Boston is normally a very loving cat and like my shadow, he's my boy. My husband makes jokes about him thinking I'm his girlfriend and about him not leaving me alone. He's occasionally been know to give the odd bite and little scratch during play but nothing that bad and we've always tried to nip it in the bud by redirecting him to his scratch post or toys and giving him a firm no.

As I've mention in a previous post Boston's started climbing curtains as his favourite past time (much to my dismay) and yesterday evening I told him off for climbing the our bedroom curtains and shut him out the room. After about 10 minutes of him crying at the door I let him in. When he did it again a few minutes later I pick him up off the curtain and put him on the bed and gave him a firm no. I then sat on the bed next to him and from out of no where lunged at my wrist and bite really hard, ears back, shaking his head. I managed to push him away and he did it again on my shoulder and twice more on my forearm. To the point I struggled to get him off. I was so shocked and I'm so upset by this, as he really hurt me. This is a one off but I'm worried this might happen again, worst still to a visitor. He's only 7-8 month old and quite a big cat, I don't want a life time of this behavoiur from him

What do you do to stop that behaviour? I'm gutted by this turn in him. Any advice is welcome.

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The little monsters 3

I'm in agreement with Brian, it is play aggression. He sees climbing the curtains as playing and you are stopping him from playing before he is ready. On this occasion, from what you said, you also didn't offer him an alternative game or activity to burn off all that energy he had.

Could you place the curtains out of the way over the top of the curtain pole during the day so they are out of his reach and then keep him out of the room when they are down and closed? Or you could try putting a cat tree near them to offer him an attractive alternative? He just won't understand what he is doing wrong or why he is being told off as he is simply doing what comes naturally to him.

However, on another note, I went through a few times where I felt exactly as you are now when my boys were roughly the age that Boston is now. I was getting to the point I didn't think I could cope as they were such a handful and hurt me a couple of times quite badly, but it was a learning process for them and me, you get to know their trigger points and when they are likely to get over stimulated and I would avoid that 'trigger' at all costs or attempt to redirect them if I saw it going that way. A laser pen was always a good way to redirect them and wear them out at the same time and easy to keep handy if required.

They were worth the time and effort invested in them a 100 times over. Hang in there and don't give up, he's still young and you're both still learning about each other!

Bengals need boundaries and this "play" aggression is not uncommon and it is why I feel they are not cats for first time owners.

YOU need to recognise his triggers and try and calm him down if he is over-stimulated.
http://www.wikihow.com/Stop-a-Cat-from- ... Scratching

Edit: I forgot to say, if the cat bite has broken the skin, then go to the doctor and get an antibiotic. Infection after a cat bite is very common and can be severe.

I'm not actually a first time owner of a cat. I've had 2 Burmese previously and they we handfuls. Probably not quite so much as Bengals but they're not a million miles apart.
It's just that last night was the first time he's done it and it took me by surprise.
I've read the website link you gave me and it was very help full thank you

My Raiden is a sweet-tempered kitty, but on our walks, when I move him away from somewhere he shouldn't be, he literally growls at me and lets me know he isn't a happy camper. I think your kitty attacked you because he was mad at you! I once had a cat that if I didn't get the bowl of food down fast enough, he would bite my leg. Cats do have tempers and they will lash out. Obviously, you have chastised him over and over for climbing up on your curtains. If it were me, the curtains would go simply because you'll never stop him from climbing them and you'll lose the battle in the end.

Cats are also very perceptive and know when you're stressed out at them. I recently was attached by a neighbor's cat and I did nothing to provoke him. We passed like ships in the night in my back yard and he turned around and grabbed my leg. Five visits to the doctor and three antibiotics, the wounds healed. The cat is not an aggressive cat, but I don't know if he smelled Raiden's scent on me or what .... but he lashed out for no apparent reason.

Cats are mysterious! Yours has a lot of energy that needs to get burned off. You say he has cat trees -- does he use those as well? Do you literally wear him out with play time? I hope this was just a one-time thing for him and you.

In regards to the aggression:

I had good luck with my Bengal when she was younger (she's 2.5 yrs now) with removing her from the room when an attack occurred. Usually we would be playing games, or clicker training (she loves treats) and doing things she really enjoyed doing. I eventually figured out what her triggers were and I could see when she was becoming agitated and redirect her.

But on those occasions when she did go full vicious and bite into me, I would give her a very stern no while I took her by the scruff and took her to the "Kitty Time Out Chamber". That's the spare bathroom. I would speak to her in a stern voice that was only used for when she did something wrong, and it settled her down by removing all stimulus, and deprived her of my attention (which I'm sure she hated). It was a safe place where she could be and not cause any more mischief in a fit of anger. It was really the only place I could put her to separate her from the rest of the house (and me).

I imagine some people will have a second opinion and recommend you not do this for cruelty's sake due the sensory deprivation inherent in this method, but it worked wonders and she hasn't bitten me for as long as I can remember.