My husband and I are first time Bengal owners. Our kitten Ruger is approaching six months old. We live in a pretty small house (about 900 square feet). Ruger gets lots of attention and has been just fine as in indoor only cat. We take him outside occasionally on his leash but recently he has been running out the door whenever we open it. He doesn't run away so we are able to retrieve him pretty easily but several times we have just let him play (climb the trees etc.) He has a blast. When we bring him in he usually cries at the door for a good five minutes wanting to go back outside. I wouldn't normally mind if he was an indoor, outdoor cat except that we live on about 70 acres of land and I am worried something would happen to him. Does anyone else have any experience allowing their cat to roam? I'm worried he will roam too far and won't come back! Is it fair to make a bengal live indoors only??

I wouldn't feel safe letting my cats roam freely, and I live in a quiet gated community on a small lake where others have outdoor cats. There are raccoons, alligators and rats to begin with not to mention cars and dogs on leashes. My cats are fast, but young and trusting. They would go up to anyone that offered them food. Luckily I have a screened in patio in the back yard and they live to go out on it every morning and evening when I am at home so they can watch the bird life and chatter at the squirrels. Can you put a screened in area for your cat outside?

Hi there!

When we first got Quasar, the house in which we lived was about the size of yours. He did quite well there. We provided climbing apparatus, trees, toys, and scratchers. We are in the habit of taking him and our dog out with us whenever we can. We take him for walks on his harness as well as regular motor car trips.

We moved to a much larger house and I cannot say he does not enjoy the space but he also did quite well in the smaller "jungle".

I will not have Quasar as a free-ranging, outdoor cat for fear of him getting hit by a car, stolen, diseased, poisoned, attacked by cats or wildlife, or simply running away and getting lost. It simply is not worth the risk.

We currently live in a 4000+ sq ft, three-story home and he still tries to escape outside. Occasionally, he is successful but we have not had any trouble retrieving him. He can be frustrating, though, when he escapes. He thinks it great fun to make us chase him.

Best of luck with your little one. Could you post a picture so we can all enjoy?

Cheers!

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~ Kyenta

Its a judgement call only you can make as only you know what dangers there are in the 70 acres you refer to. My boys do go out - I think they were about 9 months when we first started them on the leash and then let them run around the garden and up the trees etc. I was very nervous about it as I appreciate all the dangers there are out there. However, they have surprised me as they won't go near anyone else at all which I was very pleased about, plus as they haven't sussed they can go to the toilet outside, they never go too far from home as they may need their litter tray.

It has been a gradual process and I spent a lot of time outside with them initially so they knew their 'territory' and they don't free roam as such, they are only allowed out if we are home. So they get an hour in the morning and a couple of hours when we've got home from work in the evening. They now know the routine but if they are late back and I need to call them, they do tend to come to my call. They never complain unless one of them is still out and I've stopped the one indoors going back out as I'm trying to get them both in for the evening.

As I said, only you can make this decision and I will openly admit I worry all the time they are out and only relax once they are both home, safe and sound!

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

Thanks so much for all the replies! I think with where we live (many critters much bigger than him) it's just too risky to allow him to free roam. He does love exploring so I am going to continue to take him out on the leash and as long as he doesn't go too far I may keep letting him explore off leash as long as I'm watching him. He has a pretty awesome cat tree my husband built (cat mansion is a better name for it) lots of toys and attention from us. Just wanted to make sure I was being fair since I am a first time Bengal owner. Much different personality than my cats growing up. He is a blast!

This is Ruger after he successfully caught a fly he had been stalking all day :)

Rugers first road trip!

That is one chilled out Bengal lol He's beautiful.

Plenty of Bengals are indoor cats only, it just didn't work for us in the summer as we couldn't open any windows... if you make it a regular outing with him and it becomes a routine he'll probably be better about when its time to come in - you never know!

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

Only you know how safe your 70 acres is, 70 acres with coyotes and other wild animals who can kill cats is not safe, 70 acres close to a motorway or a road is not safe, 70 acres next to a busy modern farm with heavy machinery and a lot of comings and goings is not safe, 70 acres next to a anyone who hates cats and who will shoot, trap, poison or set his/her dog on cats is not safe...etc. etc.
Assess the area, cats go exploring, the fact there is hundreds of acres in one direction and a road in the other direction means nothing, they will go on the road guaranteed.
Make sure you assess about a mile in all directions. I live in the country, my previous cat was well known to neighbours about a mile away.
Dogs shut in gardens and the surge in popularity of prey driven dogs ie Huskies and like breeds, is, I feel a more modern threat to cats too.

