Hi,
I wonder if anyone can help me.
We have two male bengals, brothers who will be 3 in Feb, they've been with us since they were kittens, they're allowed to go in and out of the house as they please.

One of the boys, Charlie, the more dominant, but strangely smaller has over the past few weeks/months started to attack my wife, mainly her feet sometimes when she takes him off a chair in my daughters room but also he's been doing it as she's going down the stairs. This isn't all the time but it has happened a few times and now quite understandably my wife's a little frightened he's going to do it again, it's worth noting that she's also 8.5 months pregnant.

They for a long time they were the best of friends (my wife and charlie), unlike some bengals he's always been a lapcat, also craves attention, very vocal and can be a bit naughty and she spent alot of time cuddling him. When they were about a year and a half my daughter was born and so he didn't get the same sort of attention. He still got alot of attention but not as often and not always from her. They both still get as much attention as they want sometimes coming into sit with us but also they like to be in the garden.

So my question is does anyone have any advice on how to stop him attacking her, he doesn't do it to me but i wonder if he sees me as more dominant. Also he can be a bit of a bully with his brother and they have alot of rough and tumble. We recently started using a plant sprayer with water in when he was doing it and firmly saying "NO" and it worked but unless she walks around carrying a sprayer (which is ridiculous) we need to find a solution. With the imminent arrival of baby no2 it's something we need to fix. All advice welcome.

Thanks for reading

Welcome to the forum. I'm sorry you're having this issue. The first thing is to stop the water spraying. All it does is antagonize the cat and not in a good way. It is not the way to change a cat's behavior! Second of all, cats are very intuitive and their smell is 14 times stronger than ours. Your wife may be exuding hormones that the cat can pick up on. This may change after the baby is born. The best thing is a firm "NO" and for your wife to make sure she is wearing something to protect her ankles and feet at all times.

In some cases, adding human babies changes the whole perspective with bengals. They are highly social creatures and bond solidly with their owners. Many accept new babies as their own. Others can be jealous. Many bengals are rehomed for that very reason.

I would suggest some Feliway diffusers and put the diffusers in various rooms the cat goes into. It is supposed to calm them down a little. Jackson Galaxy also has Spirit Essences which are herbal treatments for various behaviors. http://www.spiritessences.com. See if there is something there that might work in your case.

You are about to bring a brand new baby into the house -- a new smell for your bengals. It's difficult enough to care for a new infant but you have a toddler too. This is going to make for a very busy, boisterous household. The kitties are going to require attention and it may be you that has to step up to the table give it since your wife will need to tend to the children. I'd see if you could bond more with Charlie. You feed him, you do the chores for him that your wife would normally do. See if this helps.

Congratulations on the baby.

Hi Sherry,

Many thanks for you reply. Thats really interesting about the hormones, I'm hoping that could have something to do with it. And interestingly we only started the spraying very recently and we haven't been convinced its worked positively. As both the cats were fine when my daughter was born, (once they got used to her of course) and they're great with her now, she helps feed them and they're happy to let her "stroke (poke) and cuddle them" do you think this gives an indication on how they'd react to the new baby.
I do try and give the boys attention, charlie does sit with me in the evening, to be honest i think I'm closer to the other cat they seemed to pick each one of us when they were little!

Thanks again for your help.

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The little monsters 3

Brian ... very insightful information. You give advice from a great male perspective as well -- you are so great with your babies -- and you always offer such helpful advice.