First a little background information. I got my male Bengal 4 years ago when he was 14 weeks old from a reputable breeder, he was neutered around 6 months and shortly after that I adopted his auntie, Cookie, a year old retired breeding queen (never had a litter due to pyometra).

We all lived quite happily in a top floor apartment with beautiful views for 2 years and then my husband and I bought a house, no more beautiful views so we decided the very best thing for the cats would be for them to go outside, the neighbourhood is very cat friendly so we started off slowly, supervised on a harness at first and they both seemed to love it so much eventually we just left the back door open so they could come in and out as they please.

Fast forward another 2 years and Louie is like a different cat to when we lived in the apartment, he seems permantently unhappy, he meows continuosly, is very destructive, attacks cookie and seems permanetly as if all he wants to do is destroy my home. He is never left alone, has toys, a large garden with lots of trees, is fed regurlarly and is very loved however he seems incapable of being content. My other cat is quite happy to potter around, looking out the windows, batting a toy mouse around etc but not Louie- every morning i wake up to the entire contents of my bookshelf mostly on the floor, he smashes things, scratches things and is generally hard work. We are expecting a baby in the summer and I just dont know what to do with him- I dont mean rehome however I imagine if he's unhappy now a baby will make things much worse and Im worried about how I might deal with sleepless nights and a terribly behaved cat! At times he is very loving however always on his terms and if he has decided to sit in you and you need to move for any reason he will growl and often bite, I am not certain I could trust him around a baby.

He has been to the vets and has a clean bill of health, Vet suggested it was behavioual and recommended feliway. It makes me sad to see him so agitated and seemlingly unhappy and I would really appreciate any advice or help to remedy this before the baby arrives.

Hi there. I am by no means and expert like a lot of people on this website but I can tell you what worked for me to make my 6yr old male rescue bengal a happier kitty. I used the Feliway diffusers and they helped a little. Also used the Jackson Galaxy safe space spirit essences which is meant to make a cat feel secure in his environment. You put this in food and water. Are you in the UK? as you cannot buy the essences unless you have a credit card registered to a US address and they won't ship to UK (thank you UK customs for making life difficult). Luckily my friend in US purchased and shipped for me ( I have a spare unused bottle if you are in UK and want to try it, just let me know) I also consulted a bengal expert. This lady words for a charity and rehabilitates bengals with issues and rehomes if possible. She suggested Zylkene which apparently mimics the happy feeling that mothers milk brings. I asked my vet and they said they had a new product which gave better results than zylkene. The product is by nutravet.co.uk. Its called nutracalm and is only available at vets. There are loads of similar products online so be careful as vets are the only ones who will have the real stuff. I did some research and it is all natural. It contains tryptophan, natural amino acid which calms cats and makes them happier. I can honestly say though that I think the most important thing I did was to calm down and stop stressing ( my cat was peeing and spraying too and a husband who just did not understand........joy!!!) As soon as I talked the the bengal expert I felt that someone was helping me and I was not alone and lo and behold as I calmed down so did the cat. I am sure they feed of our energies! I can just imagine what it's like being pregnant with unhappy cat so I really feel for you. Let me know if you want me to post spare bottle to you if you are in UK

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Melissa

UK
Oscar - Rescue (Rascal!!!) Bengal

It's difficult to speculate what might be wrong because there are so many variables. So your cat can go outside anytime, but sometimes chooses to be inside, and when he does he is unhappy? Is that right?

I have a pretty strong personal bias towards keeping cats indoors or at least on leashes/harnesses or outside in areas where they are contained. I just think that are so many things that can go wrong outside, with cars and people and other pets, and toxins and all that. Perhaps some of that is what is going wrong with him. The other thing about outdoor male cats in particular is that they obsess over territory and patrolling the fortress to such an extent, perhaps that sort of thing has got yours very "wound up".

Just in terms of some of the behavior that you describe though, one of my bengals, Serafina (aka, the "difficult" one) does exhibit those things as well. Caterwalling, climbing things, knocking things off of shelves, being destructive, being posessive and territorial with the other cats etc. But what I've noticed is that there is undeniably a pattern with her. If we haven't had a good, hard, interactive play that day, then it's way way more likely that she will be like that. And conversely, any time she is acting like that we can just do an interactive play, tire her out, and she's almost guaranteed to be a "good" kitty for the rest of the day.

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The little monsters 3

Any time there is a change in behavior, you do what you did, which is take the cat to the vet to rule out anything medical. It is very difficult to say what has caused this change in Louie. Do neighborhood cats come around into his outdoor territory? Bengals are particularly territorial. Your female may not be. You've gotten super advice from the two previous posters. You're pregnant and this could be compounding the situation as well since cats seem to sense the change in hormones and know something is up. Bengals require a lot of play time and human time. Once this baby comes, Louie will have even less. Make sure your home is catified with cat trees and climbing shelves. Purchase some interactive toys for Louie. He may enjoy them. My Raiden ignores them all. You really need to try and get Louie back to normal before your baby arrives because a new baby brings other things -- new baby smell. You're going to be spending your time caring for a new infant and Louie will be ignored.

