Hello everybody. We just got our 10 week old girl bengal and brought her home. We were told to leave her in one room until she gets acclimated and used to us and our son. We got her Friday night and she was very scared. Yesterday she was doing good and playing with the toys and staying out in the open. Today however, she was not happy with us at all. She didn't want to play and actually scratched me pretty good. Is this normal? Anything that you guys can think of to help us out?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.... Thanks!

Ended up with loads of scratches when Jaz was a kitten, he's calmed own a lot now. Probably best to sit calmly with your girl in her safe room till she gets used to her new home and just talk to her. She will want to play in her own time, she is still very new and afraid of her new home, without mum or siblings.

Some kittens can take longer to adjust than others, especially if the breeder's house was fairly quiet and yours is busy. The best thing to do is sit in the room with her, talk out loud, read a book, just be around her. You can also entice her out with a wand style toy if she's interested. Don't rush to pick her up or grab her, she could get startled and set the process back a little. She'll come out of her shell, a big new world is a lot to take in and can be quite intimidating.

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Dallas, TX USA
Diesel - snow Bengal born 09/01/2013 adopted Feb 2014
Tuck, Chloe, Buddy, Lewis & Tia - rescue kitties
Clyde, Bleu & Coal - Great Danes

First of all, your breeder should have not allowed your little girl to leave before 12 weeks. Your baby has been taken away from her mother and moved into completely new surroundings with all new people and smells. This is a HUGE change for kitty. This takes time for the kitten to adjust. And if you have a young son who is active and boisterous at times, that is going to scare the kitten. The safe room allows the cat to acclimate to her surroundings in a smaller area. Imagine how large a room appears to a tiny kitten. I think many times, we bring the cat home, drop it in the middle of the room and expect it to want to play and cuddle. Nope! You've got to give the little lady some time to get used to her new environment. Take things slowly. She should enjoy play time, so use that for bonding. She will grow into a large adult cat before you know it, but now she's just a little tiny kitten. Good luck.

My two kitties were rescued at 8 weeks old and a foster agency kept them until they were 4 months old and spayed. They also nursed them back to health and got them familiar with people. I adopted them at 4 months old and they were pretty wild acting. Always into everything and I was their play toy. I was covered in scratches. I knew they would eventually calm down but I wanted to get through the next few months with less destructive behavior. My vet really wanted to declaw them but I couldn't do that to them because that is how they climb. They don't jump so much, they climb things with their claws, very quickly. At about 5.5 months, I had soft paws put on their nails. They stayed on for about 5 weeks and grew out. Then the scratching started up again so I just bring them in to the vets every 4 weeks and have their nails trimmed and sanded smooth. One of them has never let me cut her nails, not even one so I leave it up to the professionals. It is $20 for the two of them and worth it. They don't seem to mind at all and are still able to climb their towers. They are so much more mellow now at 10 months old. Good luck with your new baby, she will settle down as she matures.

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The little monsters 3

Thank you for the replies, we appreciate it a lot.

She has gotten a lot better since the first post. We really just wanted other people's opinions. Believe it or not, she plays with our 4 yr old quite well, probably because he is smaller. He pets her gently and she loves it.

we really wanted everyone's thoughts on these very crucial first weeks. She is eating great and using the litter box well. We have a kitten paradise in our bedroom and she is very good about playing with her toys.

I think the thing that we were most worried about is that she would run and hide as soon as we would walk into the room. She doesn't do that anymore, so that is great progress.