No matter how much you read up on Bengals, nothing truely prepares you for the experience than by getting one yourself. Believe me, this will be a culture shock if you only get one. You need to dedicate time, and a lot of time, your favourite TV shows? well you can say goodbye to those, because if you think you're going to get 5 minutes of concerntration time, think again! You ARE their playtoy, no questions asked, and if you're not, be prepared, they will become destructive.

I thought I was prepared for Lilly but truth is I wasn't. I've had her a week and I've already had the thought cross my mind that I can't cope with her and give her the time and attention she needs. I've not been coping at all, BUT I love her to bits and the thought of her leaving my life, has me in tears.

I have about 10 different toys for her, but she wants you to be playing with her, I have new toys coming every other day it seems, I have scratching posts, activity centres, but it's not stopping her from trying to claw the wallpaper and everything else.

Fact is, she needs a playmate to play with, another bengal, she needs someone to play with, when she wants to, not when I'm around. I've been around as much as possible for her, but fact is, if you ask me (and from what you read everywhere else) you need two together, unless you are with them 24/7.

We are now on the hunt for her playmate. She will be our little pain in the ass until then, then she can get up to all the mischeif in the world with her playmate.

They are a wonderful breed, I wouldn't change her for the world, she's playful and she's loving an affectionate, but if you're only thinking of getting one, please think again.

I find this post a little extreme

Say good bye to your favourite TV shows? It a lil cat not a friggin teenager! Speaking of which i have 3 bengals, 3 CHILDREN, a PS3 obsessed husband, a dog with ADHD, and a partridge in a pear treeeee

And the comment at the end 'please think again' ?? You've come onto a Bengal Cat forum to put people off buying one?, dont expect not to upset a lot of members with this post. You come across as arrogant and in-experianced.

Who are you to give advice to other people on these cats? When hundreds of Bengal owners on this forum cope fine. Just because you cant cope. Dont seem to me the you kitten is the problem in your household....

and truth is NO if you cant cope with one bengal then dont get another one in hopes it will calm a kitten down! a kitten is like this whatever the breed, and adding another kitten from the sounds of your impatience after 1 week will drive you to suicide

Learn from this, its been a week.....

Have you ever thought you might be over stimulating her - by providing your kitten with constant toys you may well be hyping her up - If a child had a birthday ever day with everything they ever wanted they would be mess - you only have to see them at Christmas to know that.

Calm things down a bit - it shouldn't be like this.

I think the OP is just trying to advise people that ONE Bengal may be a handful for people inexperienced with the breed. Having said that, ALL Bengal cats are unique with different characters, so it depends on the individual cat/kitten. Still no need for the harsh response though Binx.


I've always had a minimum of 8 Bengal pets - Currently I have TEN Bengal pets. Fair enough, I do have a LOT of experience but we all get along just fine, with no inappropriate peeing, no trashing of the home and no fights, apart from the rare 'play fight'. All of my pets are complete cuddle bugs, very sociable and very well behaved believe it not. They all even adapted perfectly to a recent house move with no behaviour issues whatsoever.


Please be kinder to new Bengal owners - Perhaps the breeder should have been responsible enough to have taken the time to arm their new owners with the correct advice & info first before selling them a kitten in the first place.

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Best Wishes,
Maddy

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Katrina

Owned by:

Sorry, a lot of it was more humourous and comical than meaning to sound nasty

anyone that knows me, or is my friend on facebook knows i regulary blame my kids for my 'mental problems' lol

and the suicide thing agen wasnt meant nasty, its just my sense of humour, i regulary say stuff like 'omg im gonna kill myself in a minute' obv not meaning literally lol. The lil face on the end was supposed to kinda show 'i know iv been there' lol

so to the original poster **please also read this bit**

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I hope they will, they do seem the slightly hyper essentric type like myself

I understand fully where you are moving from. I have had cats all my life. I thought i knew everything there was to know about owning them. I decided I wanted to add anther kitten to my 1 Moggie cat 8 years ago. I struggled to get a rescue kitten as the RSPCA and Cats protection would nt consider me suitable as I had no way to allow the cats free access to the garden So I began looking at specific cat breeds. I had it in my head I wanted a grey kitten. I enquirer about some Bumese kittens but they were all take, the breeder said that she did have Tonkinese available. I did not know what they were so researched a bit and decided I would go ahead. She explained they are different to your average cat, I thought 'a cats a cat, how different can they be'.............



Well, it turns out VERY DIFFERENT. Evie was a very naughty kitten. She climbed everything, she chewed everything, she destroyed everything cardboard. She was difficult at first because she became so clingy. She would scream if left alone. I could not go to the kitchen, bathroom without her screaming. She ripped a law out trying to get to me when I went to cook dinner one day. The way our house was, the kitchen and bathroom were 'out buildings' attached by a lean-to veranda to the main house. My Moggie was allowed outside and pretty much lived in that part of the house so Evie had the main house. It was so difficult that, after 10 days, I to,d my husband that I could not cope any more and he had to call the breeder to take her back. He couldn't so Evie stayed and I'm so glad we got through it as she is such a character.

I was not really prepared for the difference in activity level. Every other cat and kitten I had r had encountered up until Evie were so easy going. Give them a toilet roll and a couple of ping pong balls and they were happy to amuse themselves.

My Bengal, in comparison, was a breeze!!

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Lollo

Khan's 9 now and he needs lots of attention, playing, cuddles etc. As he's the first bengal we've had and has been with us for only the last 3 years I don't know what he was like as a kitten, but I bet he was a bit of a handful.

That being said I've had Burmese and Siamese from kittens, and they have all been a bit mad. I rather liked that tho, but I can imagine that for a first time bengal owner, judging by previous posts on this forum, it could all seem a bit overwhelming. When I had three kittens they did all play happily together, but madly, like a herd of elephants rushing about.....when you were downstairs you could often hear ominous crashes from upstairs......am sure others on this forum could relate to this.......

In my experience, two or more cats can really entertain each other (and their owners) but you have to be prepared for a lively time. That, to me, is what owning cats, be they pedigrees or mogs, is all about. Try not to worry about the wallpaper and the furniture, the "shabby chic" look
can be very endearing.

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myfirstbengal