I've been teaching Zeus to sit on my shoulder like a parrot, which he likes B) But, to my surprise yesterday, I was looking in a kitchen cupboard when I felt something land on my back and then pain, yep, Zeus had launched himself off the table onto my back clinging on with his claws Maybe it wasn't such a good idea teaching him that after all

I am so glad you mentioned that! I have had a female bengal since she was 6 weeks old. She is now 3 months old and she does it all day long.

We work from home and are with the kitty all day long. She could not get any more attention and affection from us than what we give her. Yet she still wants more! She has taken over the house!

My boyfriend and I are her personal walking trees to climb and lay on. It was cute when she was just a tiny kitten, but now it is quite scary!

She is extremely nosy. She wants to be on my shoulder especially to WATCH HOW I AM PREPARING HER FOOD, washing dishes, cleaning the counter, washing my hands or face, brushing my teeth... it goes on and on.

We all love her dearly and she is so beautiful we will just about put up with anything, but the heavier she gets she scarier this is getting. She stares for a moment and you can tell she's about to dart over to you and stick her razor sharp claws in your jeans then through your shirt into the skin of your back. IT TAKES 2 SECONDS FOR THIS TO HAPPEN. That is it. You have a very small window of opportunity to recognize what is about to happen and prevent it. And the sneak attacks while your back is turned are even worse.

She has even started to do this to people who come to the house. Yesterday, she climbed onto me, BUT she yelled, I call it yelling anyway, MEOW! to the person I was talking to.

IS SHE EVER GOING TO BE A NICE LAZY CAT WHEN SHE GROWS UP?[/b]

She will never be a lazy cat, but you are missing your opportunity to modify her behavior. By allowing her to use you as a scratching post and climbing tree, you are reinforcing that this behavior is acceptable.

Set limits now, otherwise you will regret it later. My two bengals are far from perfect, but they do not "sneak attack", claw the furniture or jump onto tables simply because I broke those habits early on.

Some things you accept... the bonding, the "talking", the curiosity, the climbing... but others you can limit.

All our bengals will jump up onto my shoulders, and sure i've got plenty of claw marks to prove it.....this is the bengal way!

It's never agressive and normally it's done as a form of affection.....they're really just trying to get closer to me and having a ride on my shoudlers apparently hits the spot, other times it's just a case of me being used as a stepping stone to higher ground!

Kittens can be troublesome with their little needle-claws but it really calms down when they reach maturity.....even then it'll be more of an occasional greeting than a full scale daily attack!

Bengals are a very inteligent and headstrong breed of cat.....I doubt you'd completely stop this kind of behaviour, maybe I'd go as far as even calling it a Bengal trait!


To be honest I don't think I've ever been in the company of a Bengal that doesn't do this kind of thing once in a while.

I've stopped encouraging Zeus to do this now - after being on the receiving end of a 13lb Bengal doing a surprise leap onto me when I'm not expecting it, I decided it's best not to encourage him!

Hi Gavin,
i know what you mean, Tia shoulder surfs, and oh my god does it hurt, mind
you, it keeps me on my toes as far as nail clipping goes, she has regular manicure's

Shoulder surfing is a great way to describe it. My little kitten is now a full grown young lady Bengal, 8 months old now.

Occasionally, she still climbs me and I help her up and let her lay on my shoulder as I walk around the house. As she got older and without much discouragement, she just stopped attacking me and supervising my every move from my shoulder.

She is my constant companion as I go about my work from home. On my desk, on my lap, she is always in the room with me.

I have adopted many strays over the course of my life, but I have never had a cat that just wants to be near and involved in every thing I do.

I would definately recommend getting a Bengal and especially, if you work from home.

Oska doesn't sit on my shoulder, but my maine coon cat did, especially when cooking, he would do surprise jumps, luckily no claws just wanted me to know he was there.

I thought it was great, I'm hoping one of the new kittens will do it! (have a bengal and a maine coon)

I also work from home and after their mad half hour in the morning which is basically a compitition between them to see who can knock the most items off my desk followed by who can find the key to put the computer to sleep (Oska the bengal will sit there press a key look at the screen, then press another key it's very amusing).

Naomi