He's 4 months old and gets very aggressive with meat like growls and snarles and stuff I need to break this behaviour as I have kids and neices and don't want this happening around children.

Also, he's always greedy he always has his kibble and he will shoo the other cat away from her own fish and will steal human food off an unattended plate the second he sets smell of it!! He's a healthy weight.

Any insights please are these normal characteristics of the breed?

It sounds like you are not feeding him enough. Kittens require a good amount of food because they are growing and full of energy. Leave dry food out for him and also feed him a good quality wet food twice a day.

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The little monsters 3

If we give him a piece of meat to eat he becomes a very mean sounding/acting cat he will growl while eating it snarl and even if you to touch him or anything he will physically lash out. I am honesty not sure why it's happening he is not underfed here with me I do not think its a matter of him being hungry that is causing this behaviour.

I am wondering if there may have been food issues as a kitten before I got him because when we had his first 72 hour check up after receiving him the vet did mention he was underweight. He caught up quickly within about 2 weeks he was within a normal percentile so in wondering coming from a catery did he need to act this way to obtain his food amongst the pack? This is the only thing I can think of.

He is generally a happy go lucky kitty but God forbid you see him when he gets some meat cause you would think he was mean and nasty

And as for the always starving like if the kids leave a plate unattended for a bit he will go steal the food off the plates and eat it but he scouffs it down like he's never eaten in his life. Like I don't even think he properly chews it's so fast. Meanwhile he's just had his moist food serving.

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The little monsters 3

Couldn't agree more with everything Brian has said. When my two were kittens it was nigh on impossible to satisfy their appetites. Jagger in particular would growl when eating, to me it was a sign of enjoying his meal, not aggression. He doesn't do it now, he purrs.

The point Brian made about the dry food was also very true for Jagger. He didn't like the dry food the breeder had him on, so that made him quite the competitive eater when it came to the wet. It took me a good year to find a dry food he has real enthusiasm for, but now I'd say he eats more of that than the wet.

When we ate, we quickly learnt to shut them out of the room so they couldn't steal our dinners. They are very curious as kittens, so will always investigate and if it smells and tastes nice, of course they are going to swipe it. They are two years old now and we no longer need to do that (unless we have ham or chicken! ). You may also find that when he's about to go through a growing spurt, he is even hungrier than usual and then calm down again.

I think it's important to remember he's a Bengal! Yes, all kittens are crazy, but bengals are even crazier and they burn up so much energy. I think in a previous post you said he was crazy most of the time, so although manufacturers put guidance on how much a kitten should be eating for their age, mine always exceeded that before they were content. If I had a bowl that wasn't thoroughly licked clean by the end of their meal, I felt I'd achieved something.

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

Even at two years old, if I put down a prized treat, Grace will growl at Blondie so she backs down and Grace eats the treat while Blondie watches. This happens over kale and arugula even, lol. Blondie loves the spring toys and when I give her one, she will growl if Grace comes close. The same goes when either of them catches a lizard. They are just communicating as nature intended.

I believe it's a characteristic of the Asian Leopard cat. They are very protective of meat especially because when they kill, they want the food for themselves. Wonder how far removed your kitten is from the ALC. I agree that kittens need to eat more and more frequently, but since you have food out ALL the time, this should not be a problem. Know that a bengal is not like any other cat you have ever known! You also seem to have at least one other cat. The behavior could also stem from your kitten not being able to get to the mother to nurse, hence being underweight initially. His siblings could have also gotten more actual food. Hopefully, this is a behavior he will outgrow when he realizes he has plenty of food and won't starve. Give this some time and be patient. However, do not allow him to eat human food!

This is just normal cat behaviour.

I have two moggies and Oscar in particular is very obsessive with his food and toys. He will growl (I love his little wild side and think it's quite cute) when he has something he likes and as Brian said it's a warning sign to keep away from his stash!

As for leaving food around again totally normal behaviour. I think most cats would be right there if you leave your plate lying about. Mine do this all the time. Simple solution teach your children not to leave food lying about for the cat to scoff as it would prove much more difficult to teach a cat not to touch your abandoned plate.

We always put our cats in the kitchen when we have our evening meal as they would be all over us otherwise. No table manners

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Oscar and Jasper (or one ear and two ears as dh calls them) black rescue mogges

RIP my sweet baby Dexter, Snow Bengal 19/5/14 to 5/3/15 and my lovely dear old friend Muskey, Brown Burmese put to rest aged 15 on 14/11/15.

Debbie

F5 is considered a domestic cat, however, he still has the leopard wild blood in him. He is 5 generations removed from the asian leopard cat. I'm guessing Zeus has a healthy appetite! You just want to make sure your other kitty isn't left out of the food mix.

From my pretty limited knowledge of ALC, I think 5 generations removed is still quite close to the wild ALC and you would expect more wild characteristics.

From reading between the lines there is quite a wild side there more than your general moggie but I would embrace it and learn to adapt and live with it rather than fight against it after all that is what makes these cats so amazing.

I lost my lovely Bengal at 9 months old and now have a pair of lovely black moggies who I love dearly but I still love and admire the Bengal breed so much and think they are very special and that's part of the reason why I am still a member here. I still miss my boy and want to hear about Bengals. It gives me comfort.

I love to hear about this breed. My Bengal, Dexter touched me in his short life in such a way that no other cat had. He was beautiful and amazing. Keep this in mind. I would love to have my mad boy back again and must admit I feel envious rather than sorry for you when I read about their wild behaviour. You are one lucky person and I hope you can come to see this.

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Oscar and Jasper (or one ear and two ears as dh calls them) black rescue mogges

RIP my sweet baby Dexter, Snow Bengal 19/5/14 to 5/3/15 and my lovely dear old friend Muskey, Brown Burmese put to rest aged 15 on 14/11/15.

Debbie

There was a really interesting television series in the uk recently, called 'the story of cats'. It went through how they developed and adapted to the extreme habitats they survive in all around the world and how even so-called 'domesticated' cats still have wild traits, characteristics and behaviour.

In the last episode they tracked a mountain lion, who made a kill. They found its kill and it had covered it with leaves and grass to camouflage it and try to stop the smell of decay to prevent other predators running off with its kill so it could come back later.

Many bengals on here try to cover their bowls after eating, Hendrix is one of them, so it was really interesting to see that behaviour in a real wild cat. I do believe bengals are that bit closer to the wiild. I have no idea what generation my two are though.

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