Hi Guys, new to the forum and need a bit of advice.

My Bengal boy, Rafiki.is about 7 months old and I've had him since 13 weeks. I have a 10 month moggy and he gets on with him no problem. When I brought Rafiki home he settled in and got on with my mog perfectly. They play, they clean and they both run round like nutters.

Recently though Rafiki has 'gone into a shell' and doesn't seem to want to come out of his bed area unless it's feeding time. He's not even fussed to play with my mog. I've tried all sorts of playing and encouraging techniques with treats etc, but he just doesn't seem interested .

I've taken him to the vets, nothing medically wrong. The only thing that's changed is that I've been trying to discourage him from scratching at my leather sofas! By that I mean picking him up, giving him a firm 'no!' and then placing him on or near one of his umpteen scratching posts. He seems to have gone very timid and shy which I'm now devastated at because I loved the way he was before. What worries me more is that I may have caused this change in behaviour.

Does anyone have any idea what might have caused/be causing this and have any ideas on how to get the fun, noisy Rafiki back? Any tips would be appreciated as my feeling of guilt is only getting worse!

Are you home 24/7? Something has happened to cause this change in behavior. I highly doubt your telling him "NO" to keep him from scratching a sofa and putting him near the scratching posts is the cause of this (unless you're screaming at the top of your lungs and rushing toward him, yanking him hard away from the couch and throwing him at the scratching post). Could something have happened between the two cats? Are the cats left together when you are not home? Could the moggie be doing something to your bengal that you're not witnessing? Do you have other cats coming around outside your house that Rafiki can see? Since the change in behavior was abrupt, the first thought is something is medically wrong. Your vet says he's fine, but what all did the vet check for?

All you can do is try to get Rafiki out of his shell and to rejoin the family. I know it's hurting you watching him like this. It sounds like his confidence is gone at this point and he will need to regain it. So spending some time with him -- and keep trying to engage him in play. If this behavior continues, I'd either contact a cat behaviorialist or take him back to the vet for additional tests.

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The little monsters 3

Becoming something of a broken record here but agree with Brian once again!

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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