I am a lifelong cat lover and owner and have enjoyed all kinds of cats over my 60+ years, most recently a snow marble Bengal that we had to euthanize at the age of 16 due to complete kidney failure. We made the decision to get another and selected a male kitten from a reputable breeder. He is now 8 months old and was neutered shortly before he was 6 months. I am hoping he will live as long as most of my other cats (15-20 years) as I do not expect to have any other animals for the remainder of my life. My husband and I are both home most of the time so he has lots of human attention and companionship.

This beautiful little creature has been the most challenging cat I have ever had. He is all the things you read about Bengals - curious, very active and intelligent, loves to be up high. He follows me around and cries by the door whenever I leave. He sleeps on our bed and is not nocturnal, thank goodness. He is not much of a cuddler, at least not yet, but seems to be getting more interested in human pets and cuddles as he is maturing and growing out of what my husband calls 'kitten brain'.

For the last two months, he has been attacking me - jumping on my legs, scratching and biting, drawing blood and not in a playful way. When I reach down to pick him up to try and settle him down, he will attack my arms the same way. Initially, this behaviour occurred in specific locations - first, our stairwell, next my home office, then our master bathroom. I thought I had gotten him over it by flapping a plastic shopping bag at him, which makes a lot of noise, and saying no loudly. I would then pick him up quickly, hold him closely, speak to him softly and pet him.

But after a relatively quiet week, he is doing it again but in unpredictable locations.

If I am looking at him when he goes into this predatory mode, I can see it in his face and body language - eyes dilate, extremely focused, and body tensed to jump. I have been trying to pick him up and immobilize him, holding him close and speaking to him softly. If I can't do that, I will say no loudly and flap the plastic bag (I know keep one in every room) which is so distracting to him that he loses focus so I can pick him up.

He does not do this to anyone else, only me, even though my husband is around almost all the time and our 2 1/2 old granddaughter visits often.

I know some of you on this forum are not in favor of water spray training for Bengals but it has worked quite well on this boy so he no longer gets on counters he's not allowed, does not scratch upholstery or play with draperies and drapery and electrical cords (at least when we are home!). But I quickly realized it only escalated this behaviour so no longer try it. I also have Feliway that I have not yet tried since the plastic bag seemed to work. Now that the attacks occur in unpredictable locations, I'm not sure diffusers would work.

I love this handsome boy so am interested in any ideas from this group.

Hi Alana,

My King is a biter and scratcher as well. I don't think to the extreme in which you speak of, but he is a wild one.

When he gets in his moods I usually give him his toys or place him on his cat tree. I tell him nicely "no bite, toys only" and he listens, but it may take a couple tries. I do work with him on this because I want him to learn now that it's bad to bite and scratch us so that it doesn't become a problem. He also hasn't been neutered yet, so this may calm him down too.

It sounds like your baby is just really hyper, so maybe jus give him his toys as soon as he starts and see if that works better.

Hope this helps. Lots of luck

Baby Bengal, thanks for the advice and encouragement. I haven't yet tried substituting a toy but have also read that elsewhere earlier today - will give that a shot!

It sounds like all your solutions are 100% focused on negative reinforcement, which I think is a mistake and probably won't solve this. But it's difficult to give much of a recommendation without much info. I just wonder if there is something predictable that triggers this. One thing that I've learned in recent years is how strange cats react when they encounter a fearful creature. It's like they lose all inhibitions and instinct just takes over, even if that creature is bigger and stronger than they are. It sound like that could be at least a piece of the problem here, whether that's the trigger or just exacerbating the problem.

All I can recommend is to play with him, and show him that there is an extremely desirable interaction (from his perspective) that he can have with you when he is well behaved and still take care of some of his hunting needs.

Then try to look at the times when he goes after you objectively, and a) see if you can recognize a trigger, and b) just keep your wits about you and realize that you showing fear drives his predatory instincts into overdrive.

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The little monsters 3

BrianJ, I agree that there seems to be a trigger but I have just not been able to figure it out. When it happened repetitively in the same location, that seemed most likely but now that the attacks happen in more random places, I just don't get it. Today has been particularly bad, with the attacks coming in at least 2 new places - there have been about 5 today. And I've tried to avoid negative reinforcement with a quick pick-up (whenever possible), soft touches and a soft voice. But often, I can't do that or even walk away without injury. He has jumped from our landing to the back of my legs while I am 4 or 5 steps above him! And the crazy thing is that he is just a rambunctious, curious, and approachable animal most of the time, playing in whatever room I'm in, taking naps in the sunshine, and otherwise being adorable. He's a real Jekyll and Hyde.... Thanks for your advice and I'd appreciate any other suggestions.

