Hello everyone! I've been reading some posts on here to try to give me some ideas on what to do with my new 3 year old half Bengal half tabby. His Bengal traits are very dominate.. to an odd extent. We just adopted him Monday night. The owner said Rex is an indoor/outdoor cat, but stated he should be fine just being an indoor cat only. I understand Bengals have a lot of energy. He came with a very large cat tree and I bought him some interactive toys. At night he kept crying, but finally cried himself to sleep and was hanging out on the couch all day on Tuesday. We have not let him out yet as we are trying to get him to get used to the indoors. I try to play with him throughout the day, and he will play for a little bit then go back to sleep. I try to play with him before bedtime, but again no interest, just lays there looking all cute. Every night he cries non-stop and at times will go to the door or window. I get up to try and play with him, but all he wants is cat nip and to be pet. He will fall asleep for about an hour and a half, then starts crying again. I pet him for a while, he falls asleep, and does the same thing all over. Last night was just awful. My boyfriend and I think he is getting used to us getting up to pet him on demand so we tried to ignore him all night but it was so hard. He never stopped. He finally ate his food and used the litter box. I am not sure what to do with Rex. He will play with his toy mouse for a little bit and play with the dangling toy from the wand, but no intense play. He does not seem interested. I am not sure what to do. I am going to try walking him regularly in the evening to see if that works. My boyfriend feels we should just give in and let him outside. I have not really slept since we got him. I feel like I am failing him and I do not want to give him back to his original owner.

I think that taking an outdoor cat, and making him an indoor cat is a great thing for him long-term (imo), but there should be no expectation that this would be easy... right?

I think what might be happening here right now is that you're kind of re-setting his time clock. He's probably used to prowling/hunting at night, and sleeping by day. If so, then having him both inside, and away from you guys (from your description it sounded like he wasn't sleeping in your bedroom at night?) is probably kind of a double-whammy. Cats adapt really well to people's routines, but it does take time. If you can have him with you in your bedroom I think that could certainly help. Perhaps changing his meal times could help too. Perhaps changing it to a routine where you play with him, as much as he'll do, say an hour before bedtime, and THEN give him his largest meal of the day right before lights-out, with the hopes that he'll be more inclined to do what cats usually do after a big meal... to crash pretty hard. You may have to do some trial and error to figure out just the right combinations that make this work, but that's a suggested starting point.

The biggest thing though is that I think you guys have to reset your expectations in thinking that an outdoor cat is just going to blend right into your daily routine, and become an indoor cat, literally overnight. It will happen (imo), but it will take time and some dedication on your part.

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The little monsters 3

Trying to make an indoor/outdoor cat an all indoor cat is NOT easy. I have been there, done that, got the t-shirt with my bengal. His previous owner allowed him to roam the neighborhood. When I took him (after he got into a horrific cat fight), I tried to confine him, but he would cry all night long, cry at the windows, cry at the door. We decided to build a large enclosure on our deck that he can access 24/7 through a cat door. However, that was not enough for him. I bought a harness and leash and put the harness around him and he was ready to go out the door. That happens rarely, but since then, we've taken daily walks. It has helped a lot! Perhaps that is not something you want to start, because once you start, the walks happen whether you want them or not. Rain, shine, hot, cold, snow, ice -- we are out there.

We went through about two weeks of Raiden yowling all night long. We simply ignored it and tried to get some sleep in between yowls. Now he sleeps most of the night on our bed. It's been 4-1/2 years, so we now have a great schedule going.

There are portable enclosures or permanent enclosures -- there are elaborate systems or very simple ones that can keep your cat safe in the yard. A cat who has tasted the outside world -- wants that world. You can expand his world cheaply with a window perch or putting a cat tree next to a window.

Now, too, that Rex is still adjusting to a new home. Things take time when it comes to cats. So be patient.