Hello ALL we have just arrived home with our new Bengal.His name was Ullr but we have decided to call him Jasper. He is a 2 year old snow marble and he is a retired breeder/show cat. He is currently in his safe room and completely terrified of everything This is what I expected being he has been in a stud house for a year now so half of his life! He is sweet and loves cuddles and being carried around. He was very friendly with everyone in our family even the children, which was very nice being that we were complete strangers in his home. I have to admitt that this is something new for me and I am worried that I might make a crucial mistake. Of course I have brought BB into our home but it was much diiferent as she was a tiny kitten and was fearless from the beginning. So with that being said does anyone have any tips for me to use while getting him comfortable with our home? Of course he will stay in his safe room and he will not be introduced to our girl,BB until I am 100% comfortable with that!!!

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Hi,
I adopted an ex breeding queen (Siberian not Bengal) she was 6 when I brought her home, had never lived with children (I have 4) and she too started out very shy and scared. I know it's slightly different for an ex stud boy as he will most likely not have spent much time in a home environment. With my girl I did exactly as you are doing, a safe room. I made sure I spent plenty of time in there, not attempting to interact, just sitting quietly, reading usually, letting her make any approach if she wanted. I also made sure she saw I was the one providing food. Once she was comfortable with me and greeting me when I went into her and seeking cuddles etc (about a week) I started letting my children come in too. I'd do story time and practice spellings homework, fairly quiet activities. They were under strict instructions to let her come to them if she wanted to not to chase her. Because I'd gained her trust first she was quite accepting of them. Once she was happy and comfortable with everyone I started leaving the door open but kept all her stuff in there so she still felt she had a safe space to go back to if she needed to. She slowly began exploring more and more of the house and after 3/4 weeks was stalking around as if she owns the place. The basic thing is step by step, let the cat let you know when they are ready for more, as you get to know him you'll see easily what he is comfortable with and when he is feeling stressed. You can't go wrong with lots of love and attention in my opinion! Hope he settles in well and congrats on your new boy!

Hey hun when i first brought honey home she was really skittish and always hiding cus she had been in an outside pen for a few months, the general noises of the house and kids playing scared her. Now she has improved loads, still not keen on being picked up but will come when called now. We tried not to over whelm her or make too much of a fuss and just sat with her doing our own thing and she wud slowly creep over to be nosey lol x x

Stop overthinking things, you've been given loads of really good information.

You know the main ingredient here is time. He will come around when he's ready. It may take longer than a kitten. All the other rules apply. Going in, sitting with him, talking/reading to him. There's no real need to treat him any differently than you would any other cat or kitten. Just work at his pace.

Given your hubby can pick him up already is waaaay further along than when I got Alex. He wouldn't even let me touch him. So relax hon.

PM me if you want to ask any other questions or if you get worried, I understand. I was a little anxious when I got Alex.

I think I tend to over think EVERYTHING, I am very anxious/nervous person as it is and I just want things to go right! This was a HUGE decision for our family and not something we take lightly. We are in come hell or high water. I was honestly more worried about how BB would react with his scent being on me and my husband, I really thought to much into that!!! She had a good sniff and is currled up on my lap now She has went to the door of his safe room a few times but didn't react in any way other than walking off. Could not get any better than that I actually just went in the room and sat on the couch and talked to Jasper, to my surprise he jumped up on the couch with me and sat in my lap I gave him a good chin scratch and took a couple of pictures while he was purring and content! He then got up and went and currled up on the arm of the couch and that is where he is now, still sleeping! I think things are going to work out eventually and I know it could take a while before he is comfortable. I am in shock tho at how dark he is now When I went to visit him at the cattery he was a medium tan color he was dark but not the darkest mink I have seen. I get him home today and when he eventually crawled out of his carrier I thought we had picked up the wrong cat He honestly looks like a brown marble! If I couldn't see his aqua eyes I wouldn't think he was a snow! I will post a few pictures of him sometime tonight! Thanks everyone!

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Here is a couple of pictures of Jasper! I will post a couple until I have good pictures to post to formally introduce him!



This is his favorite spot

I will post when he is more comfortable!

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Wow! What a beautiful boy! You're right, I'd have never beloved he was snow from looking at his coat, it is beautiful tho.

