Hi again,
Some of you may recall that I was having trouble with one of my bengal girls (Izzy) in regard to her meowing when inside. It has gotten that bad now, that she will barely step foot in the house. I have to feed her outside, every second or third day she will come in and be happy to curl up on my daughters bed for a couple of hours nap, but as soon as she awakes she is doing the dreaded long meow. HELP

We went away for a nite a couple of weeks ago and both girls were inside. I had my mum come and feed them and told her if Izzy wanted outside, just to let her outside. Anyway mum said she was fine asleep. I got home to a terrible stench, it seems that they used my T-shirt drawer as a kitty litter. Now they have 2 trays of clean litter and it wasn't used. I washed and washed to get the smell out and even had to throw some out. Not only that, I then noticed they peed on my bed!! AAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH any ideas.

One last thing, my quieter of the 2 (Sparkle) has fits. Now the vet says that there isn't any epileptic medication for cats, but its almost every 2 months she is fitting. I hate to see her in this state...
Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated. We are in Australia as I have noticed a lot of Bengal peeps from other countries on here :)

Sorry to hear this about Izzy's prolonged meowing but it does seem to be fairly common in Bengals. I guess that the peeing was in response to you not being there, or perhaps your mother shut them into the room where the teeshirt drawer is and they had no other option than to use it and your bed.
What sort of fits does Sparkle have what happens to her when she has a fit?

_________________
Elaine

It looks like you now have an outdoor bengal. First of all, if there is any change in the behavior of your kitty, a vet should examine the cat to make sure all is well medically. When it comes to bengals and howling, you just have to get used to it. Mine cries to go outside constantly. He was an outdoor cat, but he tends to get beat up by other cats -- pretty severely, so once I took ownership of him, he stays inside and we enjoy daily walks, plus he has an outdoor enclosure that keeps him safe.

Normally, cats do not "retaliate" because they are mad. I have had cats with bad tempers, but my bengal has the sweetest disposition. Most cats prefer to use a litter box. The fact that they used your dresser as a little box could mean they didn't have any way to get to their regular litter box. You know if Izzy meows for you, she meowed when your mom stayed with them and it may have been too much for her and, as Elaine said, she just shut them away for a while.

The fact that you're obviously stressing over this can cause your cats to behave even more erratically. I am not sure what I would do in your situation. I might try to construct something outdoors that would contain at least Izzy so she isn't wandering all over creation and finding trouble or eating something she shouldn't.

Your vet is wrong about no medications for cats with epilepsy. I found this online:

Medications Used to Treat Feline Seizures and/or Epilepsy


Phenobarbital is generally considered to be the first choice in treating feline seizures or epilepsy. Currently, it is the most commonly used anticonvulsant drug in cats.

Benzodiazepine medications such as diazepam (Valium®) can be used effectively to control seizures in cats also. Diazepam can be combined with phenobarbital to treat cats that still have seizures while receiving phenobarbital alone or for cats that require a larger than recommended dose of phenobarbital to control their seizures. The addition of diazepam may allow you to lower the dosage of phenobarbital and obtain better seizure control.

Potassium bromide is a commonly used medication for controlling seizures in dogs. However, in cats, the risk of side effects from using potassium bromide is higher than in dogs. Many veterinarians feel that the risk of side effects is too high to justify the use of potassium bromide in cats.

Levetiracetam (Keppra®) has been used in cats to control seizures and epilepsy. It is a newer anticonvulsant medication that may be an alternative for those cats that do not respond well to phenobarbital and/or diazepam. Some veterinarians are now using levetiracetam as a first choice drug rather than phenobarbital because they believe it may have fewer side effects. However, it has not, as of this time, been studied as thoroughly as phenobarbital.

Medications such as zonisamide, felbamate, pregabalin and gabapentin have not been well-studied in cats. Though some veterinarians do use them to control seizures and epilepsy in cats, there is not a lot known about how these medications affect cats on a long-term basis and what types of side effects to expect. As research continues with these drugs, they may become more widely recommended for cats with seizures and epilepsy.

You might want to consider installing a cat door so they can come and go as they want since they are outside a lot anyhow.

We had a similar vacation incident - in sept we took our first long vacation (to Australia, actually - wonderful time!) since we've had our two bengal girls. They peed all over the carpet. We boarded them when we went on a 4 night vacation shortly after that. Then we left them at home again for a 10 night trip - we added an extra litter box on our main floor - they were perfect the whole time!

I think they were upset about the length of time we were away for Australia and that they couldn't go outside (we cat proofed our yard, so when we're home they can go outside during the day). Maybe on the second trip they were more used to the "pattern," or maybe the extra litter box helped.

Thanks for your replies... the girls had access to their kitty litter trays, they weren't locked in my room, mum come and went. I have left them overnite or during the day whilst I'm at work and always have used their trays. :( I guess its something i will have to watch in the future. I have thought about a cat door, but am scared of what they will bring to "show me" (i have had 2 snakes in the house and don't want anymore), I actually thought about a cat "window" so they need extra strength to bring me whatever is they want to show me.

As for sparkle, when she fits - she goes all stiff, dribbles a fair bit and loses control of her bladder. Once she is out of it she is very cuddly and talkative (as I could imagine she is a bit scared)

Will take her back to the vets, as they are getting more of an occurrence.

Australia is a great place, love our country :)