Hi everyone,

It's with great reluctance that my partner and I are looking to rehome our amazing Bengal boy, Hugo. We will be absolutely devastated to see him go, it's been a hard decision but I think it's for the best.

Hugo likes to get outside as often as possible and since we moved to Liverpool last year it's been difficult to allow him to do this. We're out working all day mon-fri and since we're renting a house without a cat flap, Hugo is cooped up inside all day by himself. When he can go out in the evening he doesn't have the trees and fields that he had at our previous home as we're in a mid terraced that backs on to more terraced houses with just a small yard for him to play in.

Hugo is 2.5 years old and is a full pedigree snow spotted Bengal with all relevant paperwork. He has literally just had his latest booster jabs, is neutered and is in 100% good health. He's such a good cat with more personality than any other moggy I've owned over the last 30 odd years. He's really good with kids, dogs and other people and although he's not lived with other cats he's always friendly with the ones he meets outside. Hugo's only problem is that since he can't get outside while we're out he occasionally has 'accidents' outside of his litter tray. No 2's are not a problem, he just doesn't always seem to like weeing in there for some reason! When he can get outside he's always absolutely fine though.

I've uploaded a zip file containing a bunch of photos of Hugo 'modelling', take a look! : http://www.mediafire.com/?dzujgjumdc9kepm

We're currently based in Liverpool but frequently return to our original home in Saddleworth so may be able to bring Hugo to you if you're in the Lancashire/Merseyside/Greater Manchester areas. You would need to come to see him at our house first though. The ideal new home for Hugo would be one with access to the outdoors most of the day and ideally someone 'around' the house the majority of the time too. Someone who has previously owned a Bengal would be preferable as they'll know how to deal with their foibles!

Since we're not in a huge hurry to get rid of him we will be fully vetting anyone interested in Hugo so any dodgy types need not apply!

Let me know if you're interested and we can discuss things further.

Thanks,

Jake (& Alexis)

I am sorry i cannot help with the rehoming but i wanted to offer some advice that may help... maybe some stuff that you haven't thought of.

Plenty of owners keep their cats inside and can manage it. It may be more difficult because he has access to outside but it is still possible if you want to and can work it out.

How many litter trays do you have? It may be worth have a few so he has plenty of choice. Make sure you clean the areas he wee's with proper stuff like 'Urine Off' to treat the smell that they smell. Never shout at him for urinating outside the box just clean it up and ignore him. Praise him and give him a treat for going on his tray. Try and scoop the tray often and remove soiled litter.

Maybe get some more interatcive toys to give him some stimulation.

You could try him with a drug called Zylkene which you can buy online. It helps calm and destress cats and is natural. It helps reduce the stress they feel and makes them less likely to toilet outside their box.

It could be that he has a urine problem so may need a vet check to make sure he has no urine infection or crystals or cystitis.... i suspect his is down to stress and not being allowed outside but you never know.

Feliway diffusers may help. Or a new one called 'Pet Remedy' which is a Valerian diffuser.

Is there anyway you can ask the owners about a cat flap?? Is there a window that you could lock open??? In my old house i had a glass patio door which we added dead bolts to. This locked the door open a cat width. The bolts went into the floor and up into the wooden frame above. This gave my cats access to my enclosed rear garden.


These may help you to not have to rehome him...... hope you don't mind me posting as you may not be aware/have tried these.

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Lollo

Hi

I'm not sure if you have manage to rehome your cat yet but we are looking for a companion for our snow bengal. She's three years old and we've had her for about 9 months. She's a lovely gentle temperament inside the house and craves attention in the evenings. She has all the usual Bengal tendencies and is the most vocal cat that I have ever encountered.

Her problem is that when she goes outside she is 'aggressive' to the female cat next door to the point that we are no longer letting her out of the cat proof back garden unsupervised. We have been advised that this might be a territory thing or that she is just not used to other cats and her over exuberance is misunderstood by other cats - we don't know. It is certainly straining relations with the neighbours!

It seems that your cat is friendly towards other cats and if they got on together then she might learn a little 'cat etiquette'. In addition - Hugo is a boy and will be bigger and stronger than Caprice and used to Bengal ways.

I'm in the process to talking to the breeder - Stardust Bengals - to check that she thinks that this will be a good idea - She's on holiday at present. Since you were not desperate to rehome your cat, we may be able to do a months trial to see how the pair of them get on and if one or other of the cats is not happy, then the status quo can be restored and no-one is the worse off.

If you are interested and Hugo has not been taken - please send me an e-mail address and I will send you some videos of our home with Caprice so that you can see that this is a genuine offer.

regards

Nigel Stevens

Nigel, check your inbox, I've just sent you a PM!

Lollo, thanks loads for your reply, a lot of the points you suggested are things that we already do. I think the issue really is that Hugo has moved from a home where he could go outside at will, to one where he can only go out a few hours a day and can see other cats outside from the windows. It's not nice seeing him stuck inside when I know he wants to be outside!

The issue of a cat flap is not really one that can be resolved because even if we were allowed to have one fitted I wouldn't want to leave him outside without me or my partner being at the house. That's my issue of course and I know it's purely psychological but I'd be worrying all day if I knew he was outside by himself!

The urinating issue isn't a massive problem by any means and I didn't want people to think it was and put them off potentially adopting him. It's an odd thing as he was absolutely fine with using his tray in our last house. It doesn't happen all the time and assuming he can go outside he will do. He goes out in the morning, does his business then comes back home and generally waits until the evening when we let him out again before he needs the toilet again, so in that respect he's pretty well disciplined!

Thanks for your reply though

M

I did ofrget to say that although my cats had access to my garden at my old house, they do not go outside on their own at the new house. Max had 2 years going outside when he wanted to and now has had 2 years of only being walked outside on a hrness. We managed eventually with the methods i described and Max is as happy as anything now.......

Have you spoken with his breeder at all about needing to rehome him. Most like you to discuss it with them as they may be able to help.....

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Lollo

For those who kindly posted advice - gratefully received.

Hugo seems to be settling very well - Spends a lot of time outside - although he has a fascination with the holes in the ground!
He comes back five or six times a day to check were still here and then he's off till evening. He's now started to sit on us while we watch a film.

Small problem is our other bengal, who is a little cross about the intruder! He's perfectly affable towards her and wants to play through the glass of the conservatory door ( which is where his area at present). I think she wants to do horrible things to him so we have to keep them separated unless they are under close supervision.

It's only been a week so far and we have avoided any physical stuff between them. She swears a lot at him ! We've tried feeding them together all is calm until she's finished her food!

We would really like this to work so if anyone has any other helpful hints then we would be grateful
regards

Nigel

If it has only been a week then it all sounds perfectly normal. Introducing two adult cats can be hard and can take a lot of time, sometimes it never works. I'd say it took my two a couple of months to get along without issues and now they're buddies. So be patient, keep going as you are and see what happens.