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Hello - I have been a Bengal Mom for over 7 years. My husband and I have no (natural) children, so my bengals really are my babies.
My first bengal is Kaiser. He was purchased from a fabulous breeder who really took good care of her litters. She would bring in the litters and handle them daily, so Kaiser is really social. He is a big boy now and weighs around 13 pounds - but it is all muscle. He is my lover-boy and his favorite thing in the world is to be carried about on my shoulder while licking madly at my neck (I just wish his tongue wasn't so sand paper like) We feel like Kaiser is a special blessing. We picked him out when he was barely a week old, but left him at the breeder to finish his growing. She called us a week before pick up to tell us the Vet had just found a heart murmur. She wanted to let us know that if we didn't want Kaiser (we had already named him) that she would let us have the pick of the next litter, or if we wished to keep him she would pay for his next visit and the sonnagram, and give us a discount on the price, because she could not guarantee his health or life span. My husband and I sat and discussed it and came to the conclusion that Kaiser had already won our heart and even if we only had him for a year we wanted him, and we would make him happy. At his 6 month check up the Vet (same vet - we really liked him) told us in amazement that the heart murmur was barely audible, and that he should live a full life. Our reward for taking home the kitty that originally won our heart is that he is the sweetest most social bengal that you can imagine. The Vet had a picture of Kaiser on his wall, and tells me he is the coolest cat ever!!
My second bengal is Sassy, and she joined our family almost 4 years ago. She is actually a rescue cat. A local cattery was closed down by the humane society and she was one of the survivors. Our local pet rescue agency had special adoption requests because the bengals were in such high demand (there were only 12 that were healthy enough to be adopted, several died before they reached the vet, and many others were in such bad shape they were put to sleep) When I brought my Sassy home she was malnourished, she had ear-mites and was on antibiotics. The first couple of weeks we had to keep the Bengals apart, so Kaiser would sniff at the door and howl, and Sassy would swat at him from under the door. Sassy was being dosed with medicine and was not really happy with any handling at all, she would shrug away from human touch. I would tease her and call her my "Super Model Kitty" because she was so skinny, but that didn't last long. We got her fattened up and down, even though she is half the size of Kaiser, she is healthy and happy. She seems to appreciate her home and regularly runs up the full length of my body (when I am lying down) and touches noses with me and smiles into my eyes. Now she is lap kitty, but only on her terms, you can not place her on your lap, it must be her idea. She is also a huge flirt with men. Whether Repairmen, the insurance man, or who ever, when there is a man in my house - she rolls around in front of them giving them a "come hither" look. All the men are charmed by her.
I love Bengals - they are unique and their behaviors and play patterns are fun and interesting. I love teaching them new things - and while they won't be trained they have figured out how to train me. A young mail co-worker saw a picture of my kids and said he was thinking about getting a cat- and mine looked awesome. I told him the trials and joys of being a Bengal owner, and he went out that weekend and got one for himself. 3 weeks later he went back and got the brother. He is now my Best Bengal Buddy, we constantly compare stories, and he asks my advise about the care and behavior of his babies. Answering his questions was how I came across this website. I love it because so many of the "weird" behaviors are apparently normal for Bengals. I can't even imagine having another cat now (even though I grew up with some great and beautiful moggies) I look forward to seeing more stories about Bengals and sharing mine - and hopefully figuring out how to post some pictures of my babies.
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Where ever you go, there you are- and your Bengal will be right on your heels.
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