Hi there!

I'm new to this forum but I've had my kitten for over a month now. I've always had cats but this is my first Bengal. She's quickly and easily becoming the love of my life. (She's over 3 months now).

A problem I've been having with her is she can get over stimulated and will latch on to my legs and arms. Ignoring her makes her go harder and giving her a toy to misdirect doesn't always work. I'm worried because she normally only does this to me but today we had company over and she started doing it to them. I don't mind if she's rough with me but it's hard to explain to some people that she's a kitten and some people get offended.

Today was also the first day she had been around a child. She's about 1.5 years old but it absolutely terrified her. She wasn't vicious but I'm worried in the future of she may not act appropriately to children.

Is there anything we can do to help ease her into children? I've seen different people saying they're not very good with children and I'm just wondering if it was because it was her first time. The breeder had a baby though. Also is there anything we can do to avoid her latching on to arms or are these things she will grow out of.

Thank you so much!!

Over-stimulation in cats can be an issue. My bengal is 9 years old and when we are playing, he may latch himself to my leg. Usually happens if I'm staring at him -- he doesn't like that at all. You may try to get your kitty to use interactive toys (balls in tracks) rather than a wand toy with prey. I think the cat is seeing your arm or leg as prey. They do need that instinct played with -- but kittens are highly energetic and grab on to everything. Cats can learn "no" or "be nice." Hopefully, as your kitty gets older, things will improve. The main thing is how children act around your kitty. Many do not understand how to gently pet a cat and end up pulling on a tail or swatting the cat. Most cats will not attack a child unprovoked. But, it is still ALWAYS important to monitor any pet (dog or cat) around a child! And never leave the pet alone with a small child. Anything can happen. A pet can be startled and react! I wouldn't worry about what may or may not happen. I would just be diligent and try not to stimulate your cat if you have company. Showing off what your cat can do and how it can play is really not the right thing to do. Keep the playing to when you are alone. That's just my opinion.

Look... you have a bengal, and you chose to get a kitten, and you chose for her to be your only bengal (from the sound of it). There are lots of plusses to doing that, but you take the bad with the good, and one of the "bads" is that you have to work through this stage where there is sort of this negotiation between her and you. She has this huge need to be active and to play, and to practice all the cat behaviors, including all the hunting and fighting behaviors, and you are her playmate and outlet for all that important stuff, and you have this huge need for her not to damage your bodily parts, and the two of you need to work that out. And it doesn't happen overnight. There is no silver bullet.

I would definitely just keep her away (for now) with children that young. She *will* be great for kids, just not right now. She's a "cat in training" right now. If adults come over, they just have to be told where your cat is "at", and that they could have a lot of fun playing with your bengal, but right now they do run the risk of getting a scratch or two, and that this won't be the case a couple years from now. Give them the "approved" toys to play with, with interacting with your cat. And both you and the guests have to have some rules like "never ever make a game with your cat be about trying to "catch" a finger or a hand or a toe" because that teaches the exact wrong thing to your cat, and can be disastrous in the long run (and even in the short run )

You say that "you don't mind if she's rough with you", but you should mind! You need to be really consistent in letting your cat know that there are tremendously fun games to be had when she plays with you, but only when she doesn't beat you up. It's actually really cute how cats get once they've learned this because they can be extremely gentle. They eventually "get it". But like Jackson Galaxy always says, when you try to teach your cat a "no", there has to be a "yes" at the same time. You can't just suppress her need to play and be rough and active.

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The little monsters 3

Hey! Yes, right now I am her only outlet of playing.

Now that I've picked up more hours at work we've been considering getting another cat. I know I am her only outlet for everything right now and I always make sure to give her as much playtime as a physically can.
We know over all the other cat will help burn out this energy too, and keep her company with it's presence when we were gone. (It was another question I was going to have).

Those are all super great ways to approach it. I thought that too. I can very easily do many of those things. Some people I know just aren't cat people so I have a hard time explaining to respect how cats work vs dogs.

I was just more curious if she would grow or learn stuff like that. Growing up I've ALWAYS had adopted cats whom were a minimum of 3 years. So once we had them they were already really well socialized with everyone and everything. I just figured I would try raising the cat myself. I've never had the experience of sharing a cats entire life. I've raised puppies, but never kittens.. and I know they're pretty different in training and that sort of thing. I've been doing so much research and so many different responses depending on who or what you ask, so I figured I'd turn to the forum for more expert advice.

I appreciate the advice! Every day I love her more, and she is surprising me with how quickly she learns certain things. I know it will be a learning experience.

Getting a second cat -- that cat should be another bengal. A regular kitten is going to have that high energy level in the beginning, but the kitty is going to go a lot slower as it ages, while your bengal will be active and hyper all of its life. Also, there is a proper way to introduce a new kitten which takes a couple of weeks. Just throwing them together can cause issues that can take months to solve, so do it right.

Brian gave you excellent advice. We are here to answer any questions you may have when it comes to getting a second kitty. Brian has three!!!

I used to have this awesome kitty, the first kitty that I had "on my own" (she was a tabby, but not a bengal). I got her young, and she would do the "bear hug my arm, and use her teeth and back feet to kick and bite" thing when she was a "teen".... OWCH! But we "figured it out" together (using toy "kickers" and such), and years later she would still run up to me and bear hug my arm. And then even open her mouth close her mouth over my arm... but *very* gently, never breaking skin, and THEN it would break into a licking session where she would lick my arm over and over with her rough tongue.

It was almost like.... "Gotcha! You thought I was gonna maul your arm didn't you! Fooled you! I would never do that!"

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The little monsters 3

We've got a couple of biters here. They are not Bengals just ordinary moggies, brothers which we got as kittens. They are now nearly 9 months old.

When they were very young they used to bite down very hard but they have learned through our reactions that is not acceptable.

They still do it but I can tell they are now withholding their full strength so they definitely do learn.

They are both very sweet and Jasper incredibly so but he will also give us a quick friendly swipe from the top of his cat tree every time we walk past

I'm sure if the rescue centre would have known their personalities they probably wouldn't have allowed them to be homed with children. I often see this at Rescues but IMO think that's a bit OTT in most cases.

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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

I remember having my cats nails trimmed before I had people over because they were like Edward scissor hands when they were young. One of my friends brought her 3 year old son over once. He was a loud and somewhat rough little boy. The cats would retreat behind something and pop back out to play with the cat sized human. They would retreat when he started flailing about. No one got hurt in the end.

Now that they are 2 years old I don't have to worry about people getting too close or picking them up. That's not going to happen. They race through the room to get outside, but they are cautious around strangers. Only Grace will come up to someone when called. She is very gentle with people and never bites. She lets them pet her head and neck but would never let someone pick her up. She is very fast and strong.