Last month was the hardest month of my life. My sweet Bengal, Jasper was hit by a car outside my house. He would have been four years old on the 26th. He had a sweet, spunky personality and loved prancing around, catching lizards, birds and even a rabbit once! He always hung out with me while I was outside, whether it was sitting by the pool, sitting on my lap while I read a book, or sitting on my homework. I miss him so much. We are beginning to talk about getting a new Bengal. I'm not sure how soon I should get a new kitty. I've talked to local breeders and visited one with kittens that are 3 weeks old. I have a few weeks to decide and put a deposit down.

Before Jasper became an almost entirely outdoor cat, he was inside most of the time. I brought him for walks, clicker trained him and tried to keep him occupied. Despite my efforts, his high energy came to be a huge stress in our household. I was really busy with school at times and could only give him limited attention. He began to open doors to escape from my room, turn on lights at night, and get into trouble. We realized that he needed a consistent outlet for his boundless energy. So we made him into an outdoor cat. As much as he loved it, it obviously wasn't what we had planned for and wasn't as safe as being an indoor cat.

Now that I'm finished with school, I have so much time in my hands. So I'm considering adding another spotted friend to the gang.

With all that said, I'd like to hear your feedback. Have you ever lost your Bengal and when is a good time to get a new one? With my passed experience with having a high-strung kitty, what are your suggestions for keeping a Bengal's busy mind occupied?

I am so very sorry you lost Jasper. Unfortunately, when a cat is allowed free roaming access to the outdoors, things happen. Horrible things!!! I understand how Jasper made it nearly impossible for him to stay inside. I have one of those bengals as well. He roamed free for the first six years of his life and got into several horrific cat fights resulting in infections. His owner finally gave him to me and I decided he could not roam free. He'd used up over half of his nine lives already.

We take daily walks on a harness and leash and he has a 12'x12' covered enclosure on our deck that he can access through a cat door in the dining room window. This has helped, but he is still an escape artist and we have to be super careful when we open exterior doors and even shut him in our bedroom while we are bringing in groceries.

Based on what you've posted, I don't know that another bengal is for you. You will be going through the same thing and could end up with the same consequences -- even with a moggie kitty. My advise is to consider completely catifying your home with tons of cat furniture and look into expanding the cat's world with a catio or cat enclosure to keep the kitty safe. I will never understand how someone can lay out a huge chunk of money for a purebred bengal and then allow it outdoor access with all the dangers that are out there. I know people do it -- and it's a personal choice, but then you have to live with the consequences of the cat disappearing or meeting some horrible fate.

I've had cats for over 50 years, but never a cat like a bengal. I made a commitment to take care of Raiden for the rest of his life and I will do that -- but never in a million years would I ever have purchased a bengal. He is the sweetest kitty in the world, but a handful much of the time. If you have the time and energy to take care of another kitty or another bengal, then do it, but be mindful of the fact that cats don't understand the dangers that await them outside.

So sorry for your tragic loss, you must be heart broken.

When I lost my first bengal (Frosty) at aged 5 to cancer I was overcome with grief beyond compare, it took me a year before I could have another as I felt disloyal to him if I got another too soon.

However I got Magic my now 4 year old brown spotted boy and he helped to repair my broken heart.

I found him hard to keep occupied so I got Pearl my snow rosetted girl now 9 months old, they tend to keep each other occupied by chasing each other around, we had a bit of trouble a while back with Magic getting grumpy with Pearl but we seem to have overcome the worst of that.

One thing though I would never let them outside on their own, too many dangers, years ago my very first cats I had, one went missing aged 3 I never saw her again and the same thing happened to the cat I had before Frosty, he went out one evening and ever came back he was 8.

To be honest it's up to the individual to decide whether to get another cat and when.

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Clare
Magic (brown spotted boy born 31 March 2012)
Pearl (seal Lynx Point girl born 1 October 2015)
Bristol, UK

Thanks so much for your feedback. I genuinely appreciate your kind words about the loss of a pet and your wise advice on considering if buying a Bengal is really for me.

My family decided to visit a local cat rescue where my good friend volunteers. We just visited to "see what they had available", and possibly consider getting two litter mates sometime in the future, but three sweet kitties stole our hearts, so we adopted them.

Though crazy, getting three kittens seemed like the right thing to do. With the loss of Jasper having over me, I felt like I needed something to make me smile and laugh in a similar way that Jasper did. These kittens have done that and more. I don't feel disloyal to Jasper by getting new kitties after a month from his passing. Seeing them wrestle and chase each other is just the cutest thing! I've already started leash-training my kitten Maverick, and the kittens have all gone for walks outside since we got them.

For others who are considering a new pet after the loss of one, for me at least, once I had gone through all the stages of grief and just thought of my kitty with fond memories, I felt ready to consider a new cat.

There is nothing wrong with adopting new kitties so soon after the passing of Jasper. I've done the same thing and it does help. I'm sure Jasper is looking down, smiling, knowing that the love you had for him is being passed on to some new fur babies. And three kittens have a new home! It works out for everyone. Hopefully, they will not be outside unsupervised and will remain safe and have many, many years with you and your family. Congratulations.

I lost my Maine Coon last year, it was so hard on me! My boyfriend suggested I get another kitten to help with the hurt. It didn't replace her, but it did help.

It is a bit of a hard situation as the new kitten will take your mind off the old, however can also be hard since it's not the same.

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Archer- Born March 8, 2016 gold with amazing ink jet rosettes
DiVinci- Born July 31, 2016 charcoal seal lynx point

I have come upon a store, and have enough scrap to buy another flak i already have one equipped. So, should I use another flak cannon?

My cat's breath smells like tuna

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The little monsters 3

there's a spambot that hasn't worked out the difference between anti aircraft artillery and bengal cats.