Every Bengal has a different personality, and their behaviour can’t be generalised. Most are vocal, some are not. Some scratch furniture, others don’t. Some hate being held, some love it. My boy will let me pick him up for a cuddle (when he wants it) for a few seconds and then he wants to be put down. My girl LOVES cuddles and will climb onto my shoulder and jump into my lap whenever she can and fall asleep.
There is no predicting what your Bengal will or will not do, in my opinion. Mine have used the keyboard of my laptop, my thongs (flip flops), carpet, rug, etc as scratching pads. I tell them no and they will stop, but if you leave things out and give them access to these things, they will do whatever they want with them. If you have problems with furniture, you can try telling them ‘no’ when they scratch, use a spray bottle, or use scents which they don’t like (e.g. peppermint) on the furniture to deter them. Just make sure you aren’t just punishing them for doing these things if they have no other outlets like cat trees, scratching posts, toys etc. They are not like tabbies in the slightest and NEED to be entertained. A majority of their day is dedicated to running around and playing. If they are bored, they will be VERY vocal… not even comparable to a tabby’s vocals.. and it will drive you insane.
I highly recommend getting two together, preferable from the same litter. They will be best friends, will get less bored, sleep together, tackle each other, chase each other, and wear each other out. It will be a lot of fun for you to watch them. There will, of course, be double the mischief, but it is worth it.
Both my bengals do drive me insane sometimes, but it is just who they are. This is what I signed up for, so I will deal with it! I love them. They make me laugh with the things they do.
I feel like lots of people don’t do enough research on Bengals, though. They immediately fall in love with their looks from the moment they see them… and they want one. But you really, really need to do a lot of research on them before you commit to buying one. I fell in love with bengals from the moment I laid eyes on one. But, I did months and months of research and it was years before I got one. I watched videos, documentaries, read forums, joined groups, etc. I had doubts, I thought maybe this isn’t the breed for me… but the more I read, the more intrigued I was and I thought I would just dive into the deep end and get a Bengal! Now I have two, and I love them!
Just make sure you are not getting a Bengal just for their looks – there is A LOT more to them than that, and not everyone can handle a Bengal!
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