

What we were most worried about was introducing another animal onto his turf though. We are scared that Avi will become aggressive towards Luca. So we did an experiment. My sister happens to live one floor above us and she recently just rescued to kittens who are not only just a little older than Luca will be when we bring him home. My sister was kind enough to bring one of her little guys down to see how Avi reacts to him. We were expecting the worse assuming Avi would be territorial and hissing. surprisingly enough, that was not the case at all. At first his tale went all bushy which we expected but then after that, Avi just seemed very cautious but did not hiss. in fact, he meowed a little bit and seemed a little shy himself;it was actually pretty cute both the cats sort of hear heartedly approached each other to sniff around but within minutes my sisters cat was exploring our apartment. Avi did not go after him but he was cautious and kept him in eye site form across the room.
This experience was reassuring for us but i am worried it will be different with an f1 bengal. I have heard that they have a different scent to them and that domestic cats don't always like that.
I am also wondering what will happen when Luca grows up and will likely be bigger than Avi-who will be the dominant one and will that cause problems? I have talked to me breeder about this and she told me it should not be an issue, that Avi will assure his dominance up front and that will be that.
I plan and introducing them slowly; bringing Luca home and having him stay in the bathroom a couple nights so that he can get comfortable and so Avi can get used to the scent of another cat. Then i was planning on moving Luca to a bedroom for a day so that he can explore another room without being overwhelmed by the entire apartment. then when he is ready to have full range of the house i was planning on moving Avi to the bedroom for an hour or so and letting the kitten explore the rest of the place before letting Avi our of the bedroom. then was just going to see how it goes.
Am I taking this too seriously!?? Will it be way more anticlimactic than i am thinking?lol!

thank you for any insight!

First of all, welcome to the forum. Congratulations on your new baby! Taking on an F1 will be a challenge. Know that the introduction of Avi to your sister's kitten may not go the same when you introduce Luca. You are not going to be able to just put them together. Luca needs to be separated and in a safe room for a while (which you plan to do). There are a couple of things going on. Luca will be in a totally new environment with new smells, new people, and a new cat. Avi will have a cat invading his territory. Both will be stressed out, I'm sure. Introduction needs to go slowly. Both are males, and males are heavily territorial. Your F1 is still considered a wild cat. Hopefully, he is socialized and you can continue that, but F1s are not known as pets. Your F1 will probably become larger than Avi. You can only hope that by that time, they are friends, however, there is so much ALC in Luca that it may not be possible. You can be hopeful that all goes well, however, when it doesn't, there can develop behavioral problems in one of both cats that can make your life miserable. There are a ton of postings here on that subject.

I'm guessing EG cats are allowed in Vancouver. As for leash training an F1, you can give it a try. You'll have to be very careful that Luca does not escape through an open door. I believe a Savannah was shot and killed because people thought it was a wild cat. And F1 will look a lot like the ALC.

It appears you understand what you are getting into. I don't know if anyone here has experience with an F1 and a regular moggie to tell you how this can go for you. You will need a lot of patience and try to see things from your cats' points of views. Hope for the best and be prepared for the worst! Good luck and let us know how things go.

And, by the way, 12 to 14 weeks is the optimum time for the kitten to be separated from the mother. If you took Luca at 9 to 10 weeks, you'd be in for a lot more problems, I do believe.

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The little monsters 3

Bit worried for you and your moggy but keeping my fingers crossed it all goes well.

I am fascinated by F1's (although wouldn't dream of owning one myself!) and hope you keep posting so we can see how everything develops.

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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

thank you for your responses everyone!
i will definitely be posting pictures and hopefully making a few videos!
yes, i was a little unsure of how to approach the introduction between the two kitties and am anticipating the result will be different from what i did with my sister also.
my breeder really seems to think it will be no problem so ill hope for that but approach it with great caution.
One of my biggest worries is that my Avi will become less affectionate to my boyfriend and I or become depressed with another cat around.

My greatest worry with the situation is that f1's or any eg cat will bond heavily with one or two people. I have also researched EG's and this is something that every breeder has told me. The thing is IF they do get along from the beginning it is HIGHLY likely your new kitten will create that bond with Avi instead of you. I would strongly suggest talking to the breeder(or several) to get ideas of how to secure that bond between the two of you. As you can see already EG'S are a touchy subject on this forum and frankly I think they are misunderstood by many. Please don't let that stop you from posting and keeping us updated. I would love to hear your journey and to see pics! Congrats and good luck!

