Hi all,

Would love some advice on things I can scent swap between my two kittens?

I have Simba who is 6 months old and been with us for 2 and a half months now and I bought Nala (4 months) on Friday.

At the moment she is constantly hiding under the wardrobe hissing when I get near her so struggling to be able to get anywhere close to her, she wasn't handled much as a young kitten :(.

Any advice welcome please?

You can get the scents from the cats in a couple of ways. The easiest may be to just take a wash cloth or small hand towel and rub it over the cat. You then place that item in with the other cat and vice versa. You continue to swap scents like that. Know that Nala is stressed out over leaving her mom and siblings and familiar surroundings to a brand new home with new smells and new people, so give her time to acclimate and be patient. It is very common for them to want to hide and feel safe. Make sure you spend time with her in her safe room, sitting on the floor, talking with her, trying to get her to play with wand toys.

Since both of your kitties are very young, they should bond well together. Just be patient -- it may not happen immediately or it may take a few weeks. Congratulations on your babies. And never leave the kitties unsupervised until you know they are best buddies!

First you need to separate the two cats. Sit tight and lure your cat out with food, each time place it closer to yourself, avoid sudden movement or noise. Its important not to push it out of his safe place, it only adds stress.

The best way to scent swap is to *not* get close to her. There's no reason to do that, just be in the room. Her sense of smell is WAAAAAY better than yours. A sweater that your other cat sleeps on placed across the room from her is sufficient.

My suggestion is this. Make yourself comfortable somewhere across the room from her. Read, watch tv, pay bills, play computer games, text message your friends, whatever will occupy you (just don't make a loud racket) and at the same time presents you as a benign presence to her. Then take a dabird type of toy, and occasionally drag it across the floor so she can see it. Make it dart in and out near the mouth of her hiding place. The easiest way to earn "cred" with a bengal is to convince her that you are a fun and harmless playmate. No response? No problem, don't push it, try again later. At the very least she will remember that nothing bad or scary happened last time you did it. I'd recommend eating in there too. Bring your dinner! Eat some chicken or tuna or something. If she wants to stay hidden, no problem. Again don't push it, just try again later.

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The little monsters 3

The key is patience!! Poor Nala is terrified and scared. Breeders should socialize the cats better. It will probably take more time with Nala. You can always just lay towels or blankets on the floor and see if she will come out and lay on them. You don't know exactly what she does when it's dark and the door is closed and you are sleeping. It may take a few weeks before you can actually introduce the cats. Nala is going to have to be able to be handled because you are going to have to hold her and let the other kitty sniff her. Time is all you can give her and know that daily, things should improve slightly!!! Spend the time in the room with her and read softly to her. She will learn you are not a threat to her and may seek you out. So many breeders keep the kittens in the house with them and have children or grandchildren that will play with them. It's a shame that many keep them separated -- the mom can only do so much. Human interaction is so important. Keep us posted.

So we have progress!!

She came out today and ate some chicken next to me! Let me stroke her without too much hissing (there was some still though but once I get past the initial hiss she enjoys strokes around her ears!). She didn't like being picked up too much, I placed her on my lap and stroked her but as soon as she wanted to go I just let her run away.

Partner also had progress tonight, she was playing with her wand toy and ate her food next to him too (turns out she can't resist tuna).

Thanks all for your advice!

Is it going to be best to hold Nala whilst Simba comes and sniffs around or just let them two sniff each other?

I'm willing to be patient as she is so beautiful and I can't wait for her to come out of her shell, I'm more frustrated that the breeder didn't socialise these kittens (there was one kitten in the litter that had THE most beautiful rosettes but hissed and climbed up the doors when you got anywhere near her ). If I didn't have a full time job I'd want to take all the kittens and look after them

There you go! Bingo! You're "in" now with her. I wouldn't get too hung up on the whole breeder and socialization thing. Just let it go. You really don't know what the deal is with that. Some cats are just more outgoing than others, and she is also an older kitten than what most other people bring home from breeders. There is obviously a genetic component to such things (do you attribute your personality 100% to how your parents raised you?) in addition to the socialization component, and shy cats can rock anyway.

Things should start getting a lot better at a faster pace now. Just make sure that you remember that every interaction that you and your partner have with her now is either making a positive or negative impression on her... and you want to build up all the positive capital you can, especially now. So if she doesn't enjoy it when you pick her up... don't do it very often. If she can't wait to play with you with her wand toy... do it a lot! And if she loves tuna... well, tuna isn't a particularly great thing to give her, but at least you know how to score a point or two when you really need it (like to make up for something inevitably bad like a trip to the vet).

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The little monsters 3