Hi everyone

I've many years of 'heinz 57 variety moggy' experience but this is my first time ever owning a Bengal. All four of my cats are rescues/rehomes and all ariived as adults independently of each other.

I've recently taken on an adult 3 year old Bengal who, judging from a lot of the reading I've been doing on these forums, is as good as gold and I've clearly struck it lucky in terms of behavioural issues and his arrival has had no knock-on effect with any of my others' behaviour either. He's settled in well, I've had Feliway diffusers all over the house, we have multiple litter boxes and water fountains everywhere; I've had absolutely none of the problems that many Bengal owners say is usual to the breed.

I would be grateful for some tips & advice however.

Firstly, he clearly wants to go outside (he was always strictly housebound before, I believe, and an 'only cat') and now that he has been with me for 6 weeks , i have started letting him out into our garden but only under supervision.
I'd like to get him comfortable with a harness so that we can go for walks to stretch his legs a bit more, as I'm not comfortable with catflaps and any of mine coming and going as they please. I did get this blue Trixie webbing harness but he doesn't seem too comfortable in it, I have a feeling he could get out of it quite easily and would prefer something more robust. So, with that in mind, recommendations for harnesses/leads?

Secondly, he has absolutely fallen in love with my tiny 3-year old DLH, Bel, and keeps bounding over to her clearly just wanting to play & tussle but, as he is twice her size, her reaction is to go "Arrrgh! WTF?" , hiss at him, and run off - at which point he chases her, thinking it's a game, until she turns round and properly thwacks him on the nose & growls. The dejection on his face is hilarious, but at the same time, I don't want this to become an ongoing issue so any tips on how to get him being slightly less rambunctious with her (to be fair, it's probably the feline equivalent of a 6'6" rugby player bearing down at full gallop towards someone who is only 5'0") ?

He occasionally has days where he vomits two or three times about half an hour or so after feeding - he doesn't seem any worse for wear or ill, and it's the same food as he normally gets and all the others get (Applaws grain-free dry food in the mornings, a wet pouch each of either Felix or Iams or Gourmet range, depending on what I've bought). The up-chucking doesn't correlate to any one particular foodstuff and certainly doesn't affect his appetite.
Are Bengals known for having particularly sensitive stomachs? Or could it just be a 'eating too fast' issue?

Which brings me to my next question: Recommendations for food - in typical contrary fashion, all of them (including Ulysses) would far rather eat cheap & cheerful Go-Cat dry food rather than the nice expensive Applaws or various other posh nosh I have purchased over the years. I like the Applaws however, for the fact that it's high protein and grain-free. What foods do you feed your Bengals, do you have a preference for wet or dry etc? I did try switching the mogs over to raw food a couple of years ago and gave up after about three months as they were having none of it, so I don't really want to have a separate routine for Uly so will not be going down the raw food route.

Lastly (for now), I keep seeing references to "clicker training" - can a kind soul explain what you would be using it for (what behavioural trait are you training?), what sort of clicker, the benefits - or just some links please, and I will do the reading myself.


Thank you in advance.


edit: apologies if this is in the wrong section of the forum - happy for a mod to move , if neccessary.

There are a variety of harnesses for kitties. Figure 8, H, and walking jackets. I use an H harness on Raiden and he's fine with it. I started out with the figure 8, but I much prefer the H because the tension is on the back and not the neck. A lot of people here use walking jackets that are a little more protective and are harder for a Houdini cat to escape from. Raiden loves the walk and he doesn't try to get out of his harness. Not that walking jackets are not really adjustable, so you'll need one for the size of your kitty.

A walk can help your kitty, but that means they are outside and loving the outside and want more and more of it. We built Raiden a very large enclosure on our deck that allows him to be outside, protected from weather and other cats. I don't have to worry about him either. He can come and go as he pleases through a cat door.

When I first got Raiden, he threw up a lot. Now he's fine. It may have been that he was only getting dry food from his previous owner and I was giving him both wet and dry. He's adjusted and rarely vomits. So just give it some time.

Glad things are well between all the kitties, too. That's really a bonus. And to have a very well behaved Bengal is incredible.

Never tried the clicker training with Raiden. It takes a lot of time and patience to work with the kitty -- right now I just don't have either one of those things. LOL

If you can get the two to play together with you or eat near each other, that may help bond them. Also praise and reward him for being calm with her. He will probably learn. I know my cats were kind of freaked out with Bengal energy for a while.

Mine are clicker trained for treats. I click and give them treats. They come to wherever I am. I taught them more for safety. When we had a tornado pass through a few months ago they all stampeded to the basement to get their treats from me. Some train their cats to do tricks or certain things when they hear key words or clicks.

Elaine, Sherry and Bri

Thank you all very much for your replies.

He's certainly a bundle of energy at times and then all of a sudden it's like someone took the battery out. I've also learnt in the last 6 weeks that closed bathroom or toilet doors are regarded as a personal insult and I must be accompanied at all times when using my litter tray; clipping his nails means my neighbours probably think I'm torturing several small children due to the piercing yowling and that "no" is not a word understood by Bengals.