Thank you!!! His coat is different than I remembered at the breeders. I am not sure if it was the lighting or if It was because paying more attention to his behavior!!! He is handsome no doubt


So the first night with Jasper was ok, he didn't fuss or cry any and bless his heart he had to of been terrified! I took some medication yesterday afternoon and had a horrible reaction! My husband had to call 911 and the paramedic came so I know that commotion did not help any at all!! I got up this morning to go check in and get fresh food and water and clean his litterbox. When I opened the door the smell was horrible!! He had been hiding behind our couch and has wee/poo all over him! I don't think he moved from that spot all night. The room he is in is a large room so I am going to the pet store to get another feliway diffuser to go in there! I have to also find something to contain the smell until he settles! I don't think he is spraying he is to scarred to use his box! Do any of you have suggestions as to what I should do? Should I allow him to hide behind the couch or move it out from the wall? What is the best product to cover urine smell? I have urine off and that cleaned it up but the smell still lingers!

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Hmm, maybe the space is a little too large for him? When I lived at my old house and had rescue cats at home I had a room I used but it was quite big, I used to section off a small area to start with, of course they can escape from that section by jumping or climbing but usually they didn't want to, the smaller space made them feel more secure, I used to expand the space when they got curious about what was outside the boards I used for screening. Also does he have anywhere safe to hide? The hiding is normal but it might be better if he has somewhere other than behind the sofa, an old box on its side lined with blankets? Placed near the litter box so he doesn't feel dashing out to use it is too risky.
For the smell do you have Fabreeze?

He does have plenty of hiding places! I have one medium size box, one smaller box and they both have blankets. He has the cat carrier with a cat bed in it, there is also a kitty tent tunnel and a small cat tree! So he has plenty of things to take cover in and I also cleared out the closet so he can get in the bottom of it! The room measures 13 ft by 20 ft so it is on the larger side, but its sectioned off to where he has a little less than half of it right now! My husband built a makeshift wall from plywood that we can adjust to allow him more/less room! He is in his pet carrier now because I pulled the couch out so I could clean back there and that's where he has been since early morning. He seems more confident today then he was yesterday but I am only saying that because he is talking back to me now, whereas yesterday he wouldn't make eye contact. Even when he jumped on the couch with me he was still shaking! Or at least until I started to scratch his chin, then he turned to purrs!! So I would say he has moved a tiny amount forward, but a tiny amount forward is much more than I can ask for this early!!!

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Well you've done everything I'd suggest. So it's just going to be time and love now. I'm sure he will start to settle and gain confidence. You're doing everything right, try not to worry (easier said than done). He's a lucky boy to have someone so concerned about making him comfortable.

Thanks! I am doing my very best!!! I have four kids so I want him to be comfortable and laid back before I allow them to even think about going in his room!!! He has a vet appointment Monday to get everything checked out! I know he is ok and was tested and vaccinated for what he needs to be but I would rather my vet have a look at him, better safe than sorry! He has also suggested that we get something for him when we come. He said he would have it there but he would have to order it, it is something you put in his water that is supposed to calm him down and for the life of me I can't find or remember what he said it was! Do any of you know of a water supplement that helps with stress? Sadly the only thing I remember him saying was its REALLY expensive usually when a vet says that, it's true!! I don't mind paying whatever I have to for it as long as its something that will help!

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Poor boogerhead. Poor you guys. Sounds like everyone is trying their hardest.
We swear by Nature's Miracle for smells. I use it on carpets, the litter mat, the litter box... They have a number of products for different purposes. And a Glade plug- in in the cat room for "odor maintenance" . I'd put one of your and your husband's shirts too, something that smells like you all. So that even when it's dark and scary, he can recognize his safe smells. Max will dump over the laundry basket when we're out of town and drag stuff to lay on. He did this even as a kitten when he was pretty new to us, though he couldn't knock it over. He'd take our clothes out of the bathroom when we showered. It might help him a bit when you're not in the room since he seems to be responding to the both of you.

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That's a great idea Noodle!!! I would have never thought of that, even though it is something I have done with every puppy I have ever owned! I will certainly look into the Natures Miracles! I want to find something that takes the smell away without making it smell like pee and flowers, if you know what I mean! Thanks for the tip!!!

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I absolutely know what you mean. I usually get a jug, then pour it into small spray bottles (for cleaning the litter box, I even use the travel hairspray sized ones for best coverage). I can be expensive, but it's so worth it. With three males who do not squat to pee, we've got an arsenal. Just make sure you follow the directions for each kind of NM that you get. I spray our litter daily with the litter spray (and the walls of the box), when I'm scrubbing out the box I spray the regular stuff on there and let it dry, then replace the litter, and on carpets (or walls) I follow the directions on the jug. I hate the flowery stuff... and I'd like to think that Faust's and Max's looks of disgust when I spray air freshener after a particularly foul elimination are tinged with indignity that I'd make their room smell like a GIRL... and pee.

As a side note, it also works for cleaning the bathroom when you have potty-training human boys who like to play "Target Practice".

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