i am a first time owner of the bengal cats. I purchased a breeder quality champion bloodline spotted seal mink cat from a repuatable breeder the cat is 10 months old and it's a boy. I brought him home and he would not come out of the carrying case so we let him stay in the case and we loved on him and he seemed to love the attention. then he gets out of his carrying crate we brought him home on and he goes under our bed where he has remained since yesturday. he came out once rolled around in his litter box then went back under the bed. Is this normal for an older cat ( 10 months ) to do? we were told to leave him in our room for a couple days so he could adjust to the new move and not feel like he was in a huge new enviroment. I have read all GOOD things about bengals and how outgoing and playful they are and here i have one that wont come out from under the bed. is this normal for the first couple days? how long generally does it take for a bengal to warm up to a family. any advice would help greatly.

it would be early days for any cat, give him time and space and he will come out of his shell

Every cat is different so I wouldn't worry too much just now. Some just take a bit longer to adjust than others because at 10 months he was probably quite settled at his last place so it's a big change for him

i dont believe he had to much human interaction either. when we walked into the room he was staying in with his other siblings they all ran to hide. I am glad to know this is a normal reaction to moving a 10 month old cat, i just hope that it does not take to much time for him to realize he is in a loving home

Like others have said it all may depend on well socialised he is. To be honest i think your expecting too much of this newcomer. No matter what breed it will take some time for him to settle in and to trust his new slaves
You will see a difference every day, no matter how small. Soon enough he will have you run ragged Enjoy the peace & quiet for now!!!! lol.

molly, thanks for the response. i dont know if it is that i expect to much of him its just that i do not know what to expect. like i said this is my first bengal and I chose a bengal because of there fun loving playful attitudes that i have read about. i just wanted to make sure that this was normal. like i stated before he was in a house with 20 other cats and i am not sure that he had very much human contact before us, he actually came out and layed on the bed with me for a few minutes after i initially wrote the first post. i can now see this is going to be a slow process however i am confident that he will come around even if he was not socialized very well before i am sure he will get the chance here with a family that wants to love on him and is very eager to become his slaves! haha thanks again for all the replies.

As others have said, it's a question of time and patience. I think it can be easier to get the trust of a kitten than it is a 10 month old. He's already had time to get used to his previous life so the move will be a big thing for him. Keep talking to him quietly, try playing with wand toys that he can chase without getting too close to you, don't try and force physical contact unless he looks ready for it and before you know it, he'll have turned into a love bug. Has he been neutered?

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no he has not been neutered and this is for 2 reasons. i can get the breeding rights if i ever decide to breed in the future and reason2 i am afraid if he gets neutered he wont want to play and be outgoing. we had a regular house cat he recently passed and he was fun and loving then we had him neutered and he went from playful to lazy and wouldnt play anymore he ate and slept.

I would certainly advise against keeping him intact just in case you "ever decide to breed in the future." Before even thinking about using him for breeding, please read up on what it means to keep a stud cat and what is involved. Here are some places to start:
http://www.gccfcats.org/stud.html
http://www.fabcats.org/breeders/infoshe ... d_cat.html
He may well become very miserable (and make your life miserable as well) if you keep him intact. Even if you decide you want to breed, all the advice I've seen suggests that stud cats are often too much to handle for beginning breeders. His playfulness should not suffer from being neutered, as long as you keep him stimulated.

It sounds like he might not have been socialized well, so he might need a little bit more time to work up the trust and confidence to integrate with family life. Just give him some space and time and I'm sure he will come around.

thanks again for all your comments, I just want to emphasize that I did not buy this cat to breed him i bought him as an addition to our family. I really wanted a cat that would be outgoing enough that my kids would be able to love on him and play with him and after all the research I have done the bengal seemed like the perfect breed for what we were looking for in a cat. It makes me sick to think that there are kitty mills out there that breed these wonderful animals just to put a dollar in their pocket and I dont want anyone to think this is what i mean by " possibly breeding in the future" I love these animals and would only want to better the breed which I am sure many of you agree with. I may decide next week to never breed him and get him fixed i am just trying to figure out the pro's and con's. I just want to make sure I am going to have a loveable, energetic, playful kitty if I neuter him this is my main concern and not the breeding aspect of neutering or not neutering. So now that i have that out in the open back to the situation at hand.

I do not believe that my little guy was socialized with humans at all, infact I am almost positive he wasn't. For you guys that know alot about these breeds my question is since he was not socialized as a kitten will that make him less likely to take to us and gain our trust ever or will it just take longer?

I understand it takes time to adjust, when i brought him home i thought i was bringing home a fireball full of energy and fun times and this has not been the case. I guess I just expected him to bond with us instantly.

i know every personality is different and some cats may take longer than others and I am willing to be patient and wait, but is there a chance he may never come around or bond with us? this is my only concern

Hiya you can do it it can takes weeks/months of hard work but it is worth it

it is very sad the way he seems to have been brought up

Just take things very slowy make sure he has lots of places to hife/get up high.

dont follow him round all the time or pick him up, wait until he comes to you and make you he has a nice time with you cuddles/stroking/treats

makes sure he knows 'dins dins' that is always a way to make sure they come running to you!

He will also sense that you feel stressed so try not to worry he has only been there afew days!

Wait until it is 3 months and you wont remeber any of this! x

Kody is neutered and at 3 1/2 years old goes so absolutely crazy--running and playing and leaping and screaming to play. You should read in the discussion topic pros/cons of castration by Martin who just had his two 7 month olds done this morning. I think he will be a much happier, loving cat if this is done.

Like everyone has said, I'm sure it will take him a while to feel comfortable enough to begin to play and trust you, but I am sure it will happen!!

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Anne