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PostPosted: Sun Jan 03, 2016 10:33 pm 
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Bengal Kitten

Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2016 10:03 pm
Posts: 1
Zahra is female about 6 years old, spayed. I adopted her about 2 years ago and she moved in with my two indoor-only cats.

I've had cats for 30+ years. Despite that, I made the mistake in not realizing how different Bengals are from house cats.

After I spent great effort in cleaning up in the basement's litter box room she stopped peeing and pooping down there along the walls and next to the litter boxes. I was quite "perturbed" when she pooped a couple times in the middle of my bed. All three cats spend their nights on my bed. She has also peed there.

To prevent that I cover the bed with tops of large plastic storage boxes during the day, which works. But in the last few weeks I've neglected doing that first thing in the morning and she has peed 3 times.

For several months I've had litter boxes in bedroom, the nearby hall and in the basement. She has a great time with my younger house cat, while my old one is not accepting changes. In the possibility Zahra is stressed out I've used ComfortZone Feliway in the bedroom and in the basement. As far as I can tell that has made no difference.

Is there really sometime to change this or might it sometimes just be a characteristic of a partial Asian leopard cat?


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 3:29 am 
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Bengal Kitten

Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2015 12:16 am
Posts: 9
Hi Daniel,

That really sucks, I hope it hasn't been happening for the full 2 years you have had her. If so, you have some patience. I'll throw out my non-professional opinion since my spayed female Bengal recently started peeing on things as well. I have another cat which gets along great with and in the summer a puppy joined the family however the peeing was recent. Long story short, it turns out she was stressed and that is how she chose to tell me. What seems to have worked for me was the addition of a litterbox (which you have done), additional feeding and water bowls in different rooms, and times of play focused just on her. It seems to have done the trick! No accidents in a few weeks. I just started her on a 'calm' food from the Vet which I hope will continue to help her as well. You may want to try the food and play trick. I have hope that Zahra can change!


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 12:07 pm 
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Asian Leopard Cat

Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2015 2:26 pm
Posts: 734
She is marking your bed as she is stressed and territorially insecure. It might not be obvious she is stressed. She is marking the most important place as it is where you sleep so smells strongly of you. She wants you and your bed to be hers bless her. When you said she peed over the edge of the litter box along the wall - does she finish peeing standing up or hang her bottom over the edge or is she just squatting by the wall? I think bengals are very sensitive to change and homes that are not in complete harmony. I know you said your older cat has not accepted her. Behaviour between cats can be so subtle that you, as a human, won't notice it but it will cause stress to the cats. Multicat households are notoriously difficult as cats are naturally solitary. I think you have done the right things with the litter trays in the bedrooms and feliway etc. It would be sad to not have the cats sleeping with you so instead of that I would get lots of lovely cat trees, beds, towers, cat shelves and cardboard boxes and have them in your bedroom. You never know your old cat may prefer the tree and not sleep on the bed anymore which could solve the problem. You need multiple cat sleeping areas in your bedroom and main social area that you chill out in, so they each have a space they can call their own. I had a peeing and spraying rescue bengal so I know how frustrating it is. Good luck

_________________
Melissa

UK
Oscar - Rescue (Rascal!!!) Bengal


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 6:24 pm 
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Asian Leopard Cat

Joined: Thu May 23, 2013 2:21 pm
Posts: 9217
There is a pattern here -- multiple cats! It seems almost all of the inappropriate peeing and pooping issues happen where there is more than one cat! Cats are highly territorial and urinating and pooping mark their territory! Since all three cats share your bed -- someone is saying "nope, this is MY area." My suggestion is multiple cat trees, a litter box per cat plus one. Put one in your bedroom if you have to. Stress can also be a factor here. Sometimes owners can't see the forest for the trees. They think all their cats get along when in reality there is a problem amongst the cats. Bullying, taking toys away, not wanting to share space. Each cat needs their own "territory" and when you have multiple cats, catification is a must! Lots of climbing spaces for your bengal who likes to be high up! As you've discovered, bengals are not like your ordinary cat and you can't treat them like one. They have their own distinct needs.

That being said ... you really need to rule out any medical problems in order to tack the behavioral issue and get this solved so she will use the litter box. If she uses the litter box occasionally, then this is definitely a territorial/stress issue. Once you can solve that, she should return to doing her thing in the litter box. This means you may have to kick ALL of the cats out of your bedroom! Make sure you have alternate sleeping places for them all and see if that helps.


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PostPosted: Sun Apr 03, 2016 9:02 am 
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Bengal Kitten

Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2016 8:31 am
Posts: 1
Hi, we have a bengal cat who we adopted 3 months ago. She is 4 years old. We previously had cats but not since having our bengal. . She is a lovely cat in terms of temperament. I think she has some typical bengal traits from my understanding. She loves trying to drink water from taps so at any chance will jump up on sinks and lick the taps which we try to discourage. She wakes us up every night wanting attention and doesn't settle down and sleep for ages but often sleeps on our bed.

When we first got her the previous owner said that she occasionally had wee'd on her bed when she had gone out. She was let out at times but always kept in at night so they thought she was unhappy at having been kept in and l left on her own. We thought that our home would be good for her as she can go in and out as she pleases through the cat flap. . We don't have any other pets just a 3 year old who is very good with animals. We are at home most of the time so can give her lots of attention. We started off with sheets on the sofas which were from the previous owner. She did wee on the sofas as well as her litter tray. Things gradually got better and we thought she'd stopped but after 2 weeks with no covers she peed again during the day when we were home. We now keep foil on the sofa to stop the peeling. We put it down to her being able to smell the see.

A few weeks later and when we were in bed she peed on our bed. We really don't know what to do. I'm taking her to the vets tomorrow but in the meantime we're having to keep her in the utility room during the night and only let her in the rest of the house when we are here. We keep the bedroom doors shut.

She seems settled and gets on well with our son so don't know what is wrong. We have one of those feliway plug ins but doesn't seem to help. She scratched a lot as well. She has a scratch post which I spray with catnip but she likes to scratch everywhere else as well.

Any advice greatly appreciated!


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