If you're a cat owner contemplating getting another furry friend, an expert has shared essential guidance to make the process as smooth as possible.

Cats make great household pets and are loved by both adults and children. With an array of breeds exhibiting distinct personalities, as a pet parent, you may want to welcome a new cat of a different breed or sex into the mix but the prospect of your current cat's reaction to a new companion can be daunting.

Amanda Campion, a feline behavioural specialist with over three decades of experience nurturing cats, shares her wisdom to followers on social media platforms. In her recent TikTok video, Campion shares the critical steps to integrate a new cat or kitten into your house.

She said: "If you're bringing home a new cat or kitten it's crucial that you don't miss out any of these steps. Now, obviously if you're bringing in a kitten things can be a lot smoother and a lot quicker but let's look at if you're bringing a cat into another cat home."

Her recommendation is to start with no visual contact between the new and current cats, recommending owners to keep the newcomer in a decompression room away from the resident feline for up to two or three weeks. The behaviourist elaborated: "And while you're doing this, scent swapping is really important. I like to use a sock or a little cut up piece of a tea towel, wipe the cat's mouth there and then go and wipe it around the room and wipe it onto the other cat.

"You can also swap their bedding as well because then the cats are beginning to pick up signals about who's in the other room." Campion reassured that you'll recognise the right time to progress because your cat will become "quite comfortable with the smell", but she cautioned that some felines "will be quite reactive" to the presence of another cat's scent, displaying behaviours like hissing.

When your own pet appears relaxed and does not react negatively to the scent of the new cat, Campion advises doing a visual introduction. She shared her method for the next phase: "This is when I like to use baby gates.

"A lot of people will use the mesh, I'm not a fan of that I'll be honest because cats can actually throw themselves onto the mesh and cling on and then they can get a distorted image of the cat on the other side and what we actually want to do is enable the cats to be able to touch, bat and certainly smell and maybe nose boop each other." Campion raised doubts about the popular belief that "feeding on the opposite side of the gate is the way forward" by gradually bringing the food bowls together until the cats are virtually face-to-face, arguing that it deprives the cat of choice.

She clarified: "If the cat doesn't actually want to be in that environment next to that other cat but it wants to eat, what's it gonna do? It's got no choice. It's either go hungry or put up, and again that actually exacerbates tension and resentment, so feed them well away from each other.

"We don't need to do that but what you can do is bring them together closer and closer with enrichments." Campion explained that she conducts 'treat time' at a consistent time daily, offering treats on snuffle mats on opposite sides as it's "not the main sustenance" while simultaneously enabling sensory activity.

She pointed out this practice teaches animals that nearing the gate always leads to "good things happen", yet stresses the importance of proceeding slowly. Campion has observed that pet owners tend to rush the process, whereas a cat's pace is "way slower."

She remarked: "Sometimes with an adult cat it can take over six months. If you've made the decision to have an adult cat into your adult cat home then take the time it takes so it takes less time." In her TikTok video conclusion, Campion highlighted that starting on the right foot makes the process easier but if there's a "bang and a bump" this can make the process "a little bit more complicated."