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Thanks for your response!
I have heard the same thing about the two cats potentially bonding with each other instead of their humans. I have also heard that a good way to overcome this is to have the two cats separated from each other in the beginning (which will be to happen anyways) until they build the bond with the owner. Fingers crossed! And thank you for your support

You are taking a wildcat into your home as a pet. I would think it preferable to have him bond with Avi as opposed to having a territorial battle in a very small space.

What is your personal experience with these cats?

What prompts you to adopt a wildcat into your home in preference to a Bengal cat?

Yes, nurture has its influence but your cub will be about as close as it gets to a wildcat without being fullblood.

My Bengal is an F9 and still has visible instinctive wild traits that are highly distinctive from any other cat I have had.

Has your landlord been notified of this development? Is he on board?

Are you prepared to pay for the added expense of healthcare & household damage that are potentiated with this newcomer?

Is there a vet nearby that can adequately take care of this exotic animal?

Does your breeder have a policy whereby, if things do not work out as well as you imagine, he will take the cat back and, are you financially solvent enough to return him, if necessary?

I don't want to be a Debbie Downer on this but, having considered most carefully these exact questions, our answer was, "No" to most queries.

Bonne chance mon amie.

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~ Kyenta

Update on how this situation with the two cats is going:

Luca is still living in the bedroom for about another week but we have let him "run free" a couple times so he has met Avi, our four year old cat. Interestingly, Avi is scared of Luca even though he is way bigger. All Luca wants to do it play with him and tries to initiate it but Avi just runs away. Naturally Luca chases him lol. Yesterday I could tell Avi had enough because he swatted at Luca. No bushy tails though from either kitty!!I haven't given them a lot of time together as I need to strongly bond with Luca before he can bond with Avi.

Aside from that, when Luca is not out and about, Avi seems his normal self. Doesn't seem stressed at all. Still comes up to me and my boyfriend for cuddles and he will play with me in the morning. Sometimes he sits outside the bedroom door where Luca is.
One thing that I am concerned about is he doesn't seem to be eating his cat food as much. I'm worried that he has lost his appetite due to stress. What I am confused about though is that he seems to have taken to going into the cupboards and on the counters looking for food when he has a full dish of the food he has been eating regularly. Yesterday I caught him with the rest of our bread in the floor, biting into the bag. So I'm not sure if he is not hungry or just doesn't like his food now.

I'm sure Avi is still trying to understand the change that has gone on in the house. There's a new smell, new sounds, a new creature! It could take some time to Avi to adjust to the situation. Your Luca is young and doesn't really care. He thinks Avi is a playmate. Avi isn't sure about Luca! Avi has had years to get settled into the situation and now Luca has invaded his territory. At least they aren't attacking each other. As for Avi not eating, it could be stress related to the new kitty. I'm sure you haven't changed where Avi eats his food and that Luca isn't fed in that same area. Hopefully, soon you can get them in the same area and initiate play with both of them and see how they react to each other. In the meantime, just keep an eye on Avi and make sure he is eating.

here's an update on how the two kitties have been getting along
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plaFST6N4Sg

Oh they are both so beautiful. I love Avi's eyes and Luca is such a handsome cat. It looks like they get along great! I bet Avi's appetite will pick up when they start eating together. Competition always seems to make cats hungry.

Aww, look at all that kitty love. Emily, they have really bonded!!! I'm guessing it wasn't as difficult an experience as some people on here have had! So happy they are great friends now. Luca continues to grow more beautiful -- or handsome!

Haha ya, their first few encounters were anticlimactic. Basically Luca just walked straight up to Avi and head butted him then kept walking lol! The rest is history. They love to chase and pin each other down until the other yells "uncle" in cat language
Luca is definitely the pesky annoying brother sometimes though as Avi is older(4yr) and likes his relaxation time and Luca simply does not I've an off switch except for a couple hours in early afternoon when he sleeps off and on. He eventually gets the point to leave Avi alone usually, then takes to following me around at my ankles constantly. Either he likes me or is trying to make me trip and fall lol. I hope it's the former