I don’t know if anyone can offer advice or put me in touch with anyone who can.. My boyfriend took on a 3 year old Bengal 5 months ago as his previous owner could no longer cope with him bullying his younger sibling (who has a few medical issues). He is very healthy and quite vocal.

Hari had always been an indoor cat, but we have introduced him to a small garden, which is safe, and supervised he’s now fairly happy to have a mooch every now and then.

My boyfriend works long hours and I do try to pop round when he’s on a long shift. This in itself doesn’t seem to be a problem. I originally advised against him getting the cat for this reason HOWEVER he’s always been left for long periods so this is no change to the norm.

Here's the issue - We try to play with Hari whenever we can (though this is normally just once a day and he will only really play with one toy). We try to interact with him but it’s really quite difficult. If he’s in one of his scaredy cat moods he just won’t do anything and that’s quite often. He is very jumpy and nervous yet the house is very quiet.

Hari can be affectionate, but he is very highly strung. I would say that 80% of the time there is something which is bothering him – whether it’s a smell or a foreign object?? Isthis normal? He ‘slinks’ around in a way that you’d expect from a cat which has just arrived at a new home.

Two months ago we introduced Hari to my 13 year old Tonkinese boy, Indy, who has the very best nature. Slowly they accepted each other and can sometimes be seen sat on the sofa together, though it’s quite unusual. Indy seems to now be a bit on edge. He’s such a laid back cat but he’s used to being a friendly environment with his two ‘sisters’ who used to sleep and play together. I’m not sure whether this has been a help to either of them as we thought it might. There doesn’t seem to be a clear ‘boss’ of the house. Hari can obviously be quite dominant, but Indy is a OK with that and doesn’t seem intimidated. He’s content to just sleep on his favourite cushion!

We can’t seem to fathom what the problem is or whether this is just normal for a Bengal. It’s not a major problem, but we do seem to have two fairly unhappy cats on our hands and I’m contemplating taking Indy back home. Any advice would be gratefully received.

Well Bengals can be high strung cats. Hari should have settled down within 5 months, but nobody knows the type of life he was living before. It's nice when they can get outdoors in a protected area. Make doubly sure he cannot escape. He should love to play. You just have to find the right toy for him and keep at it. Raiden didn't want to play when I first got him when he was 6 years old. His previous owner never played with him. It took some time to get him interested. Has so many that he doesn't play with, but I keep buying new ones and try them out. He really loves chasing the wand of the toy rather than the toy itself. Since Hari was bulling the previous cat you need to make sure he is not bulling your other cat. You can't see what goes on when you're not around. Both cats need a lot of attention and love -- cats can get jealous. I've read about some holistic products that Jackson Galaxy recommends -- there are lots of them and you add them to the food or water and they seem to have made a real difference in some cats. Read up on it and maybe something can help you out. Whatever you do, please do not give up .... blending families can take some time, so just have some more patience.

Thanks for that. We're still trying to give both boys as much attention as we can (never enough is it?!) We're considering a couple of cat cams to see what's happening during the day.

_________________
The little monsters 3