My husband, 15 yo daughter, and I were asked to take a 4 year old Bengal female, Mooshy. She belonged to a friend of my sister. We were told she was completely crazy and the owner couldn't stand her destroying his apartment. He even had her de-clawed, something I find reprehensible.
We got her two months ago and during that time she has come to love me, my husband, and has a weird love/hate/tolerate relationship our non Bengal cat, HeeWhoo. She tolerates our daughter but isn't thrilled about her. We also have four dogs. Having had many animals over the years, we know how to introduce them. She has her own room (in our master bedroom so she is with us at night) and was slowly introduced to the cat first then the dogs. She was curious about the dogs and met them all individually then as a group. When we were ready to let her explore the house, she went right downstairs to investigate. Because HeeWhoo is feisty and fearless, the dogs are used to just walking right up to him so they did that to Mooshy. Mooshy got scared and hissed and one dog, Koda, barked, resulting in Mooshy retreating upstairs, never to go back down!
Mooshy is not thrilled with the three dogs anymore, but will tolerate them upstairs, however, upon seeing Koda now she growls, hides, and doesn't come out of the room for days. Any advise? Also, we cannot find one toy Mooshy will play with!! She will chase the laser pointer for less than a minute, couldn't care less about any balls, feathers, catnip, anything. Ideas are appreciated.

First of all, welcome to the forum. Congratulations on your new arrival. Four dogs, huh? That might frighten the heck out of me. Imagine a little tiny cat. You don't mention how big your dogs are. Or how hyperactive they may be. Nobody knows what your Mooshy is thinking. She may be terrified! Let's face it, a lot has changed for the little gal, and she's probably stressed out. Feliway is supposed to help with that and you can purchase it at any pet store or online and use it in a couple of rooms. Was Mooshy being held or petted when facing these dogs? By that, I mean, would she have felt protected from the dogs? My bigger concern is that she hasn't bonded with your daughter. This is really important -- that she has a good relationship with everyone in the family. This means, having your daughter feed Mooshy, play with Mooshy and spend time with the cat -- even if she isn't petting the kitty. Just talking in a soft voice. Most bengals do not like being picked up and held, and most won't sit on a lap for very long, so if your daughter is doing this, that could be why. You will not be able to treat Mooshy like your other kitty. Totally different breed!

As for toys .... Raiden is the same with the laser. A good run after it and then he's done. They claim Da Bird is irresistible to cats, however, mine prefers that you swish the end of the wand around he loves chasing it. I also have a baby blanket that I spread out and push the wand underneath it until it peeks out the other side and Raiden will go after it. You can use a towel as well -- and you can use the end of any wand toy that you have. Raiden does have a couple of larger stuffed toys that he will wrestle with. Don't give up playtime. Interacting with Mooshy is very important.

Sometimes I think we expect too much in the beginning. A lot of it just takes an adjustment for the cat. As humans, we understand everything around our environment. Your dogs and your other cat are curious. A cat sometimes needs time to accept things -- and change for some is harder. What you've got to have is time and patience. Don't just expect Mooshy to accept things ... help her accept them by spending some serious time with her. Bengals love to interact with humans, they love attention. You've got to work with Mooshy gaining confidence so she can have the run of the house just like the other pets. She should not be banished to one room. She needs the interaction or she'll never blend in. And I know in our busy lives, sometimes we just don't have that time -- unfortunately, you're all going to have to make that time for this to work out.

Please give this some time and update us on how things are going.

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The little monsters 3