Hi,

I returned home from holiday on Sunday to find that my boyfriend had adopted an approx. 11mth old bengal cat named Mia (see attached photos)! We had spoken about getting one in the past, but I hadn't done my research yet, so I wasn't ready, but now I have her, I love her! BUT I am a bit overwhelmed with questions! I am trying to do research online, but I have some questions that I am hoping some of you experienced owners could help me with:

1. She was previously let out by her previous owner. I am so scared to let her out, but she definitely seems to miss the outdoors. Do any of you let your cats outside? If so, how did you go about first introducing her to the outside world? We have a cat lead that we want to take her into the garden with to familiarise herself.

2. As a lot of you are aware, she is very needy and loves affection. I feel terrible when I leave for work in the morning. We are gone for about 8hrs weekdays. Do you think she will be OK? I hope that she sleeps as she is very energetic when we get home.

3. Where does your cat sleep at night? We have been keeping her downstairs (fairly big space) and she seems to sleep on the sofa. She was previously allowed on her owners bed, but I am a light sleeper, so I am unsure about this yet, plus she jumps everywhere in our room and knocks everything over! I know cats can see better than humans in the dark, but I feel mean turning all the lights off at night, and I leave her with a lamp. Is this necessary?

4. Mia doesn't seem to drink much water (from her bowel or from the tap) which worries me. Does anyone else have this problem? She will drink cat milk thankfully, but not loads.

5. How much food is best to feed her? She has a bowel of dry food which she mostly eats when she has no wet food left - just grazes on it and never finishes a bowel a day. In terms of wet food, how many pouches is ideal for a bengal cat (although might differ per cat?)

I would appreciate any advise on the above questions and any general advice when first owning a bengal cat! Thank you soooo much!!

Our Bengal has never drunk much water, and she's fine. From what I have read, this is normal. She self-feed dry cat food, no wet food, and has never had a weight problem. I can't answer your other questions, except that she is an indoor cat and I took her out on a lead a couple of times, but after I did that she howled to go back out for several days, so I just keep her inside.

Congrats on your new addition.

1. I'd let her get used to being indoors for the first couple of weeks, at least, she'll want to feel comfortable at home before venturing outside. When the time comes, supervised time out side on a lead is a good starting point. If you have a lot of cats in your neighbourhood, it might be an idea to scatter some used litter (as in poo) around the perimeter of your property, this will give other cats the message that theres a new kitty in town and she has claimed some territory. Then when she does go out with you, she will have some small comfort in knowing her own smell around her own territory.

2. There are things you can do and adjustments you can make to make her daytime less loanly. Try and play with her in the morning, to use up some energy, then she'll be happy to sleep for a good few hours. Maybe longer of there's nothing to interrupt her. Then play again in the evening so she's tired for the night.

3. If shes happy sleeping on the sofa, that's cool, but give her options, a cat tree with a tunnel or box, a radiator bed, an empty box, or a comfy pyramid style bed are all good options and don't have to cost the earth. Bengals like to be up high, so a tall cat tree is worth the investment, as well as being something for her to scratch at.

4. Our four drank noticeably more when they ate dry food alone, but she will get some water from the wet pouches, it is fairly common for them to drink less if they are on a wet or raw food diet.

5. How much to feed depends mostly on her weight and age. Typically it should be between 3-5% of her body weight per day. So something like 100-150 grams a day or two pouches there abouts. On a raw diet as adults I believe they eat less as the food doesn't contain the filler ingredients so the food weight is more nutritional. However, kittens are generally encouraged to eat as much as they need, to grow.

I'm sure someone else will offer much more accurate advice, but there's a few ideas to get you started. Good luck.

Ahh, the new parent of a kitty. Congratulations. She is gorgeous! You've come to the right place in asking your questions.

1. I would not let your girl outside unsupervised. Bengals are easily trained to wear a harness and walk on a leash. I do it with Raiden each and every day. It's some of the best bonding time for us. You can also create a cat enclosure so the kitty can enjoy some time by herself outdoors. There are so many dangers out there -- and someone could simply see your kitty and catnap her. It's happened before. Not to mention fights with other cats, although I think females are less prone to that than males. Dogs have been known to kill cats. It's just not worth it unless you can ensure her safety while she is outdoors.

2. They say if you are away from home a lot, a bengal is not for you. However, many bengals do just fine being alone. Mine is left alone about 8 hours a day during the week. He spends time out in his enclosure, comes in for naps on the bed, and he is READY to go out outside for his walk when I get home. I give him a ton of love and affection when I'm home as well as play time. It's the quality of your time with your girl, not the quantity of your time. Many people consider getting a "friend" for their kitty, however, there is never a guarantee that adding another cat to the household will go well. Some times it does, other times, it does not.

3. Cats tend to sleep wherever they want to sleep. Raiden has beds all over the living room, but he really prefers our bed. He may be laying on a chair when we go to bed, but once he wakes up and realizes we aren't in the living room anymore, he jumps up on our bed and goes to sleep. Thankfully, he his not nocturnal. He pretty much sleeps through the night. Just make sure you have at least one cat tree with a platform or hammock and other beds -- cats will sleep on top of a folded blanket. Doesn't have to be a specific bed for a cat, although they loves those as well.

