I would have also thought your surroundings were ideal for this cat.

My two boys become outdoor cats as adults, at two years old. I was living on a farm at the time and they seemed to adapt well. Seemed completely unfazed by the barn full of cows and pigs next to the house, and the regular traffic of horses and heavy machinery. They never wandered too far, though there were lots of other cats in the surrounding area owned by other farm staff or villagers to make roaming less appealing. We live in a residential area now, and they are still outdoor cats but barely go out at all (I suspect mostly because of the heavy local cat population. They really don't like interacting with other cats!)

I was living in my house on the farm for a few months before I let them out, and I had already owned them for 14 months before moving to the farm, so "home" was fairly well established when they took flight.

Good luck!

I also think you have the perfect set up for this Bengal. The only thing that could top it is if you could build him an enclosure so he felt at home in his surroundings and regarding him roaming you could do this very gradually if he wanted to. I am pretty much the same as you in the wilds of west Berkshire with no neighbours. I took on a 6 yr old male rescue bengal and then the fun began! Baptism of fire is an under statement. We had peeing and spraying issues as he was territorially insecure. We overcame all these problems in about a month thanks to this forum and a cat behaviourist and we have never looked back. He is the love of my life and the sweetest most loving cat I have ever encountered. Never a dull moment and lots of laughter at his antics. I went out to the patio at the weekend and my two girls were laying on the stone sunbathing...........the cat was stretched full out across their two sunbeds and they did not have the heart to move him. He is a joy and can also be a little toad! The main thing is that you sound like an experienced cat owner and you are going into this with your eyes open with the full facts. No one can predict how this will play out but your setting sounds better for him with no neighbours. It could be the easiest transition ever or you could have some problems to deal with. An enclosure would be great as he could gradually come into the house on his terms. This forum will guide you through any issues. I also contacted the Bengal cat helpline (yes there is such a thing in UK) they recommended the behaviourist Debbie and she was great and so matter of fact about stuff. She gave me the confidence to just sort the issues out and help Oscar become the gorgeous cat he is now. All you need is patience and lots of love. Good luck if you decide to go for it.

_________________
Melissa

UK
Oscar - Rescue (Rascal!!!) Bengal

I believe male cats can travel as far as five miles from their homes. They continue to expand their territory as they gain the confidence outdoors. Outdoor cats have a much shorter life expectancy. An outdoor run would be perfect in this case since that's what the kitty is used to. There could be a few behavioral issues come up, so be prepared. This is a huge change for him and the stress could last a long while. He may not have bonded with a single human being and bengals need to bond with someone.

Just to play the devils advocate here...

I have an ex stud male, who was housed in an outdoor pen with a neutered female for company. He was 4 when I adopted him.

Yes he was very nervous and very shy at first, and it took him some time to become comfortable in the house. I kept him confined to a spare room for a week or so, then started introductions. He had a high shelf he would sleep on top of in there and always retreated there if he felt anxious or unsure. He now has run of the house and explores every inch

I never once had an issue with him toileting inappropriately, he is fastidious with his litterbox. He has not once sprayed. He really loves my non bengal girl who also lives here.

2 years down the track and he is the most wonderful, loving, affectionate bundle of madness ever.

He took extremely well to a walking jacket and leash and we go out for walks. The only thing I would raise is that he is still highly territorial, if he sees outside cats he will attempt to attack them with all his might! Of course he is not allowed to, but I'm sure he would if he could.

Raiden is highly territorial as well and we have two neighborhood cats that love to be in our yard. We encounter the black and white one every day on our walks and now this cat wants to creep closer and closer to us. Raiden wants to attack and I have to hold him back. The other cat just wants some attention. It can get scary if they get too close together.

I can't survey my entire yard from my back door as the other cats hide around the side of the house. I don't even know if these cats have homes, although they appear healthy. It's just the black and white cat is getting braver and coming closer and closer. As soon as it spots us, it runs to us. Almost as if it's wanting us to take it in and give it a home. The cat seems playful and not very aggressive, but Raiden is having none of that. Raiden has been the instigator or many fights in his day and he ends up on the losing end with severe injuries. That was the only time the previous owner ever took him to the vet. I'm trying to keep Raiden safe, but I have been attacked my cats in the past and wear the scars on my legs, so I'm pretty vulnerable as well.

Buying a kitten, young kitten can adjust to almost anything from a young age, where a mature adult who will be dealing with being neutered will have enough on his plate to also deal with trying to adjust being an in house cat.

Personally, I prefer an adult cat to a kitten any day. Raiden was 6 years old when I got him from his previous owner. I don't know that I could have dealt with a bengal kitten! He's a handful as it is and now he's 8.

Hi

We had an ex stud boy (Malcolm) and queen (Dany) rehomed with us having spend 6 months in a tiny flat between between being with the breeder and living with us. Malc was around 2 when they came to live with us.

Initially both were highly strung , anxious and jittery. They calmed down and became very settled and affectionate although Malcolm was particularly anxious around men (we think he may have had a bad experience in the flat he was in for 6 months). Two years on we have never (so far) had problems with spraying from him and he is just a fabulous cat - very bonded with me and will now happily lie in the living room in the middle of my 4 grandchildren!!

We did have a slight blip recently when something frightened him at night in the enclosure and we had redirected aggression towards Dany. It took several weeks and some sustained behavioural work to get them both back out in the enclosure again but we did it - we do now keep them in when it is dark and give them access again in the morning which they seem to happy about ( we have a big 3 story house for them to explore) We live in the UK but do not let them roam ( we have a 15 yr old moggie who does but that is another story!) but they do have a large enclosure with cat towers etc

Malc is clearly the more "sensitive"one of the pair and seems to have less resilience than Dany - whether this is because he was a stud boy or just him I don't know. If you are willing and able to give this cat time, patience,a sensitive environment and unconditional love then go for it. Be prepared though for some challenges but we have never regretted having these two beautiful cats come to live with us. We now have a 1 year old chihuahua rehomed with us who they both get on with very well and play with !

Nice to read about Malcolm and Dany again. I hope they are both comfortable back in their enclosure.

Hi Sherry

Yes all is well again- thank you for your support during what was a worrying time ! We don't give them unrestricted access anymore as we keep then in at night but they seem absolutely fine with that and I'm a early riser so they're able to go back at around 6 am onwards..it also allows us to check all is well each morning!

I think it was another animal marking that caused it. Whether the plant barrier I now have in place or a mighty chihuahua now claiming the courtyard as his I don't know but we have had no repeats :-) We have kept them on the Royal Canon Calm diet as they seem to love it.

They really seem to like Blu ...Dany lets him clean her (!) and Malc and him have a good game of ( half) chase going on. We took the intros very slow and had Blu on a trial ( he was my niece's) before we committed as we needed to see how trainable he was ( he's still only 11 months) and how the Bengals were with him. Even now we would not leave them alone together without one of us in the house ...he's smaller than Malc ( just) and they could do him some damage if we had a miscommunication happen given how different cat and body language is!! He has a lovely temperament though and is naturally submissive by nature.

So...all is well in our household. Two happy Bengals..one happy elderly moggie and a sweetheart of a chihuahua..long may it last !!

Blu is super handsome! You've got quite the "family." Happy to hear things are so much better! And keeping the cats inside at night is probably the best as that's when the other animals usually come out! So enjoyed seeing your post!