Bengals work best with reinforcing positive behaviours, they do go through a bitey scratchy stage but often that calms down as they age. For the biting give him a kickeroo instead of your hands and it tends to be worse if they have been used to hand play when younger.

You do find that kittens and even adults can attack when bored or frustrated he's an only Bengal they have a lot of energy and you will need to tire him out, the 'attacking' often isn't out of spite they see it as rough playing like they would with another Bengal. He could be trying to play with you and getting frustrated I would recommend only using positive reinforcement from now on treats work wonders. Take an hour or so every night around a certain time after dinner and play with him, tire him out use wand toys like the da bird and when he plays with the toy and doesn't attack you praise him and give him a treat. Hopefully he will then start to really look forward to this aloted playtime nightly. Also if he is a house cat and has a ton of energy you may want to look in getting a cat wheel so he can use that to run off his extra energy.

Good luck I hope it gets easier also plug in the Feliway the adaptor will fill your house and have a calming effect on him, bengals aren't like other cats spraying water, shouting and scaring him will just make him angry and confused and then they are more likely to lash out.

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- Sarah
Arya 24/04/16 - Seal Lynx Point Rosetted Bengal
Griffith 16/04/16 - Silver Seal Lynx Point Rosetted Bengal
Mina (in my avatar)- 1999-2016 - Seal Mink Spotted Bengal (Snow) - run free at rainbow bridge

Seraph, thanks so much for the ideas. First, what is a kickeroo? And as an FYI, I learned a long time ago that using your hands to play with a cat was not a very good idea and have not allowed that with this kitten so at least I don't have that to worry about!

Since we brought him home at 12 weeks, our routine has been lots of play as I go through my morning chores, usually about an hour and a half to two hours, using a wand with a flicker on the end (he loves that!). And between his toys and my granddaughter's, our home looks like a messy nursery school. He has foil balls, balls with bells, pingpong balls, bouncy balls with light, a battery operated caterpillar, catnip mice, empty toilet paper rolls, paper bags, a toy with holes in it to stuff with toys he can fish out, catnip straws, a cat tree, and on and on. I rotate them so he doesn't get bored, and throw them as I neaten up, between wand flickers. And there is sporadic play throughout the day and again in the evening. Since I have no room for a cat wheel, I was hoping to burn his energy with play and variety! He has never attacked me during play, thank goodness, and is the first cat I've had with no interest in treats!

I appreciate your wise counsel about shouting and scaring him and also will give a Feliway diffuser a try - thank you!

By the way, his name is Crash, but that's a story for another day.....

Oh one more recommendation... spend some time watching old episodes of "my cat from hell". I'd say about one episode in 3 or so deals with cases pretty similar to yours, particularly in the first few seasons. His resolution often involves behavior changes (on the humans part) and sometimes also medicinal, but they are instructive and also entertaining

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The little monsters 3

Hi,

Re the plastic bag thing... Plastic bags were a massive trigger for Jagger. To me, you are pretty much encouraging the behaviour by rewarding him with plastic bags and hence the attacks to him are a case I attack, I get a plastic bag, whoopppee! Probably why the attacks are happening just anywhere now. It was the nappy sacks I use for cleaning out the litter tray with Jagger, and even now, I can't clean the trays if he's around as he's still prone to trying to wrestle it off me. It's that rustling noise I think he loves so much.

When you are using wand toys, are you properly tiring him out? Is he flopping on the floor panting? Get a flying frenzy and throw whatever toy you have on the end around, and fast! Flick it up to the top of the cat tree, back down to the floor, get him really running around, make it a real challenge to catch it - until he's panting and exhausted. Laser lights are good too, I used to have mine charging up and down the hall, leaping up the walls etc. You really have to work at exhausting them at that age and burning off all that excess energy. Do you have cat springs? They are excellent for skittering around hard floors to get them running after something as well.

There is a my cat from hell episode that deals with a Bengal and Jackson Galaxy shows how to tire her out, definitely try to watch some of those as Brian suggested.

Good luck!

