Hi People

I am new to this site but am desperate for advice. My beautiful Bengal boy has always been aggressive to an extent but lately he is getting worse and really attacki9ng my daughter who is only 8. She screams at him when he does it so he is aware that he is hurting her but this morning he has just simply grabbed hold of her leg with his teeth and not let go. He has caused severe marks to her leg and made her bleed and really frightened her.

He is 3 years old and recently has started spraying too. I think I have combatted the spraying now and the other bad behaviour ( messing outside of litterbox when he is put into the kitchen at night times) but his aggressive has increased.

We spend lots of time loving him and playing with him and he is really affectionate but just seems to flip out for no reason. As soon as I walk in of an afternoon at 3.30 he bites my feet until I feed him and when he is not centre of attention he leaps at you and bites. I did read into Bengals and their behaviour but this has become extreme now and I am worried that he will cause some real damage and I'm worried about what he may do to my daughter.

We all love him dearly and I just need some help as we cannot bear the thought of not having him around and I don't want to give up on him. There must be a reason why he is doing this so I want to help him.

He suffered form Bengal Neuropathy at 6 months old and that is when the aggression started.

Please help xx

Hopefully someone here can help you. My bengal has never been aggressive, so I'm at a loss as to what you should actually do. I'd probably consult a cat behaviorist because this type of aggressive behavior is also affecting your daughter. At 3 years old, he should have outgrown all the kitten behavior, but I will say my Raiden (who is nearing 7 years old) behaves like a kitten a lot.

You mention your cat spraying, so I will assume he is still intact? (Not neutered)

I'm sorry to hear your Bengal is acting so aggressively.

Here is what I would do:
- Make sure no one in your family is encouraging him to play with your hands or feet. When playing with him, use toys only. Any playing with your hands or feet will make him think they are toys that he is allowed to attack.

- When he bites you try to redirect his attention to his toys. Maybe carry a toy around in your pocket so if he flips out you can immediately give him something appropriate to focus his aggression on.

- When you get home and he is biting you for attention it could be because he has been stuck at home, bored with nothing to do. You could try something that gets his mind going like teaching him to do an agility course (make him follow a tasty treat round the course), or taking him for walks on a harness.

- If you are giving him plenty to do, and he still attacks people you will have to punish him for attacking. When he starts to bite anyone, like when you get home, don't say anything to him, just immediately stop what you are doing and ignore him. Turn your back to him. The punishment for attacking will be getting no attention from you. If he continues attacking after you ignore him, scoop him up in a towel and put him outside, or if he's an indoor cat, put him in a room on his own for a few minutes. Once he has been alone for a few minutes let him out and play with him (with toys) for a few more minutes, so he isn't left feeling negatively about the whole situation.

Good luck, let us know how things go

I'm not really sure what to suggest. Obviously you can't have your daughter getting hurt by the cat. And it sounds like things have gotten out of hand. Neuropathy is a pretty big deal, so that's a tough ordeal to go through, so I feel really bad for the cat if it has to be re-homed. I would feel even worse if the bengal were re-homed with a "hurts kids" sign around his neck, destroying his odds to find another home. So I dunno...

If you want to try to salvage the situation, it might be worth getting a cat behaviorist involved. I would probably separate the bengal and the child for now so it doesn't further spiral out of control.

Good Luck.

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The little monsters 3

Is he neutered?


Heather

Interestingly enough I'm experiencing the same thing with my eight-month-old male Bengal as well. Everything will be going along smoothly and it seems that when I use my hands to pet him, he'll for no reason and out of the blue take his front paws and wrap them around my wrist and begin to bite. When I stand up and pull away, he crouches down in an attack position and then leaps up to either bite my leg around the knee or sometimes near my hip. I would like to think he's playing but I can tell by the look on his face that he's serious. However other times, he'll allow me to pet him anywhere at all, be it the paws, tummy, etc. I'm not sure what to do myself although if I remember correctly, and Anne may be bang on with her suggestion, there was one time when I grabbed a little teddy bear he likes to beat up on and gave it to him as he was biting me and he immediately turned his attention to the bear instead of me and I was able to stand and walk away with him jumping up at me from behind.

I am no expert and can only tell you my experience which is very limited.

I watch 'Cats from Hell' and he gives good tips.
Most of the time cats behave in this way out of boredom.
Their instincts is to hunt for prey and unfortunately the prey at the moment is you.

My daughter has had a few scratches and the only time she has lashed out is when the cat was 'high' on catnip and got over excited. Or my daughter tries to cuddle and the cat has had enough

The best thing to do is when you come in is ignore the bad behaviour and reward good. If he scratches don't feed him straight away as he thinks by scratching he gets the reward. If you are out of the house for long periods put some toys down for the cat to play with.

My cat loves foam balls and tiny mice. She also has a catit senses ball track (see pic). Also da bird or flying frenzy is a brilliant toy to stimulate catching prey.

I hope this helps. Good Luck

Have you tried feliway?
I think he might be stressed a bit with someone or something. Thats because he is /was spraying

If Doyley replies to update us (a 2nd post) I'll chime in here.

Zoemad that cat toy is awesome! my 14 week old kitten hasn't destroyed anything but im thinking about getting one of those for when im out at work.

Would it be a good idea that once im home, i put the toys away and save it for when im not here? or just leave it in the same spot the whole time?

Hi there,

Mine is under the stairs and I do bring it out at night for her to play with.

It is up to you really but I know Zuri gets bored after a while so if you are limiting her time with it, it should keep her interested.

Thanks

Hi there,

I had this problem recently with my three month old bengal - really vicious attacking for no reason, and no matter how many times I said "no" loudly or even sprayed him with water he would not stop. It got to the point where we were having trouble sleeping his attacks were so bad.

I read somewhere that you could put hand lotion on your hands and bengals (I'm thinking most cats in general as well) don't seem to like the taste. I tried this the next time that he started getting nasty and bitey and he completely stopped biting. He would make to bite my hand and then stop, wrinkle up his nose in disgust and then go do something else. Now whenever he gets in that mood I put on any hand lotion (I don't think it really matters too much what brand you use - just something that is slightly smelly) and he stops straight away. I can not stress how much this has changed his behaviour for the better and how much easier my life is now haha. I would recommend at least trying this and letting me know how it goes :)

Hope that helps you as much as it did me!