Hello. Sorry to post such a sad message for my first post but I lost my beautiful silver bengal yesterday. I just wanted to ask - we have another Bengal as we both work. Do others have any experience of bengals who have lost their companion? He seems fine but I wonder how he will be tomorrow when we're both back at work all day.

I am so very sorry about your loss. It's difficult to lose our babies. I'm not a cat behaviorist, but I've read that cats do grieve over the loss of their owners and buddies. How your cat behaves will depend on your kitty. I'm sure he will be looking for his brother. I'm sure you've thought about whether to get another kitty so he has company. You know your baby and you'll have to observe him and see how this plays out. You're going through a lot of heartache right now, so take some time to grieve and love on your other baby.

{{{UUGS}}}

Thanks for your kind words. We're absolutely devastated...... I can't actually imagine getting another, I just want my other boy to be ok. Time will tell.

Maybe get a Feliway diffuser and put that in the room you let him stay in when you're at work. Also keep any blankets or beds that may smell like your other cat for the time being as it might help him to calm down. I've not dealt with this with bengals but when one of my chihuahua's died the other one coped by sleeping in his bed and I used a diffuser and just gave her toys to play with to help her cope.

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- Sarah
Arya 24/04/16 - Seal Lynx Point Rosetted Bengal
Griffith 16/04/16 - Silver Seal Lynx Point Rosetted Bengal
Mina (in my avatar)- 1999-2016 - Seal Mink Spotted Bengal (Snow) - run free at rainbow bridge

Thanks - I did wonder about the diffuser. Will definitely get one if he seems stressed. At the moment he is just very subdued. But that could be just us reading too much into his behaviour. They slept in the same bed, so that won't be a problem.

Your kitty will also sense your grief, so he may behave differently. {{{HUGS}}}

Yes - he may well be. He's very quiet, so unlike him, he's always been the more boisterous of the two. Trouble is it's making it worse as I'm worried about him, especially when we're both at work. We're now seriously considering getting another Bengal kitten to keep him company. But we're not sure how he would react. We need to do a bit of research.....

How old is he? Would you be able to go back to your old breeder and maybe get another kitten or maybe a retired breeding cat who needs a home if it would be easier for him with a less boisterous cat.

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- Sarah
Arya 24/04/16 - Seal Lynx Point Rosetted Bengal
Griffith 16/04/16 - Silver Seal Lynx Point Rosetted Bengal
Mina (in my avatar)- 1999-2016 - Seal Mink Spotted Bengal (Snow) - run free at rainbow bridge

I'm so sorry for your loss.

It's not quite the same but Hendrix went missing for over two weeks earlier this year. Jagger also became very quiet and would look for Hendrix and started sleeping in his bed. The first couple of days I had to hand feed him just so he would eat. He didn't want to go out, he became very withdrawn. Obviously I was in a state, working during the day and then having to go out and try to find Hendrix, so his routine was all over the place too.

It genuinely felt like he was grieving for his brother though. It's very early days for all of you right now. Just give him lots of love when you are home and I'm sure he'll gradually start to be more himself again. It's a massive change for him and you right now and very raw. You need to give all of you time to grieve and then think about whether a new companion would help the situation.

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

Thanks for your posts

Following on from above (I wrote more than this but it disappeared when I pressed 'submit'!). After lots of discussion with hubby, and research on the Internet, we've decided to get another companion for our boy I know it's really soon but we're so sad at seeing him so lost - he needs someone when we're both at work, especially as we can both work long hours. So we're going to see a 12 week old kitten tonight! I'll let you know how we get on .......

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- Sarah
Arya 24/04/16 - Seal Lynx Point Rosetted Bengal
Griffith 16/04/16 - Silver Seal Lynx Point Rosetted Bengal
Mina (in my avatar)- 1999-2016 - Seal Mink Spotted Bengal (Snow) - run free at rainbow bridge