Hi everyone,

I have a F8 neutered male bengal that's 15 months old. He is the only animal in the house with 3 cat towers that are 5+ feet tall, endless amount of toys, 24-7 access to a screened in patio (that he climbs the screen of...) and to food and water. Even with all these things he still meows for minutes at a time durning the day and wakes me up at 5:30-6am just meowing and pacing in my room (which he can leave). I play with him throughout the day the best I can going to school and work certain days. I have tried ignoring his meows but he is relentless and doesn't stop. Any recommendations?

This is what you signed up for with getting a bengal. They are very vocal cats and love to be the centre of attention. If the meowing disturbs your sleep you may need to invest in some ear plugs :)

Bengals are highly vocal. Raiden is always meowing. I used to say that unless he was eating, grooming, or sleeping, he was crying.That's just the breed. I do take him for daily walks which calm him down a LOT! He has gotten better, but there are still times that he will just cry and cry. After a while, you can just tune them out. He will go out in his enclosure and cry so loud I swear the neighbors can hear him. It doesn't matter the F generation, whether the cat is spayed or neutered, how old he is or how long you've had him -- bengals are going to vocalize.

Yep, they are loud! I have one who will literally shout and shout until you go and see him whenever he goes on top of the hall units. I make a fuss of him and that's that, he's happy. Apparently I have pandered to them and created monsters lol but it was always the only way that he would stop making that racket!!

They are very chatty cats - I just chat back at them, to be honest I feel like I have more meaningful chats with them than I do with my other half lol - at least they answer me!!

I'm guessing he is just saying good morning to you and asking for his breakfast - mine are in the kitchen and conservatory overnight but as soon as they hear you they start meowing for attention. Long gone are mornings when I get a lie in, if we do oversleep, they are very good at making a racket and making sure we get up... Who needs an alarm clock if you have a Bengal?!

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

I've always chatted to my cats - Nismo - or Shouty-pants as I often refer to him is - well, you guessed it by the name - quite shouty! Evo on the other hand maybe makes 5 meows in a month? Although as I still talk to him like I talk to Nismo he is starting to respond with a meow!
hahaha!

Bengals are vocal - in fact any breed of cat is vocal. You know - like humans - some never shut up?! Its their personality and sometimes it can drive you mad, but most of the time they either want something or want to chat. Once you done what they want they will quieten down. Until the next thing they want!...

I think the loud meowing in Bengals, can be a big issue and it is something that needs to be thought about before anyone chooses a Bengal as a pet or decides on multiple Bengals.
Crepuscular meowing, meowing for attention, meowing to get out or just nonsensical meowing is a problem because of the loudness of the meowing.
It may seem cute to have a cat that "talks", to those who have never experienced it.
They envisage quiet, intimate meows and chats, but there is nothing quiet or intimate about a Bengal yowling at full stretch.

Some say that the meowing is because the Bengal doesn't suit being an indoor cat, or that they meow through boredom or not enough attention, and that may be true in some cases, but my biggest yowler goes in and out as he pleases, spends his time, when he decides to start yowling, screaming on a window sill, to get indoors and once inside, spends his time screaming to get out, this occurs over and over again usually from about 19:00 to 24:00 almost every night, but can be during the day too.
He is not interested in attention at that time, doesn't want fed, doesn't want a chat either. At about midnight he settles down, no meowing until morning and he spends his day outside free or holed up somewhere in the house if the weather is bad.
I live in the country, there are no strange neighbourhood cats to upset him, there is someone here every day and night for him, and I am at a loss to understand the behaviour.

Thankfully I only have one howler - god she sounds like she is calling she is so loud sometimes...its always when she is on the cat wheel...seems to come hand in hand.

I think sometimes though be aware if a cat is yowling at you and its no something you want to encourage then don't reward the behaviour ie....oh he is talking to me, so I talk back, oh he is hungry so I feed him, he is bored so I play with him....before long the cat knows that the meowing will get rewarded. Ok if you don't mind it......but might be best to ignore and then give attention when your cat stops....and is quiet

