3 1/2 months old and I've had them for 3 weeks now. They're well settled in and I'm still in the wow they're lively understatement stage.

Apollo, the smaller one sits on me, then starts sucking my shirt, I guess this is a suckling thing he would have done with his mother. He'll do this until he falls asleep and I'm left with damp patches. I quite like it. He's bolder than Atlas, is less scared of new noises and is slowly catching up in size

Atlas is far more boisterous, he's also a big scaredy, about 150g heaving than Atlas but will run away at the drop of a hat. He's been far more bitey than Apollo, especially in the last week, no piercing, just a lot more teeth and claw action. My hand looks like its been in the wars a bit, I've asked him nicely to stop.

Highlights - Their inquisitive nature, always exploring, quick to learn, expressive, vocal (except for conference calls). As brothers they play, feed and sleep together. I work from home mostly so when they're not tearing up the house in that we've just been fed and have loads of energy stage are usually on my lap or following me around talking to me.

Lowlights - Cables.. I had read in passing about this, and yes it's all true. When I picked them up from the breeder, he was scooting a cable back into a drawer when I came in, little did he let on and how I should have paid attention. Yes they love to chew every single cable they see. Which makes it really fun when I'm on a conference call through the laptop and it's either one or more of them shouting at me, and chewing the cable. I get tag teamed.

As of tonight, they just worked out they can jump onto the kitchen worktops in one shot which means I need to make sure there's nothing out they can devour. I've trained them not to jump on the table whilst I'm eating, this has had to be done with a spray bottle of water. The bottle has a white handle which they recognise, if they come near to jumping, I put my hand on the handle and they step away.

Advice I would appreciate.

In the UK especially, a recommended brand of litter. They won't go outside for another 6 weeks or so, after they've had their next jabs and I have a cat flap put in. The litter doesn't mask the smell in my little house too well. I do clear out the mess every day and the entire box once a week, but it's not really cutting it.

Toys. Ideally something which is going to hold their attention when they're playing on their own, nothing I have except for the feather on a bendy pole does it for them. I've worked out that If I sit their scratching drum near the sofa, I can scrape the bendy feather pole up and down it whilst watching TV, it keeps them entertained chasing it and I get to relax

Claws - The breeder trimmed them, I haven't until now because I feel like if they're going to go outside, they need them for climbing and defence. They have however restyled the jeans I'm wearing into something from the 80s, whilst I've been wearing them and I'd like to train then not to.

Sofa/Couch - My girlfriend says it's a lost cause and I'm a <insert word here> for buying a nice new one before getting cats. That's just the way it worked out. It's currently protected by an armada of throws, I don't see that lasting too long. I might go for the nuclear option and cover it in titanium. Otherwise, I'm looking for some other method of deterring them from attacking it like they're shredding duck in a Chinese restaurant.

Thanks,
R

Hello and welcome to you and your beautiful boys!

I also have two boys, and we also had just bought a new sofa just before they arrived!! We were lucky in that we could shut that room off until they were older - wouldn't say it completely escaped damage, but it isn't too bad. Do you have plenty of scratch posts? I placed these near the furniture and would tell them no very firmly if they started scratching the sofa and move them to the scratch posts. I also sprayed the scratch posts with cat nip to encourage them!! I also tried these sticky strips you can get from Amazon - which was quite funny when they first went to scratch and got stuck, but then they worked out how to chew them off, so wouldn't bother with those! I do have the sofa covered in pet blankets as well as too protect them, really cheap from Amazon again.

Do you have a cat tree? Pretty much a must for Bengals I think. Other toys, laser pens are great for wearing them out, bouncy balls and springs. I never leave balls with them unattended though (Hendrix ate one once and was very sick!), or wand toys.

Some of the destruction they will be doing now will wear off for a while - I looked like I self-harmed for a few months but I'm now relatively scratch free.

Cat litter - we have just changed ours for all the reasons you state. We have moved to Cat's Best clumping litter - so you can clean out all the wee as well which is otherwise sitting on the bottom of the litter trays stinking. You can then top it up when required and we are going to give the trays a thorough clean and fresh litter once a month. But the smell is definitely loads better and we also have a spray you can spray in the litter to freshen it up as well. I'm convinced it's going to work out cheaper too.

Our boys go out and we don't trim their claws either - wouldn't even attempt it, not sure they would appreciate it!

Enjoy your new additions - they will provide you with plenty of fun and entertainment!!

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

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The little monsters 3

What a lovely pair you have, and hours of free entertainment!

I have a brother and sister pair, now 2, who have calmed down a lot thank goodness, as I could not get near Jazpers claws to trim them. Now he goes out, the back ones are much shorter, and he hardly ever grabs us, Ginny was never such a problem.

I built a tree for them but it never got used, though they love the shed roof now and Jaz used to jump into the chicken run (7ft) till the noise they made scared him and the novelty wore off. The scratching post is used only by my siamese, Jaz much prefers the door frames, which my son has attached sandpaper to (they need renewing anyway). Leather chair is a mess but the sofa is OK as it has a cloth throw on top of cloth .

The frenzy wand is their big favourite especially the feather one, Gin also liked the laser to chase. Other than that they played chase and sliding on the floors or sleeping, didn't bother with other toys much, so we could just watch and laugh.

I too used Cats best or Oko clumping litter, much easier to clean, and they seemed to prefer it to the wood pellets. Now only needed if I have to keep them in after a vet visit,( they were very sleepy after their boosters this time so I locked the flaps).

Enjoy them and best wishes.

Atlas and Apollo are quite handsome little boys. As for the scratching, make sure you have scratching posts around. Raiden loves his various posts -- many are on his cat trees. He doesn't scratch the furniture at all. I see you're in the UK, but I'll caution you about letting your boys outside unless they are on a leash or you have an enclosure for them. Too many sad stories appear where kitties are lost or maimed or killed. I'm sure you paid a tidy sum for Atlas and Apollo -- and bengals are rambunctious and curious. There are ways to enclose a garden to give them some freedom. If you let them roam free, in the beginning, they will stick close to home. But they will gain confidence and seek out new territory! I've had outdoor cats and lost every single one of them over the past five decades. I now have a bengal and he is not allowed to roam free. We do daily walks with a harness and leash and we enclosed a 12'x12' space on our deck which he can access 24/7 that has cat trees, litter box, 3-room cat house and there are two heated beds out there for him in the winter. I know you would hate to see something happen to your little fellas. They need your protection because they do not understand the perils that await them in the great outdoors.