I wonder if anyone can help as im slightly worried about my bengal Leo. We've had him since Feb06 (we are his second owners). He's a 10 month old bengal with a lot of energy. One thing that really worries me is that he never comes and sits on our lap or comes for cuddles unless its 4am in the morning when we are fast asleep. I have read on many websites saying bengal cats are affectionate cats but Leo just does want to know us and does his own thing. He doesnt really like being fussed that much - he just jumps away from us. This is not the only thing - he likes to play attach us but a few times he's really attached us latching on to me or my boyfriends arm or leg. He bites us and we're always covered in scratches. Does anyone know if he's just doing this because he's a kitten and will he ever grow out of this and become more affectionate towards us?? Are we doing anything to cause this??

Hi Shell and welcome to the forum.

Hopefully Meemonkey or one of the others will pick up this post however in terms of the attacking, I have a similar problem with my 5 month old boy Lubo, only its not play, its aggression with food. What I have done is to give him a sharp short spray of water (with a water pistol) when he does this. Its only been a week and it does work - he is definitely doing it less and today he did not do it at all!!!

I guess like us bengals all have their own personalities however do you know much about his past? Do you know his first owners and circumstances? Is he neutered yet? Maybe its just going to take Leo a while to settle with you given he has had multiple homes.

In terms of the energy well thats all part of the fun of having a bengal Meemonkey has previously advised me boys are a bit more in your face, especially young ones, and I am hopeful for you that this will settle a bit.

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P.S forgot to say we all LOVE photos here.

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Hello, my boys Bert and Ernie do similar things, sometimes using me as a launching pad when they're play-fighting with each other (no fun when one of them runs up your back with claws out - ouch!) but I had assumed it was natural kitten behavoiur and I just give them a firm "no" when it gets too much. Haven't tried the water spray yet but it sounds like a good idea!!

Best wishes

Teresa

Hi Shell, and welcome to the forum.

The water spray really does work, i have a 1year old female Tia , and a 4 month old boy Diego, and instead of scolding i have always used the water
spray with a stern NO, Bengals are really smart and very quickly learn, i
would really recomend you give it a try, but stick at it.

Tia had real problems excepting Diego as she had been the only cat in the household, we had a heartbreaking first week, as she would really go for him
making him scream out, but with close observation, of the two and a squirt
of the spray when things got to much, she stopped doing it, now we only have to shake the water spray at her and she knows to stop what she's doing, ( these guys here on the forum were also a huge help during that time).

Keep us all posted, and let us know how you get on (we are all here to give help and a friendly ear)

all the best
Nikki

Another vote for water spray - although Bengals like water, they hate being sprayed with it, a "mist" setting rather than a "jet" seems to work best with our female.

I just want to say thank you for all your help and welcoming me to the forum. To be honest i didnt expect that - thank you all!!
As i said i was worried it was just Leo that was naughty and it makes me feel better knowing it will be his age and not that he hates us. When he's been naughty we usually tap him on his bum and say no but after all the replies and reading about them i decided to take the water option from now on. He does have so much energy and you have to laugh at him. We'll be lying in bed and all you can hear is him running round meowing - he's like a tornado! We had Leo neutered in June which i thought would calm him down a bit but no such luck.
Another question what does everyone feed their bengals??

Hi Shell, glad we could help. I can safely say you will find the water bottle/pistol option far more effective .

In terms of feeding, my babies are still pretty young so in the main I've continued to feed the same as my breeder which is Whiskas wet food and James Wellbeloved dry. I would say they all eat varying amounts of wet and dry:

Lubo will only eat wet food
Loki will nibble at the dry and mostly eat wet
Lenny eats mainly dry and nibbles on wet

I have tried other wet foods (mainly the commercial ones available in supermarkets and Pets at Home). I do also feed cooked chicken or prawns for dinner as a treat 2 or 3 times a week. They LOVE this (albeit Loki still not sure on prawn front).

They do of course (like any naughty bengals) stay on alert for any food left lying and if we are not quick enough.................its gone!!!

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I always make sure he has kitten dry food down all day and feed Leo pouches twice a day with a treat of chicken or fish on occasion in the week. The reason i ask is that he has a runny bum sometimes and wonder if its the meat thats doing this.
Two weeks after we first got him his stomach was really off. We ended up taking him to the vets and finding he had Giardia. Well that wasnt pleasant! He messed everywhere and the vets bills where enormous. This went on for months because he wouldnt take his medication but i managed to battle through it and got him better. Now he's fine thank god but i still worry about his stomach. I have read that Bengals have sensitive tums.

Linda - how old are your babies?

Hi Shell, my oldest Lubo is nearly 5 months and the 2 younger brothers (Loki and Lenny) are 14 weeks.

Lubo also has a sensitive tum but absolutely refuses to take any dry food so its really difficult. I find if I give him chicken & Jelly variety Whiskas, or as a treat cooked chicken (nothing added) and lay off anything stronger meats such as fish, duck etc his poos are more solid. He is also the garbage disposal of the three so we have to watch every bit of food in the house

The 2 younger ones, Lenny and Loki - again have had the runs on occasion (especially in the hot weather) but do not seem quite as sensitive as Lubo. BUT they are not as greedy when it comes to eating and will eat some dry food.

I think its a bengal thing, just need to keep an eye on it. When its bad, may be worth trying to stick to either chicken or cutting back the amount of wet food given. However I do believe in giving a mix of wet and dry as opposed to favouring one over the other.

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