Feliway is good and I've used it. Jackson Galaxy's Spirit Essences offers a lot of holistic remedies. A cat behaviorist may be able to help you out as well. Sometimes a change can be as a result of pain somewhere. Arthritis for example. However, your vet didn't seem to find anything wrong. If by doing some of the things recommended here doesn't result in a change in Louie, I'd be asking the vet for more tests just to make sure there isn't something else causing this.

I commend you for wanting to try and help Louie. Nobody likes to see an unhappy kitty, but the solution might be very simple. You just have to try different things until the situation sees improvement. Good luck.

Thank you so much everybody for your fantastic responses and apologies its taken me so long to reply- I thought I signed up to receive notifications when I received a reply but evidently I did not so I have spent all weekend thinking nobody had replied only to log in this morning and see all of your fab advice.

I've had another eventful weekend with Louie, have tried mixing things up a little by allowing him in the spare room to sleep (previously door had to be kept shut due to female Bengal using bed as a toilet!) my husband and I have lavished attention on him, we tried to play with him however he is not interested, we have had about 100 different toys pass through our home in the last year, most of which get no response at all so I end up donating to our local cat shelter. Going in the spare room resulted in him knocking more things from the shelves and he tried to get down a gap about 6 inches wide between the bed and wall only to get stuck and claw his way out damaging our memory foam mattress! I know he is a cat but I find it so frustrating that nothing we do seems to appease him.

Unfortunately it is not possible for us to add anything else to our home to please him, he has a large cat tree, plus plenty of shelves to climb, lots of warm fleecy blankets in various places to snooze, not to mention a large garden full of trees and birds. There are some other cats in thr neighbourhood but all elderly and female and we very seldom see them these days. We live in a tiny victorian terrace house and the cats already take up 2/3 of our downstairs space- space we really need to be utilising with a baby on the way and all the stuff they need!

Is it possible that living here just does not make him happy? Are herbal remedies likely to help at all? Can anybody recommend a good cat behaviourist? I accept all of the Bengal characteristics but I dont think his behaviour is normal. I had a siamese cat for 13 years before and he was terribly vocal but I always felt there was a point to it- like he was genuinely speaking to me rather than what Louie does which just seems like noise. Mostly the loud, constant meowing will happen when were sitting in the other room or he will stand on the stairs and meow for hours on end, seemingly for no reason. When we meows to us, for food, or attention etc its adorable- But this other meowing which he does 90% of the time is enough to drive you insane! The thought of being up all night with a baby then coming downstairs to that makes me want to cry!

I really need him to be happy before the baby comes as I know initially he will get left out, I've got to have a c-section so the first few weeks having the baby will be tough enough- I really dont want to be fretting about Louie being unhappy along with everything else!

Hello again......Victorian terrace, now I know you are UK! If you type in bengal cat helpline then that is the website I used. The lady that helps with Bengals is Debbie Connolly. She has her own business but helps the bengal cat helpline charity with problem cases. She is great. She initially charged £40 which covers a telephone consultation as I was down south and her in North. She spoke to me for two hours covering Oscar's history and asking questions that were random to me but obviously told her a lot. Then the fee covers a month of calls/emails etc. Bargain if you ask me. Please private message me with your address if you would like the spirit essences. I know that I was extremely sceptical as I don't do new age stuff. However I think it did help and is so easy to do if you feed Louie wet food (goes in water also). Nothing to lose! I know you must be so frustrated and tired. I think you really need a plan of action and someone to guide you through it. Totally understand re toys. My Oscar used to adore the flying frenzy but now it's just soooooo boring. I bring it out once a week to see if he has changed his mind but he just gives me the look! He does love bits of crinkled up paper and also a pole moving around under the rug. Guess it's about finding what his 'thing of the moment' is. Good luck and keep us updated. Just another thought.......Oscar likes the hardbaked cardboard flat scratch pads to chew. It may keep Louie occupied for a little while. From this forum I see that Bengals seem to like to chew cardboard and love boxes. Lots of mess however but soon swept up!!!! Best wishes

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Melissa

UK
Oscar - Rescue (Rascal!!!) Bengal

Sorry can't stop thinking about how to engage Louie.... maybe a mad suggestion but someone on this forum mentioned cat DVDs. Have looked on Amazon and there are three different ones to keep cats amused!! He may respond to it if he is kind of cat that likes tv! Also on a slightly different subject, I put Oscar in the utility room overnight. Before we did this he used to meow to wake the dead, stand on our heads, attack our hair/feet from 5am onwards which was endearing for a while He now has bed above boiler, water, litter tray and cat flap. We give him treats on his pillow when we say goodnight (don't laugh) to make it a good place to be! He loves his bedroom and most nights takes himself there at about ten! Just thinking if you have a c section coming up you will need your sleep and maybe what Louie needs is routine? (get Gina Ford!!!!!!!!!) Just thinking out loud. It sounds like to have tried almost everything and the beds, toys and cat trees angle is covered. If only they could talk!

