Hello,

My wife and I took over our Bengal after he was rescued from a very abusive home. He was kicked and his hip and a rib was broken.
He has been diagnosed with IBS and we have to give him pills every night. We have had him about 4 months and he would never eat much and we were feeding him the Royal Canin and Nutro which is not the cheapest out there by far. I read recently that they do really well off of a RAW diet so we tried that with not much luck, so we lightly cooked the meat and he loved it. We fed him this for about a week and stopped his medication with no issues. I recently came across 20lbs of deer meat and the heart, so I read around and got some vitamins and salmon oil. I ground it all up and added some chicken livers in it cooked it up and he ate just a little then had the worst nigh ever with his bowels. I tried a small portion with no salmon oil and he ate it with no trouble at all. Can cats be allergic to salmon or is he just being picky about it? Also he is very stand offish and waits till we are asleep to jump into bed and sleeps all night until we wake up but then he runs but avoids us most of the day, he will come around but will not let us touch him he will just run. Do you think he will ever come around? The old owners that rescued him said he would never even get in their bed at all so I am thinking we are making progress. Any help, Ideas, or just personal experiences will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Welcome to the forum and thank you for rescuing this little baby! Please know that you are going to need a lot of patience. Any time a cat has come from abuse, there is a long adjustment period. Cats are very trusting until they are injured and then it takes a very long time for that trust to return.

First, let's tackle the food issue! Feed a cat the food that the cat likes and will not irritate the bowel. The second part is very important. Know that beef takes much longer to digest than say chicken or fish. I don't know about venison. Many cats eat it, but it may cause some irritation for your kitty! Raw diet can be good however, cats have certain nutritional requirements which can only be gotten if you give them the entire chicken -- crushed bones, heart, liver. Some people add a vitamin supplement. One person on here makes up a batch and freezes the portions. There are some cats that do not like fish or seafood and I have one of them! So don't push that on your kitty.

Check online prices for the good food that your kitty likes and works for him. I would not go changing things that could cause other issues!

That being said -- when you have a cat who needs a special diet, it is going to cost more. Add in the medications, and it can be a chunk of change per month. You have to be prepared to spend that money! It comes with the cat. You NEVER stop a cat's medication unless your vet advises you to do it! You do not have the medical expertise to make that decision and your cat's life could be at stake.

As for bonding with this little guy. Make sure you have a cat tree or other climbing shelves for him. Bengals are usually quite social. You need to be enticing him with toys -- wand toys. You need to be spending time sitting on the floor and talking softly to him. Nobody knows how bad the abuse was -- nobody knows what he is thinking. When I first got Raiden, any time you went to pet him, he ducked his head, leading me to think that the man who owned him previously had hit him. I don't know that for a fact -- but I found it odd that he would coy away. He no longer does that.

Your little guy should come out of his shell a little at a time. But it will take some time. Hang in there and be happy when the littlest of baby steps happen. Sleeping on your bed at night is a huge step as he feels safe there during the night. The day time is a little scarier.

I hope this advice helps you out and please keep us informed.

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The little monsters 3

Thank you for your insight! I like learning everything we can to help him out. I think he is a very spoiled cat now that he is here.
The last couple of days he has eaten dove, he will not eat raw anymore and he will not eat canned food at all. So I get to cut the meat up into thin pieces and slightly cook it for him then he will devour it. He is very very picky but we are learning what he likes and will keep getting it for him. Because he is picky I need to find ways to get vitamins in his food but they need to be flavorless and can withstand a little cooking so I am in search of anything that will work. So far he loves Venison, Turkey, Dove, Rabbit, and Chicken and a little beef but its not his favorite, anything in the can he will just walk away from. The worst thing is giving him his pill at night, he hates it and we can not fool him in any way to take it so I have to hold him while my wife puts it in his mouth, the only upside is when we let him down he will not run to far away and we reward him with his evening meal. We are not sure of any other way to do it. We did have a break through two days ago, for the first time he started playing with a wand and feather that we have had since the beginning and we were able to be holding the wand. I think he is slowly coming around and we are excited to see these little changes, and he is sitting 2 foot from me as I type this so I see improvements.

Thank you for all your info and I welcome more at any time.
I will update on any improvements as they happen.

Just breaks my heart to read your post. Thank god your kitty is now with you in a loving, patient home. You will reap the rewards of waiting for him to come to you. I think it's just lovely he sleeps with you but is too nervous to do it before lights out, bless him. To add to the amazing advice from above, I would also add a really good quality pro/prebiotic to his food every day. This adds the good bacteria to his gut to help his tummy stay happy.

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Melissa

UK
Oscar - Rescue (Rascal!!!) Bengal

It sound like you are doing all the right things, including being patient. Keep a calendar of the accomplishments and then look back in two months and see just how far things have come. I know, giving a cat a pill is horrible! And it's better if you have 8 hands working on the cat. But, rewards can really work for you! Not everyone can deal with a rescued kitty, especially one rescued from an abusive situation with a medical condition -- so I am elated you chose this special little kitty.