We live on a quiet cul-de-sac and when we got our first Bengal in ?99, we decided to let him out (we did get him altered first and he was fully inoculated), It wasn?t long before our neighbours got to know him by name, he even use to go in to our next door neighbours houses and he would sleep in any car that had its window open. This was a worry, especially since our next-door neighbour is an airport taxi driver, travelling to and from Manchester on a daily basis. One day I even found him snooping around the back of an ambulance that had been called to attend to an elderly lady down our road (that was v.embarrassing).
Anyway, for nearly 5 years he was a very happy cat, free to come and go as he pleased until one day when he came in panting like a dog and finding it difficult to breath. To cut a long story short/shortish we took Reggie (our cat) to the vets but he passed away. All the vet could tell us was that his stomach had filled up with gas and when he operated to relieve the gas his lungs filled with fluid, which resulted in him passing away. The vet ruled out a road accident or a dog attack as he had no bruising or puncture wounds so we were left wondering what had happened to our healthy 5 yr old Bengal male. That was January this year and we are still absolutely devastated. Our only comfort is that we now have ?Evvie? our 5 month old Bengal girl that we brought home in May.
So, I seriously would recommend you keep your cat indoors and/or in an outdoor run. If you do decide to let your cat out think of the following:
1.Theft
2.RTA
3.Cat/Dog fights
4.Poison
5.Disease
6.Straying
Would you really want to expose your beloved kitties to this? I so wish I hadn?t, the fact that I did will haunt me forever since we?ll never know what happened to Reg.
We have built Evvie an outdoor run, she plays in the run during the day and by night she lives in the house with us and she seams to be very happy and content. However, we are currently looking for another female Bengal to keep her company!
(Appologies in advance for picture quality!)
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Our Beloved Reg</span>