4. Raiden does not drink much water at all. He prefers to play in it. He eats canned food 99% of the time, which has water in it. When he's thirsty, he will drink water, but his water bowl is never empty and I don't worry about him.

5. Usually the amount to feed a cat daily is 1 oz of canned food per pound of cat. With dry food, it will depend on the brand of food, but normally, it's not a whole lot. Raiden eats varying amounts daily. Sometimes it will be 2 large cans and another small can of food. Other times, he won't eat 10 oz. It just depends on how hungry he is. I think "new parents" tend to worry too much.

Your kitty is getting used to her new surroundings, new people, new smells. There can be some stress associated with that as well. She will get used to everything and settle in just fine. Have some patience with her. Enjoy the exciting ride ahead of you.

Hi Ciara

Congratulations, she is beautiful, and welcome to the forum.

I was also very worried about letting my two outside, and as already suggested I started with them on harnesses (although one of them really didn't take to it at all) and then moved to going outside with them and making sure they knew their 'territory' ie, our garden, we would play with them and generally supervise where they went whilst they got used to it all.

I would definitely let her settle into her new home first before you do anything and take into account your area and what the roads are like etc when making your decision. We live in a quiet cul-de-sac and our back garden backs onto lots of other gardens and whilst there are busy roads, they are not too close.

Re being out for work, I don't think it is too much of an issue, I am also out at work for about 8 hours every weekday but they sleep whilst you are gone. My routine in the morning consists of letting them out for an hour, and when they come in and I'm getting ready for work I will play with them to tire them out a bit more, throw a ball and play fetch or one of their springs to chase. Then they are let out again when we get home for a couple of hours and if they are still bubbling over with energy we'll play Flying Frenzy (Da'Bird) with them for a while. I used to worry they wouldn't come back when I called them, but I've only had a couple of instances when they've pushed the limit and generally, cats are creatures of habit and they know the routine and roughly what time I expect them back now. I think I'm lucky that they have to come home to use their litter trays as its never occurred to them to go outside!

I am also a light sleeper and our boys only very occasionally get to stay in the bedroom ie, I've fallen asleep before putting them in the spare room - but they always end up waking me in the night and will be put out at that point. They used to sleep in the kitchen and conservatory but its getting cold so I've relented! You don't need to leave a light on, but I would invest in a cat tree for her as that gives her a bed high up. Mine have various beds dotted around the house, cat tree, a snuggle bed on the dining room table, a radiator bed, window beds, cat sleeping bags that they will sleep on or in, and baskets.

If you are feeding her wet food she is probably getting enough moisture from her food so I wouldn't worry too much about that. Re how much, I was told 2-3%% of their body weight but I've never really measured what my two eat, I give them some dry and a pouch between them in the morning and then 2-3 pouches between them in the evening - so they have about 2 - 2.5 pouches each per day on top so its about 50/50 dry/wet. Keep an eye on her body shape - she looks fine to me in the pictures, she certainly isn't overweight. She'll tell you if she is still hungry! I try to feed a grain free, high meat content diet and I think most of the instructions on boxes say 4-5 pouches per day for their age/weight but I take into account they also get dry food and some days they eat a lot less so it depends really.

Hope this helps and enjoy your new family member!

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

Hi there I find that my cat Dexter sleeps most of the day with a couple of bursts of energy inbetween but he is only 6 months old. He sleeps in the kitchen with our elderly cat and is fine out there. I'd rather keep him confined at night as he's a little monkey and could possibly get up to all kinds of mischief if we didn't. We don't hear a peep out of him throughout the night so he's obviously quite happy in the kitchen.

I put a post on recently about the water situation as I've never once seem him drink! He is on wet food though so I would be more concerned about that if he was eating just dry. Hopefully he is getting enough from his wet food but must admit I splash a bit of water into his mouth now and again but that's just me going OTT lol.

Mine doesn't go out. His personality is such I don't believe he would last 5 minutes in the great outdoors. He is pretty goofy and an easy target for dogs, and I can just see him coming back with injuries as he does the most incredibly stupid things indoors without thinking of the consequences so goodness knows what would happen if he was allowed out.

Your cat is absolutely gorgeous and hope you stick around for lots of Bengal chat :)

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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

Thank you all so much for your replies - they are so useful!

Took her to the Vet yesterday and she seems fine thankfully.

I have ordered her lots of toys, scratch posts, beds etc. She will be spoilt!

Thanks again - I will definitely be using all of your advice

She is sooooo mischievous!

It looks like Mia is settling in nicely and enjoying exploring. Congrats!

I think she is - thank you!

Mia looks like she is enjoying her new home! We have 2 bengal girls - one 17 months and the other a year old. They both sleep on our bed at night and sleep through the night - but every cat is different. We put a couple different water bowls around the house - it's important for a cat to drink well. We also feed them canned food - one can in the morning and one can at night. They are allowed outside when we are home - we catproofed our back yard so they can't get out. Enjoy her!

Congratulations on the new girl! I have two of my own- I can't imagine how quiet and boring life would be without them now. They love getting into things and climbing on things. Such a great breed! Good luck with her, but you don't look like you need it. She appears to be settling in quite nicely.