Hello!

First post here so a bit of background first ~ we have a rescue boy called Salvador. He's aged 6, goes outdoors (we live in a very safe area) and is spayed. We don't know much about his former life, but believe he was kept indoors in a small flat and was passed on for rehoming when he started clawing at his owner's wallpaper (I can only think that he wasn't given enough attention or play, as this has only happened once in our house around the time we first got him & was settling and we love him, so it wasn't a big deal). We rehomed him around 6 months ago and he has settled really well. He's become very affectionate towards us both and particularly has bonded with me. We do have a second cat called Brontë (another rescue, a sweet little moggie girl around the age of 1 - we already had her when Salvador arrived) and most of the time they get on well enough, though a bit of play fighting occasionally occurs!

We are having some peeing issues with Salvador, but that's a story for another time...

I was wondering if anybody else had a Bengal that ritually taps on things?!

Salvador likes to drink from our bath tap, and if we're not in the bathroom and he's thirsty he'll let us know by meowing and tapping the faucet. So to begin with, I'd logically concluded that he taps when he wants something... however...

He also taps in the night, usually around 4am every morning. He taps my wardrobe doors and side - sort of hits it with his paw repeatedly. Though you can hear his claws clack on the wood, I don't think he is trying to damage it as his claws are not extended and he has never gauged the wood, it strikes me more as sort of an attention or territorial thing? He also taps the walls, my mirror, and the window. Recently he also taken to standing up on his hind legs to bite the fairylights on my bed frame!

He usually does it at around 4am as I say, but has been known to do it at different times of day!

I had read that sometimes cats tap the window as they can see their reflection, but this doesn't explain his tapping my wardrobe and when I hold him up to a mirror he shows less than zero interest in the reflection...! I also wondered if he just wanted attention, so have tried stroking/distracting him when he does this, but he actually strains to get away and return to his tapping!

It's starting to become a problem - I'm a light sleeper and as he does it every night it really disturbs my sleep! Last night (or rather earlier this morning!!) we tried shutting him out of the bedroom, but he just started crying and tapping the door instead. My husband then tried shutting him outside (you can lock our flap from the inside) since it's still mild out, but he cried and kept butting the flap so in the end we had to let him back in.

Has anybody experienced anything similar with their Bengal? Does anybody know why he might be doing this or have any advice? We make sure we leave plenty of food down before bedtime, so am running out of ideas...

Thanks,
Rachael

Hi Rachel:

Bengals have quirks, that's for sure! I don't think I've heard of one who taps before. Bengals do love water and many love drinking from the faucet. As for tapping on your wardrobe door, mine loves to get into my closet and will try and work at the door to get it open (he can't do it).

I wonder if anyone with a cat actually gets a good night's sleep? Mine wakes me up during the night, every night. And he's up at the crack of dawn crying. You've learned that trying to keep him out of your bedroom or lock the cat door is not going to work -- I've only locked the cat door once on mine and he went ballistic! I thought he was going to hurt himself trying to get through it.

Bengals are super curious. They want to get into everything. They crave constant attention.

As for peeing outside of the litter box, you say you have two cats, so you need at least two litter boxes. Make sure there is nothing medically wrong with Salvadore, as a urinary tract infection will cause them to go outside the box. Make sure you treat any areas with a cleaner that will get rid of the smell. Stress could play a part as well.

Wish I could help you more ..... use Google to read as much as you can about this. Good luck.

My guess is that the taps are a learned, conditioned behavior. In other words, he does it because it results in him getting what he wants (your attention). Another way of looking at it, is it's his "clicker" in conditioning you!

I used to have a cat that would rattle the aluminum blinds (crackle, crackle, crackle) first thing in the morning to wake me up. I ended up getting rid of those blinds and replacing them with a different kind of blind that she couldn't do that to problem solved! I think you probably need to think along the same lines. Either prevent him from doing it, or prevent it resulting in the reward.

Oh, and my cats very very rarely wake me up. They get food, attention, and play before bed, we have a "winding down" routine before lights-out, they get choice places to sleep in the bedroom (either in perches up high, or on the bed, their choice), and they know that meowing or such is not going to result in me getting up and giving them anything that they want, so I usually end up waking them up when I get up Same with my previous cats.

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The little monsters 3

Thanks so much for all your responses and it's interesting to hear the different opinions!

Just to clarify a couple of things:

- In regards to being an outdoors/indoors cat, Salvador does come and go as he pleases as we have a magnetic cat flap. So he's not trapped in at night, or in the day if we're out.

- In regards to the peeing, we don't have a litterbox as they both 'toilet' outside. He has never pooped indoors, and the peeing is always in the same areas, so I feel that it's 99% likely to be a territorial/marking thing rather than that he doesn't know any better or wants a litter box. Also - we have taken him to the vet (Kafka, my much adored kitty that we had prior to these two, who sadly passed away a couple of years back, had FLV and frequently picked up urine infections - so this was my first thought) who has given him the all clear. The vet recommended Feliway, which doesn't seem to have made a difference, and Zylkene, which we are trialling but I'm not sure he's getting the whole benefit as Brontë has a tendency to chow down on his food when his back is turned...! Thinking of putting it in treats and feeding them by hand instead from now on...

While I really appreciate all of your input, I am inclined to agree with Elaine. Although he clearly adores both of us and seems happy here, he was one anxious cat when he first arrived - on his first day he hid behind our laundry basket for the entire day and just growled. He would also jump at the slightest noise. He has come on in leaps and bounds since, but after seeing him like that anxiety doesn't seem outside the realms of possibility.

Another thing that makes me wonder if a. it's anxiety and b. the peeing is stress-related/territorial is - yes, there are a LOT of cats in our neighbourhood (though he sees most of them off!) - and more importantly, foxes. I've never seen the foxes be aggressive towards him, but they are bigger than him (though probably not by much ) and they come right up to our back door. We live right next to some lovely meadows with a stream which I've noticed he enjoys playing in but I guess with wooded area foxes come with the territory (no pun intended!). We did go through a phase of having feline invaders during the night when the magnetic mechanism on our flap was failing, but after we got it fixed this has now ceased - though the peeing hasn't. We did ask the lady at the rescue centre about Brontë before adopting him and she said as she was younger, confident and a different sex they had a good chance of getting on - and we'd also read that Bengals thrive best with one playmate, so we were quite hopeful they would become friends. That hasn't happened, but I wouldn't think she could be causing the upset as he runs rings around her!

Does this shed any more light - do you think it could be the foxes/other cats on his territory upsetting him? Any suggestions as to how we can help him? He is the light of my life and I couldn't bear the thought of him being anxious/upset and doing nothing about it! I did wonder about going to an animal behaviourist, that may be my next port of call!

Many thanks
Rachael