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The little monsters 3

Yes, my boy seems to yowl from pent up energy as well. He will go from door to door yowling and scratching almost every evening about an hour or 2 after dinner and it usually lasts
for 1/2 hour to hour. I have for the last 2 evenings taken him outside before dinner and let him off
his leash in the backyard to play with a long string on a pole. I almost fall down from dizziness, spinning it in front of him, but he loves it and gets totally exhausted from running at full speed.
I do this for about 10-15 minutes. He will do a little panting and lay down when he has had enough. I keep an extremely close eye on him and he has never tried to runaway when I take him off the leash, plus the yard is fenced. If I just walk him on the leash he usually just hunts and stays in one spot a long time and doesn't get tired enough. Anyway, the last 2 nights have been yowl free . I was laying on the couch watching tv and he was laying on me upside down, belly up, last night on the couch. The little guy was so exhausted and content. I just don't want to wear this toy out too fast. He gets bored so easily. I'm going to try the Neko toys I read about on here next. If he gets running at full speed and exhausted, I do notice that the yowling & scratching the door totally stops. I just have a hard time getting him to play hard enough with all the toys he has. I can't wait for the Onefastcat wheel to get delivered and hope he likes it.

The other "meowing" he does is usually for food or to announce he walked in the room, is going to the litter box, or that he wants to lay on my lap, or to say hello. I guess I could keep going on here...lol

Elaine, I enjoyed reading about your Bengal. Right now Raiden is laying on his window perch, looking out the window, and not saying a word! HUH? How does this happen? We had our morning walk, in the rain, but I guess he's happy. He got me up early for a play session. He settles down at dark and goes to sleep for the night. I think in the beginning it was his frustration ... but now he seems to have settled in and loves being with us. He will whine and whine for his walks, but after that we come back, he's usually quiet for a while. Some days he will take up to three naps. Other days, he refuses to go down -- just like a 2-year-old child. Only Raiden will NEVER grow up.

I've only had my kitten for 3 weeks but I've observed... He meows before he's going to use the litter box, while he's using it, afterwards. He meows when he wants food, he meows when he's full but you walk by his food dish area. He meows if you're in the room with him and not looking at him (followed by a stern bat to the leg). He meows when you first enter a room. He meows when he hears a loud noise from outside the room. He meows a lot about 10 minutes before sunrise and at sunset. He meows when you make direct eye contact with him. He meows if you talk specifically to him (if you are talking on the phone or to someone else he wont, but he knows when you're talking to him). He meows at his full water dish shortly before knocking all the water out of it then meows at the fact that it's empty and waits for me to notice and refill it (he will also put his front paws in his food and spilled/empty water dishes and slide them across the room until they hit my foot then look up at me and meow). I do have multiple water dishes but he seems to want them all to remain full.

The most funny one is the meow he does when he's drinking water which is more of a gurgle.

When he's playing he does a lion scream that sounds like he's fighting.

When he's really hungry he does a deep low pitched meow that sounds ridiculous.

Sometimes he'll run circles around me wailing which is super annoying.

When I hold an object above him out of range of his jumping height (like a string) he clicks his jaw in a chatter noise (see "Bengal cat chattering at bird" on youtube)

In short... (okay in long) He is constantly meowing. all the time. Maybe it's because he's a kitten but I don't think so. I think he just likes to meow, it seems like it's his personality trait and not to do with age or stress of any kind.

I've been around a lot of cats and never heard such a noisemaker in all my life. My other cat is not thrilled at all his noises, I don't think I've ever even heard her meow (she just kind of grunts occasionally).

My Lux meows to get inside, to go outside, to follow me, for food, for play, for anything

Some times it drives me nuts but i couldn't imagine a quite house without her

Dahab meows at anything and everything! This is why I got him. I like chatty Kathys. He meows a lot before he uses his litter box, almost as though he'd like everyone to pay attention.
I always talk to my Dahab, so don't stress out over it. :) Just join the conversation.

My two girls make chirping and trill noises. They trill just as they are jumping onto my lap so I catch them and they don't slide off. They only meow at feeding time generally. Even then they do it with their mouths closed and it's hard to tell who is who. Before I feed them I meow loudly and get them to sing to me for a few minutes. It is such a delightful sound when they sing in unison. They almost act like they shouldn't meow, but I have never discouraged them.

My cat is so loud now. My girl in heat (before I fixed her) didn't hold a candle to what this bengal boy can belt out. Its ridiculous.

He meows at EVERYTHING.

He meows at his own tail (I mean that quite literally)

and it sounds like a pigeon cat hybrid monster with a megaphone.

My neighbors complained lol.

i dont think its a distressed meow, I think he's just really loud