In september i had to say goodbye to my 16.5 years companion who was terminally ill. Even though it might be strange to say i have enjoyed our last weeks together, i knew she was ill and it would soon be time to make the big decission, so i really spoiled her with attention and the best food (in her eyes), every time we had a special moment. But still, its so hard to make that decision on when its really time to let her go. Im still grieving each and every day, since we knew eachother through and through.
The moment i realised that she was terminally ill, i had put myself on a waiting list for a new kitten, a Thai (traditional siamese). However before the kitten would be in my home it would probably be feb/march since they werent born yet. I have wanted one for at least 20 years (im 38) and knew that if i wanted one, this would be the time since you cant see in the future, 15 years from now. But it became awfully quiet in my house, im single and never experienced an household without pets. And realised that to stay 'sane' i needed a pet (cat) to give love to, to interact with, to come home to, to talk/play with etc. My original planning was to get a kitten from the shelter at the same time as the Thai, so that they would have eachother and grow up together.
Soon after i had to say goodbye to Vivaldi i started looking in shelters (there is actually a website in the Netherlands where most shelters put up their pets) and ran into an add of 'Bengals'. I knew a Bengal is a very active and vocal cat and thought that might be the best friend for my future Thai kitten. The shelter they were located was even only 4 km's from my home, when i discovered that ... well it felt like it should have gone this way.
The next day i went to see them (its actually very very rare to see purebred cats in a shelter in the Netherlands), and was sold in the instant. But since it would be months before the Thai kitten would come to my home i felt it would not be fair to the Bengal kitten and decided on taking 2. (i now decided to wait a couple of years on the Thai because i dont think my appartment is suitable enough for 3 young active cats, just a side note)
The group in the shelter came from a breeder, all were very very ill with cat flu when they came in and had lots of medical issue's, a few had to put down immidiatly to end their suffering and 5 of the kittens needed an eye removed by the vet.
The moment they came home to my place they were 6.5 and 7 months old.
Ayla (female, now 8.5 months) and Finnley (male, now 8 months) i renamed them. They are my first Bengals.
Finnley, silver rosetted (at least thats what his pasport says, dont really know it lol), only has one eye (and from the eye he still has his cornea is damaged, but not too bad) . Is the cuddly of the 2, he is, at this moment, the boss (allthough it isnt clear all the time), is a stalker in games, is absolutely obsessed wit feathers, starts to retrieve toys now (a bit, we are in a learning curve), loves bellyrubs, miauws very softly when he is on my lap and i stop petting him, makes clear he wants me to continue. And loves water, both the sink and in the bath, usually i put a layer of water in the bath and throw a toy (which can be anything, even a q-tip) in it and he is happily enjoying himself.
Ayla, brown rosetted, both eyes have damaged cornea's and one is a bit cloudy, because of that it sometimes looks as if she is odd-eyed which makes her very cute looking. Though they are at about the same weight, she looks small, she has more the bengal 'built' as i thought before i came into the Bengalworld. Lean, long leggs etc. Ayla is a bit distant, defenately not the cuddly type, i feel honored when she purrs for me, and last week was the first time she came onto my lap and slept there for half an hour (i felt very special :) ) She is however my shadow, more then Finnley is, if i move from one room to the other she is always close to my feet. She absolutely adores the outside. I started training them on the leash and she has no problems with it at all, she acts more like a dog then as a cat on the leash. I live 300 m from the forest and she loves it there, is purring non-stop, sometimes growling at the birds she sees (and absolutely growling at the dogs we encounter, but i pick her up then, which she allowes), and has a puffed tail the whole time she is in the forest (out of exitement... never saw that before in a cat) She is the instigator of chasegames and wrestling, but looses with wrestling, but it doesnt encourage her to jump on Finn directly after again. She is the hunter of the two... any toy that moves is fair game. I suspect Ayla of having chronic 'catflu' (we call it sneezing disease), she sneezes a lot more then cats i have encountered in my life and often has a bit of a crusty nose (mostly in the morning). We have been to the vet twice (and tomorrow the 3rd time), first time was within a week of them comming home
Before i registered here i read a lot of the topics... and concluded that... i dont have very vocal bengals (just some yowling when (raw or wet) food is insight), they are active... ofcourse, they are kittens, but not the overly ADD type of active. Both sleep through the night and also sleep some of the time during the day. However i do realise that if i didnt had 2 cats at the moment i would have been the play/interact partner every waking moment, but they play a lot together (chasing, wrestling).
I play with them at least twice a day for 30-45 min, active games with da bird/wand, and they are both ok with playing by theirselfes as well sometimes. Finnley with/in water, Ayla with small toys (or a paper bag the last 2 days). If im at home the whole day they both get to be outside on the leash (ofc not together lol), Ayla for about an hour, Finnley as long as he can handle (he is a bit insecure, when he has had enough 'stimulation' i take him inside again), if im from home during the day only 1 of them comes out, i like to equally swap it. However it has to be dry outside, both seem to melt in the rain when on a leash. And since i dont want to be blamed by my neighbours of animal cruelty because of the sirene i have on the leash when its raining, i stopped trying.
I bought a new scratchpost, a pole from floor to ceiling (with 3 beds) and plan on installing some shelves as well and to buy 2 beds which i can attach to the windows.
I suspect Ayla of having chronic 'catflu' (we call it sneezing disease), she sneezes a lot more then cats i have encountered in my life and often has a bit of a crusty nose (mostly in the morning). We have been to the vet twice (and tomorrow the 3rd time), first time was within a week of them comming home, after a few days she started sneezing more then usual (and it became yellow) and had some discharge from her eyes. But a course of ab and eyesalve made it a lot better, when she sneezes now its 'watery', you can hear her breath often however she doesnt snore, but she also is the huffing and puffing type when playing or when she's excited.
They brought energy and laughter to my house. As i said before, im single and live alone and a couple of times a day i literally laugh out loud because of their actions or behaviour. Ofcourse i still miss Vivaldi dearly, as i said before, we knew eachother from the inside out and with Ayla and Finnley its still an exploring expedition, it was long ago that i had kittens in the house and yes i also have to adjust to that, ofcourse sometimes they make my blood boil with their high energy but i still love very very much :)
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