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

This is a Kickaroo... It saved my legs- each time echo came after my legs I'd quickly put this in her paws
https://youtu.be/ndTZS5IQaAo

If there isn't a medical reason behind the attacks, it's most likely play aggression. Watch his body language and when he is about to attack immediately throw him a toy to distract him. Kickaroo is great or any soft kids toy about that size so he can wrap his paws around it, kick and bite.. One tip though, don't ever wash it.. Mine won't go near it anymore probably because of the new smell (it's been months since I washed mine and she still avoids it). I think it's better to distract them with a toy and walk away from them instead of being picked up after as they might get an impression that if they attack, they get rewarded by being picked up or more likely if they attack they get your attention (with some cats it doesn't matter if it's negative or positive, it's still attention)

Katniss used to get her pupils dialated and have that angry look, you'd think she was vicious, but she really just wanted to play. She still sometimes does it, wriggles her bum and prepares for an attack, but now when she bounces she doesn't sink her claws and teeth it, she just grabs us gently telling us to throw her something. Good luck!

Welcome to our forum! This common behavior with bengal kittens who do not get enough stimulation through play. Bengal kittens can play 24/7. Your legs are prey! I agree it's aggravating and painful, but he is a kitten! Yes, kickaroo toys are great! Get several of them. Bengal kittens have so much energy that they have to get rid of. You are awesome for wanting to take on a kitten at your age. I am in my 60's and I don't think I could have the patience or stamina to keep up with a baby. My 9-year old bengal is bad enough.

Please re-think the spraying of the water. It does not honestly help with the trust issues and I was viciously attacked by a cat that I used a spray bottle on. There are other ways of reinforcements -- and teaching the word "NO" and "BE NICE" can help. I walk my bengal and we have a b/w cat that loves to follow us, but there are confrontations on both sides and I'm constantly telling them to "be nice" and it calms the situation.

The episodes of My Cat From Hell are amazing and offer such wonderful advice. There have been several episodes of attacking cats -- and solutions that worked for those cat owners. Take the time to review some of them on the Animal Planet website.

Sherry, lilzzz, Inkyfingers, Tabitha -

First of all, let me say how much I appreciate that so many have taken their time to give me some ideas. I especially appreciate your kind and considerate way of making suggestions, without criticsm. That is rare in today's world of social media.

I actually have a Kickeroo - just didn't realize that was what it was called - and he has had zero interest in it so far, but I'll give it another shot! And he only plays with the laser pointer for a minute or two, then seems to get bored! Have not seen a cat do that before! I did have some cat springs which interested him - will try that, too. And the morning playtime is vigorous - from the front of the house to the back, upstairs and downstairs, I keep him running!

Unfortunately, it's only recently that I've resorted to flapping the plastic bags; the behavior was established long before that. But it's possible that he now sees that as a 'reward' - just like kids who want any kind of attention, whether good or bad.

Use of the spray bottle has been very rare over the last couple of months, since he now understands what he is allowed. Based on your recommendations, I'll put them away as he now seems to understand 'No' very well, except for when he's focused on his attack mode.

Based on the comments here, I'll amp up the playtime, try the toy/Kickeroo substitute, and ignore the behavior, as long as I can do so safely. And I look forward to watching those shows about similar behaviour.

Thank you all for your support and encouragement - he is adorable most of the time and deserves the best I can do to get us out of this phase!

You also have the reassurance that we've all been there and experienced this behaviour and come out the other side!

A few times I was driven to shutting myself in the front room. I'd watch the TV for a while and then go back out and find them curled up on the bed looking like butter wouldn't melt. They soon learn that if they behave in a way you don't like that they have your company taken away from them. Most of the time I think they are just so happy to be with their human, get overexcited about it all and play aggression sets in. They do calm down a bit, it's just getting your Crash through this stage.

Keep us informed!

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

Bless you -- I know your baby has boundless energy and yours is probably gone after the morning play session. Trust me, I've been there! Raiden loves to play but he wears me out and I don't have the energy to keep up with him. Hubby takes over sometimes, but we get tired after a while. Raiden does not!!!

Just know that a kitten will grow into an adult cat. That does not mean any less energy, but you can probably redirect it from your legs. Bengals are a handful! I take care of a domestic cat that stays outdoors and it is like night and day with the difference between the two. Raiden is howling up a storm and the other cat is just laying, being silent! I honestly hope things get better for you.