IME cats tend to keep fairly close to home when first let outdoors, they stay in the garden, they come when called, after a while they get bolder, they go exploring, but they always come home. Next stage is they may not come home for a night or two, they may not come when called, but after a few years of worry and wondering, where on earth they are, they settle down into fairly cosy routines.
It is when they decide to go into the wider world and also later when their reactions are not so good that I feel are the danger points.
It also depends on the personality of the cat as to whether he/she will be safe, some never go further than the garden and stick around.
Others will be adventurers that from the get go, will disappear for hours/days only re-appearing for food or a nap.

You have a beautiful kitty. You'll get lots of opinions on letting your cat roam free outdoors. Some owners do it. Others do not. I only know in the case of my bengal, Raiden. He was owned by a neighbor 4 doors down and he let Raiden roam the neighborhood. Raiden got into a lot of cat fights. Several ended up with infections which had to be treated by a vet. He got into a particularly bad fight when the neighbor was out of town and Raiden came to my back door. I rushed him to a vet on a Sunday and paid the bill. The neighbor decided to give me Raiden. I decided at that point, he could not roam free. His lives were numbered. We had several huge tom cats running around -- all of them neutered, but Raiden took the brunt of the fight.

It wasn't an easy change. He learned to walk on a leash immediately and we built a 12'x12' enclosure on our deck that he can access through a cat door. It has helped a lot and I know he is safe and sound 24/7. He does still go to the door and wants to run out. He has gotten out a couple of times but he just stops once he hits the outside and I can pick him up.

Bengals have been killed by dogs, horses, coyotes. Some have encountered poison. One here in Nashville was snatched from the front yard. Just remembered, an injured cat may not be able to return home. I couldn't bear to think that Raiden may be in the woods behind my house bleeding to death! I couldn't cope with that. But, letting your cat outdoors is really an individual decision. There are other alternatives such as walking them or building them an enclosure that allows the cat to enjoy the outdoors. Cats are escape artists and can run a lot faster than we can.

I know the crying and the constantly scratching at the door is bothersome, but in time it does get better. Raiden still cries when I get home from work until we go out the door. But once he's had his walk, he's fine.

I haven't let any of my cats out for some years now. I used to have two Burmese (one passed away last year) and I found that they were getting up to too much mischief more than anything else and bothering the neighbours.

They would just walk into people's houses and garages all the time.

Once one of them got stuck in someone's house whilst they went off on holiday! He'd been missing for two days and I was worrying myself sick. Luckily enough one of the neighbours who had a key spotted him in the front window and alerted us. That was the last straw!

My Bengal has never been out. He is as daft as a brush and I would really worry for his safety. I would love to get him an enclosure but dh isn't keen.

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Oscar and Jasper (or one ear and two ears as dh calls them) black rescue mogges

RIP my sweet baby Dexter, Snow Bengal 19/5/14 to 5/3/15 and my lovely dear old friend Muskey, Brown Burmese put to rest aged 15 on 14/11/15.

Debbie

Someone a while back had suggested getting her kitty used to being in a cat carrier so she would have an easier time taking her cat to the vet. I used this suggestion and now every time Winchester and I go outside he knows that he doesn't get outside until he gets in his carrier(with treats, of course). This seams to work as he has doesn't cry at the door or try to run outside when the door is opened.

Allowing your Bengal to free roam is very irresponsible I'd look at constructing a secure cat enclosure so your Bengal can get some fresh air exercise.

It's a difficult decision I know and I went through it twice before. The first time with three Burmese who had had protected condo life for 11 years, but they adapted well to our country ~open door in the Summer~ lifestyle ~ However they were never allowed out when we were not home and there was always an evening curfew (4PM dinner in winter and 8PM dinner in Summer) ~

The second 2 Burmese had been inside for 10 & 14 years respectively and had been de-clawed. They adapted well to the outside schedule and curfew. I still have the younger Burmese male, who is now 15 and he still goes out.

I am in the slow INTRO process (Cat Whisperer way) with Tai Chi a Bengal rescue cat I've now had for 2 weeks and the old Burmese. So far I have not let Tai Chi out thinking I need the two cats to get along inside first, or at least tolerate each other before we take this next step. I plan a very supervised out when we get started, an hour in the morning when he is hungry for food. However, I have no clue what his previous out experience was and he takes a collar off in 30 seconds, so I am assuming a harness will not be an option? He is quite motivated to go out and sits at the glass doors watching.....

Any comments or suggestions, appreciated.

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New to Bengal with Tai Chi
Burmese cats for 25 years
West Coast USA