Background; Our new boy has been in our home for 3 weeks Tuesday. Overall we have been incredibly lucky as we have not had any real problems. Khan is very loving and social and will even choose to take naps on our laps often. He has never had a letterbox accident. Tomorrow is Khan's 3 month birthday. As of now he weighs 4 pounds.

Food and diet questions; Firstly, I understand a raw diet to be superior but am unable to do that currently and am unsure if it would be good for a kitten anyway. Khan currently gets fed 1/4 cup dry Blue Buffalo Wilderness Kitten food in the morning and 1/4 cup at evening meal. We also give Khan 1 oz. of Blue Buffalo wet Kitten food at those times. He always eats all his wet food within 30 minutes and grazes on the dry. The manufacturer recommends 1/2 cup of dry a day so the wet is additional food. Does anyone have any idea of how big Khan could end up being? He comes from a litter of four. He is trim and athletic looking. He has already been neutered. Does this diet seem to be adequate (with increases as he grows) for his kittenhood? Is 4 pounds normal, above or below average for a Bengal at 3 months?

Behavior questions; Khan has recently shown a tendency to try to "take" Da Bird toy to another room when he catches it. He gets it in his mouth and runs as far as the string will let him and then plays tug of war. It can be quite difficult to get it away from him! If "allowed" to take it he will lay down and guard it. He bites down on it and growls loudly when you reach out and take it away by hand. He has never struck out or tried to bite when I take it, but he does become angry. Khan also loves to run up at me sideways when we play and will often leap up and tap me lightly on the head or beard and then run off. He likes to do this when I am working on the computer as well. I stress that he always "seems" to be playing, he can look intimidating and a bit crazy with his tail puffed and wild eyes though. He always seems to have claws retracted when he bats me. Is this normal? Khan seems to be fearless, dishwashers, vacuums, and such rarely frighten him and when he is scared accidentally his tendency is to puff up and hop sideways at the offending person or thing. All other cats I have owned ran and hid in these sorts of incidents. I am wondering if these behaviors seem normal. Again, 90% of the time he is the sweetest little guy there is. I just want to take care of anything that could be a problem behavior early.

Thanks in advance for the help! Here are some pics of our wonderful boy Khan. He is from TecSpot Bengals in Ohio, USA.

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Oh gosh, Khan is so handsome! What a little cutie!!!!

The breeder gives the best advice as to what to feed your kitty and as long as you've got him on the same type of food, he will do okay. Kittens are growing and need multiple meals throughout the day. I don't know what the average weight is for a 12 week old bengal. My Raiden is 8 years old and weighs 13.5 pounds and the vet says he is at the perfect weight. The bengal build is quite different from a regular cat, so sometimes you think they are too thin, but they are muscular kitties and I don't heard of very many who get overweight.

Khan loves to hunt! Exactly what he should be doing. And he's protecting the prey after catching it. Perfectly normal. He needs lots of toy mice to chase around as well. Kittens love to play and bengals especially! I wouldn't "fight" him for the toy, but just get out another and get him going with the new toy! He sounds like a very sweet kitty cat who is loving all the attention he's getting.

Raiden doesn't mind our walks outside when people are mowing the lawn. Doesn't mind the vacuum cleaner either. He gets terrified if he sees someone walking down the street -- or a dog -- the quiet things.

Bengals are amazing cats and Khan will teach you a lot! Give him as much playtime as he wants. He sounds like a normal bengal kitten.

Congratulations!

Thanks Sherry! Good to know. I hope Khan grows up to be as regal as Raiden. He will probably never have Raiden's sexy battle scars though! I transitioned Khan onto the Blue Buffalo and off of Friskies over the first two weeks and only observed diarrhea once. I was concerned about getting him on something with more nutrients and higher protein content for his kitten years to help him grow and be healthier. Thanks again!

Hi and welcome.

Very cute kitty.

The only thing abnormal about what you are describing is that he sounds amazingly restrained for a bengal, and that he doesn't do more of it But you may see him ramp up that stuff in the months ahead.

I've come to think of bengal kitten's antics this way: Why does he do stuff and what is he trying to accomplish? He's desperately practicing to become the adult hunter that he needs to be. So that includes the full spectrum of behaviors: running and jumping to build his muscles and agility. Stalking, pouncing, "killing", wrestling (to ward off rivals). Plus all the defensive stuff: making himself appear bigger by puffing out tail, arching back, hissing, growling etc. These are all the skills that he knows that he needs to be a self-sufficient hunter, and he has a big need to do all of it, so when you see it, you can put it in the context of "he's in training", but make no mistake, such training is a "serious" business to cats. And that's why a toy like dabird is so great, and it's so important that you guys participate in giving him that stimulation.

The running away with the dabird thing I thought was really cool the first time I saw it. My Serafina does that too all the time. She's practicing her "kill and defend the prey" behavior. So when people suggest that using a laser pointer as a toy for cats, and that "all they want to do is chase it anyway", you will know better!

As far as the sort of "rough play" goes, keep in mind that if he were still with siblings, he'd be putting them in headlocks and toppling them to the floor, biting their necks, pouncing on them and knocking them to the ground, bowling them over during a chase, getting a flying leap and landing on them from above, and all that crazy stuff. So since you are his playmate he's trying to accomplish some of those needs as well. What your task/challenge is, is helping him satisfy those needs, but doing it in a way that doesn't hurt you. So yes, you can scold him if he does that stuff, but there always has to be a "yes" behind the "no" as to how you help him with those needs.

As far as food goes, for now I'd ignore the manufacturer's suggestion. Don't ration his food, you're feeding him really good food, just make sure that he's not hungry and can eat all he wants/needs. Later on when he gets closer to 1 year old, you'll have to start figuring out whether he's getting the proper amount of food to maintain proper weight/body shape, and your vet can help with that. But for now it's all about growth. And to answer your question, it wouldn't be surprising if your cat got to be 15lbs or so. Male bengals tend to be pretty large cats.

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Thanks Brian, that is good info and what I suspected. His curiosity, intelligence, athleticism and fearless attitude are amazing. The little guy already is doing things that I have never seen full grown cats I had previously do. His leaping ability is still shocking to me! Good to know we are on the right track. I don't see myself owning a "regular" cat ever again after this incredible little guy.