Hi everyone!

I will be adopting a 3-year old female Bengal cat next week. She had to be rehomed due to allergies. I've talked extensively with her current owner on her health habits and history (diet, sleep schedule, likes, dislikes, etc) but she will be coming from a large house with children to an apartment with just me and my boyfriend. We will be getting her cat tree, food dishes, litter box, and toys (to ease the transition) but I wanted to check in here and see if anyone had any additional tips for helping a Bengal adjust to a totally new environment and people.

On another less important note, does anyone have experience in training an adopted Bengal to respond to a new name (I'm thinking of changing her current name) or is it pretty set by age 3?

Thank you!

what we advice is with every new cat to put them in a room for the first 24 hours unless you have other animals then this can be longer
It will show them where their litter and food/water are and they will feel secure
You can of course go and cuddle her and she will let you know when she is ready to explore
For name calling , lots of treats and as soon as you call her and she turns her head give her a treat , Clicker training works well too , we taught two of our cats to sit using this method , she will slowly learn that when her name is called she gets a treat and hopefully come to you
Good luck :)

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Maejuellie Bengals
Home of the Loving & Healthy Bengal
www.maejuelliebengals.com

There will be an adjustment period for the kitty due to the new surroundings with new people and new smells. Some cats become quite stressed over it. Others may fit in immediately. Since she is an adult kitty and she's been around people, I might close off a room or two to limit her access to your entire home (unless the apartment is quite small). She's obviously social and will probably want to be around you. Safe rooms are more for kittens who are now separated from their mom and siblings. This girl probably needs to be around people. She's used to getting a lot of love and attention and that needs to continue from you.

As for a name change -- I kept Raiden's name when I got him. I didn't want to confuse him at this stage of the game, but I don't think it's a big deal to start calling her by a different name. Eventually, she will respond to it. How good is a cat's memory? Probably not that good.

You will want to give her some time to settle in. You can try to engage her in play from the very beginning. Get her used to the cat tree, location of the litter box and get her on a feeding schedule. I think she will be fine in just a week or two. Keep us informed on how things are going and it's wonderful you're giving her a home.

Thank you so much for your quick and thorough responses! I will definitely try to make her as comfortable as possible and give her time! I will post photos when she arrives! :)

it depends on her nature, but it might be a good idea to get some Feliway and spray it/use the diffuser in her safe room for a few days to preclude/reduce the anxiety of finding herself in strange surroundings.

Re: name changing

I always give good pets while saying the cats new name and then tend to latch on to new name=good pets and cuddles.

I would also get some interactive toys for you and new cat to play with together. It will help her bond with you faster. Good luck!

I have always given new names to my adopted cats. My last cat was an adult Siamese when I rescued her. She didn't come with a name. She quickly learned her new name and always came running to me when I sang out Madelyn!

My current kitties came to me at 4 months old with other names. I changed them to better suited names and they figured out who was who pretty quickly. When you call them to feed them or interact with them they associate their names with something good and usually come running.

Lyra adjusted pretty quickly to us, and I think she is fairly responsive to her new name (of Lyra). We feed her the same food and use the same litter she used for the past three years, and she is a very sweet kitty who loves her playtime. She doesn't like being held or picked up (which her previous owner told us from the beginning), but she slept at our feet every night since we got her!

. . .until a few weeks ago. She's been sleeping on her cat tree every night. We are hoping it's just because the warm summer temperatures are making her want some more space, so maybe once I install the AC unit and it's cooler at night, she will want to spend more time in the bed with us . . .any similar summer experiences with your Bengals?

Also, we went out of town for a wedding last weekend, and one of my friends came by the two days we were gone to feed her and play with her. When we got back, she was very vocal, which isn't too out of the ordinary. However, this past week, she's been meowing and howling and waking us up at 5am-6am, which she never did before. When we got her back in April, she would get loud and insistent if we slept past 10am, but all of a sudden it's 5am and she is very insistent on wanting food. She's been wolfing it down really fast and wanting more right away. We've been feeding her when she does this, and we feed her pretty consistently throughout the day and before bedtime, so there's really no reason why she should be so hungry all of the time. She used to live with another Bengal cat (who was rehomed to a different family) and both cats together would consume about a cup and a half of dry food each day. We try to keep it to no more than one cup of food per day but she's been begging and meowing for more so we've been giving her more and she's gained a pound since we got her (from 10 lbs to 11 lbs).

She's three years old, fixed, gets daily playtime, and is up to date on all vaccinations (we took her to our vet when we got her). She was also just at the vet last Tuesday for a teeth cleaning, so I don't believe there is anything medical going on. Any thoughts or advice on her change of behavior?

Glad Lyra has adjusted well in her new home. It's important to know that cats decide where they want to sleep. Multiple sleeping areas are crucial. Raiden usually sleeps at the bottom of my side of the bed, but in the winter time, he will sleep in his heated bed on the ottoman. Lately, he's been falling asleep on the couch and we just leave him there when we go to bed. Eventually, he will end up in bed with us. I do think this can be weather related since I keep a cool cotton pillowcase on the couch for him.

It's very possible the fact you went away for a few days has affected her. A new person was involved in her care. Bengals are very vocal anyway ..... and it's possible she was bored during the time she was left alone. The thing is that you don't want to give in to her demands at 5 a.m. According to Jackson Galaxy, it will take two weeks for her to finally stop her behavior. It seems you're feeding her at the appropriate times. And you don't want her to become overweight. Some cats will overeat. I'm a good one to talk as I get up and feed Raiden in the middle of the night -- but he doesn't eat very much at a time.

Since her new behavior started AFTER you went away -- it's probably related to that. Give it some time for her to get back to a normal schedule.

Would really love an update on this.

Hi Sherry,

Thank you so much for your reply, and for following up. She is still sleeping on her cat tree every night, even with the AC going. During the day, she sleeps on the cat tree, in one of the closets, or at the top of the stairs. I haven't seen her go onto the bed other than jumping on it for a few minutes to meow for food! We're thinking of getting a cooling pad for her just in case. That's good to know that Raiden's sleeping spots are often weather-motivated too!

It's so funny that you mentioned Jackson Galaxy, as I had just watched a video of his that same day where he said the hardest part of training a cat to let you get some sleep is to not give into their meows! So after a few weeks of following more of Jackson's advice on getting her used to regular feeding times, she has calmed down in the mornings, or is at least letting us sleep until 6:30, 7:00ish instead of 5:00! I also got her a treat ball for times when she's being really insistent that I put a small handful of her regular dry food into, which keeps her occupied and gives her something to graze on. Overall though, she isn't being as loud or demanding as she was right when we got back, so I think you are onto something with her needing to settle back into us being home!

I also finally figured out how to upload images, so I thought I would post some pictures of Lyra so you can see the little boo! Thanks for your help!

My cats love to lay on my shoes too, so cute!

She is stunningly gorgeous! What a sweetie! Happy to hear things are much better! I've been trying to ignore Raiden when he gets up in the middle of the night, too. It was easy last night. But most of the time he starts walking all over my body and crying. That's pretty hard to ignore! I'm up at least once during the night anyway and if it can coincide with him, I'm fine with it.

Keep enjoying Jackson Galaxy! He does great work and has helped a lot of us here!

Thank you both for your kind words! Cats really are the cutest! :)

Yes, when she gets really desperate, she will walk on me and meow and rub her head on me, which is DEFINITELY hard to ignore and also really cute!

That's how Raiden wakes me up in the middle of the night. Just walks all over me and butts his head against my body! It's really difficult to ignore.