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Melissa

UK
Oscar - Rescue (Rascal!!!) Bengal

Melissa, thank you so much for all of your lovely suggestions! It feels wonderful to speak to another Bengal owner who knows how I'm feeling- those with 'regular' cats think I am crazy to put up with him but it took my husband and I a long time to get pregnant so the cats have been like our children- I cant just give up on him because he's not behaving how I want and it makes me furious to see people rehoming cats because a child has come along.

I have found the details for Debbie Connolly and will be calling her in the morning. I would love to try the spirit esscences and would really appreciate that. I will private message you my address once I have sent this- if you have paypal please let me know and I will pay you for postage. I'm also looking on amazon at kitty dvds and figured it might be woth a go. If Louie doesnt like them my female Bengal Cookie is sure to (she basically likes everything and everyone) in fact, if I didnt have her I would have gone insane about 6 months ago!
Can I ask what problems you had with Oscar? I am most intrigued about how you managed to get Oscar enthused about going to bed. At night I shut the cats in our dining room, as when we first bought the house and they had free run over night Louie ruined a very expensive pair of curtains and made a hole in our brand new leather sofa- its the largest of the 3 rooms we have downstairs, they have litter trays, a sofa covered in blankets, chairs, shelves, toys, cat tree etc but the second I shut the door he begins knocking everything off the shelves, constant meowing, attacks Cookie- they might not get shut in until 11 or 12 having had the run of the house all day and never being left alone ( I work from home and only ever pop out for an hour or two at most) eventually this all stops and I assume he falls asleep but by 7am we start hearing loud bangs which continues until we get up! This was awful in my first 12 weeks of pregnancy when I spent most of the morning with my head in the loo only to eventually come downstairs and have to pick up 30 books and put them back on the shelf- one morning when I was feeling particularly rough he managed to push a yankee candle off of my table and it smashed into a million pieces! I actually cried!

Thanks again so much for all of your advice! I feel better knowing there are things I havent tried so there is still hope!

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The little monsters 3

My situation with Oscar was very different. He was peeing and spraying everywhere and I had a husband that told me to 'fix it' and he meant immediately! Debbie helped as she advocated keeping a bengal busy ie with play and hunting for their food. I bought little cheap cardboard boxes on her recommendation and put his food in it so he had to catch and kill it!!! (messy but effective) A treat ball for his biscuits so he had to use his brain to get them out. She also told me to get feather dusters and hang from door frames on elastic so he could also catch the pretend chicken/pigeon and kill, the idea being they stretched the elastic and with the rebound, a whole new game!!!! Oscar just looked at the dusters as if I was mad and in the end the kids had far more fun with them (not cleaning unfortunately) Debbie suggested putting tuna oil on or catnip to attract the cat but the idea of fish oil being dragged around the house made me decide on catnip! I went for it with the play trying to find anything that would get his attention and tire him out. I agree with Brian that it's very strange that Louie does not respond to anything, even catnip on a kong kikaroo? Oscar also loves his tunnel which is three joined with holes in the middle. He waits in the tunnel and I drag a toy wand along the outside. Is there anything toy wise that makes him pay attention to it? Bubbles or catnip banana? I also put stuff just under the edge all around the kitchen rug and he loves to lie on his side getting it all out. Oscar is an only cat so it's easy for me to put him to bed at night but it's a whole different thing I guess with multiple cats. Others would probably have better advice on that score.

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Melissa

UK
Oscar - Rescue (Rascal!!!) Bengal

I'm guessing Louie has way too much energy pent up! Raiden will not play with any toys unless someone is attached to them. Throwing him catnip mice, he simply looks at you. Laser light? He chases it for a minute and then says, "I'm not going to catch that, so why bother." I know better than to mention taking Louie out for walks. With a new baby coming, that is going to be impossible. Is he allowed outdoor access? I'm a firm believe that cats should not be allowed to roam free -- too many things can happen, but it sounds like he needs more stimulation. Bengals are very active and high energy and get into everything. You may be having a baby, but a bengal is a perpetual 2 year old toddler!

You've already seen that a bengal is nothing like any other cat you've ever owned before. That's just the breed! You're trying to spend more time with him and it isn't taking. Sometimes you have to "observe" what he's doing and work from that. This is frustrating to you, I know. I'm happy to know you're in favor of seeing if a cat behaviorist can help. Please know this will not be a fast fix. Behavior modification can take a while. Thank you for being willing to help Louie.

The other thing .... if things can't change for him or if after the baby, his behavior deteriorates, then you may have to look at rehoming him. Sometimes a cat just isn't a "fit" in a situation. I know this is a last resort. We have people on here who have tried everything they knew to try, gave it all they had o give, and things still didn't work out and the cat was rehomed. It just happens sometimes. Your baby will come first. Your baby has to. I hope Louie can change here so you are not worrying about all of this. Please keep us informed.