Does anyone have any tips to help a mopey Bengal recover its rambunctious spirit after a partner leaves the household? My cat has been sleeping more than usual, is more lethargic than usual, and is possibly stress eating...

Get him checked over by the vet. Lethargy and sleeping a lot can be signs of illness, you cannot assume he is "depressed".
Stress also lowers the immune system, so just because you think he may be stressed doesn't mean he isn't also ill with an infection.

Cats like to form a main attachment to one, they will attach to others but like humans, there will always be that 1 special person. If that person disappears, a cat can be down about it, fall into a state of depression.

No scare monger here, yes if you feel the need to, get him checked over but please don't threat that he is ill, depression hits animals in many forms, just like it does in humans.

I had 2 moggie brothers, when one died at the age of 5, the other one spent the day time hours constantly sleeping, he wasn't himself and at night, he would yowl for his brother. He was like this for 7 months and yup, we had to medicate the poor blight.

He had formed a strong bond with me, so when I left my parent's home to join the navy at 17, he again, spent the days sleeping, rarely eating and not his pouncing self, at night he would wonder aimlessly and sit by my bedroom door. After 3 weeks of this, my parents took him back to the vets, nothing more than depression. This, again went on for months, so the vets medicated and after a month, he was back to his self again.

So, yes, a kitty can become depressed, esp if they spend a lot of their waking hours with the 1 person.

Try getting him out of his funk, going for walks may do this, making a fuss of him should too. I know it sounds soppy but make him feel loved, again.

I personally do not think that the first port of call in an animal that is lethargic, off its food or sleeping a lot, is assuming it is "depressed", in the common use of the term.
The animal first and foremost needs checked over for a physical illness. After all signs of physical issues have been thoroughly checked then some deeper psychological problem may be investigated.

An animal is not a human and most of the time animals hide illness as best they can, including I would guess depression, as they know to show weakness usually means they end up as prey or lose their place in the social order.
Animals in the main do not have the luxury of embracing the sick role and showing gross signs of depression like we westernised humans have. A depressed animal is often a dead animal. It is a dog eat dog and a jungle out there in the animal world.

I am not saying animals do not get "depressed" but IMO "depression" in an animal should be a diagnosis made by professional exclusion, rather than an assumption.

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Lily

i agree, hold off on replacements, can make a cat worse

Poor little thing, he's probably missing him.

My Nismo refused to eat any food and got really skinny. I would have to sit with him and his food bowl just to get him to have something to eat.
He was happy to play, still had lots of energy dispite not eating and would curl up with me and Evo. And then my partner cam back from his 2 week trip with work and literally as soon as he walked through the door and had some cuddles he was straight over to his food bowl and back to normal. He obviously missed his daddy!

Any change in behaviour should really be checked out by a vet. Much rather get the 'all clear' and start looking at ways to make them feel better. Than try and treat the assumed depression and find its something else. It probably is down to separation but you never know. My cats sleep when I'm not here. My husband often comments that they didn't even notice he came home from work yet they are bouncy and happy to see me home on the rare occasions I'm out when my husband is in.

Is it a cat or human that has left? It might change the advice that is offered.

I might plug a feliway diffuser in to see if that helps. There are natural remedies that you can use as well like Rescue Remedy and Zylkene.

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Lollo