Hi everyone!
My husband and I are 5 months new to the world of Bengal companionship. I was searching for a good Bengal forum to join, and this looked like a promising candidate.
Our "little guy" is about 8 months old now, and about 11 lbs. We got him from a breeder here in South Florida back in July, and have really had both a pleasure and a challenge watching him grow! I've read a few threads of others describing their experiences with their kittens, and was really able to relate to what they were going through.
When we first brought him home, we started noticing that he was very lethargic and wasn't eating (but he was drinking plenty of water). This continued for 4 days, and a trip to the vet finally concluded that he had Giardia. He got his medicine for the next week (he protested horribly, of course), and he finally got healthy again. He gained weight pretty fast after that, eating like a little piggy. LOL
After that, he's been just a ball of energy like we've never seen. We can't seem to keep up with him! He's definitely a handful, getting into more things he shouldn't than a toddler. :p The first few months were pretty bad, he would play so rough that I had constant scratches and bites on my arms and legs. I still have scars, but at least no more fresh wounds. LOL He is very demanding, and when he wants something, he won't let anything get in his way. A water squirt bottle only deters him for the first 5 minutes, then he'll find a way around that too. And if you won't let him have his way, don't turn your back! lol He will come at us from behind and latch himself onto our leg and just bite (hard). If we're lucky, we'll be wearing jeans and it won't hurt as bad. :p My mom has nicknamed him "el Diablo" because he can be such a little devil!
We haven't allowed him to sleep in our room for the last 2 or 3 months, since he will just tear the room apart - jumping into the curtains and hanging, running through the vertical blinds, jumping on my head, and biting our toes. He won't let us sleep, so we had to banish him from the room at night. I feel so bad! But it's either sleep or don't sleep, and I choose sleep. LOL
Other than his agressive personality, he's a great playmate and so much fun to watch. His favorite toys are the little furry mice, and my husband's laser pointer. He will chase the light for hours! Tonite we heard him 'bark' for the first time, as he was getting ready to pounce on it. He has no fear, like others have mentioned of theirs, and seems to be amenable to trying anything at least once. He even decided to try jumping into my mother-in-law's glass torch lamp (you can imagine what happened next). So yes, he's been a little destructive.
Well, here's a link to his photo gallery... enjoy!
http://www.sbzro00.com/leo/leo.html
Lisa