Good morning,

Basically at the beginning of next November we will get our kitty.

Most probably my partner will take some time off when he arrives.

Since we will be both off to work, i read it will be a good idea to keep kitty in a safe area and not having access to all of the house especially cause of the staircases.

We have 2 rooms at the top which i think will be ideal for him, with a big glass door overlooking the roof. Maybe i can set up his litter in one corner and his food/water at the other side of the area. I thought it would be a good idea to have a cat tree setup near the glass door so that he can stay looking outside whilst on top of it if he does use it. He will have a sofa, and maybe i'll get him a cuddly bed too and lots of toys. I might also get a camera to see what he's up too.

Once we arrive back home i will let him come downstairs at the kitchen/living surely as we will be there. Also during the night i would love to keep him in our bedroom close to us.

Would it possible to move his litter according to were he is ? Or will it be better to have more than 1 litter trays say on each floor ?

What are your thoughts please? Maybe something I missed ?

Many thanks,

James from sunny Malta :)

Hi! Aw, am so jealous, love Malta! In any case, i think you have most of the stuff you need. do get two litter boxes - one for upstairs and one for downstairs.
We covered every hole in the house with cardboard and still they found weird and wonderful places to hide.
We got an extra large scratching "column" which they loved and a Kickaroo to "hug and kill".
Our breeder gave us a checklist so the house was well kitted before arrival. She gave us a couple of blankets that smelled of their mum, we placed these on their beds.

Oh, and we used a Feliway plug thing for them to not be too anxious, above all if we left or when they cried at night on the first nights - well, they miaowed, maybe they were having a kitty party!
We would also spend most of the day in their room so that they'd get used to us.
Hope that helps, will love to see photos when kitty is home!
Iria

Since you have multi-levels, you will need at least one litter box on each level. Do not hesitate to add another one or two if you need to. Makes it convenient for the little one who has to walk a lot of steps to use the bathroom and it can prevent accidents from happening.

The safe room is basically to acclimate the cat in a smaller setting. Allowing the kitty to roam an entire house can be overwhelming and they can get lost -- seriously! The same room gets them used to the smells, people, and allows them to become more confident and less stressed out. It will be very normal for yours to hide under something to feel safer. Of course you can bring the kitty out of the safe room and if the kitty wants to sleep with you --great.

Know that some cats acclimate immediately -- others take much more time. Depends on the cat, so have patience and don't expect too much too soon. Do not over handle the kitty. Most bengals do not like to be picked up and held. You want to gain their trust and bond first of all.

You will indeed need to get on your hands and knees and inspect every corner of your home. Make sure there are not wires around or anything you kitty can get into. They see things from a very different angle than we do.

Know that bengals generally want to be in the same room you are in. They are very social creatures and not solitary like so many other breeds. A lot you will simply have to play by ear and see how the situation plays out. In the end, your kitty will be happy and you will have many years of great adventures.

Two thoughts on this:

1. Taking off work is a good thing, but keep this in mind: every cat reacts differently to re-homing, but one common reaction is fear and despair from the kitten in question. Many young kittens just want to hide and cry, and you are initially no comfort to them. You are big scary monsters who just kidnapped them from their families. Some cats react very differently, but this is not uncommon. So you may end up spending the first 24-72 hours of your precious time off, in this kind of awkward, dumbfounded state, where you are kind of helpless and feeling bad for the cat but just have to kind of stand back and watch this thing play out.

2. A safe area is a good idea (if the cat needs it) for initial acclimation (which is often < 1 week for a new kitten), but it's really not a valid (or humane, imo) strategy beyond the first week or two imo. You will have to find a way, longer term, to accommodate your kitten/cat better than that, and "cat-proof" (and "catify") your house to accommodate them.


Again, initially yea, that all sounds fine. Longer term though, if you have a big house, you will need more cat trees/cat shelves/poles etc. In general, while you are home, that cat is going to want to be in the parts of the house where you guys spend the most time, so that is where you most need cat trees or high perches. If you get him a "cuddly bed", try putting it up high somewhere (after he gets a little older).



Moving the litter is a terrible idea. Even for adult cats. What you want is for him to have good litterbox habits, and to encourage that you want him to:

1. Always know, without a shadow of a doubt, where his litterboxes are.
2. Never be very far from a litterbox.

Once you have a cat who has started peeing and pooing outside the litterbox (because you skimped and decided you want to see how few litterboxes you could get away with, or how small or inconveniently placed they could be), it is a lot harder to convince them to change their behavior.

What are you missing? I think you guys should be thinking a lot more seriously about "catification" and also about providing interactive games with your new kitten (which usually means researching and purchasing different interactive toy options for your young kitty). Play, to a bengal, is a really really big deal!

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The little monsters 3

The main things you need are cat trees (bengals love to be up high), scratching barrels can be a good alternative to trees if you have limited wall space as they are freestanding and an handle the weight of an adult Bengal better. The two things bengals love are heights and hidey holes around the house. Remember they still have some ALC traits which are little wild cats who live in trees so if you catify your house to have multiple layers like in a rainforest they are happier.

Lots of interactive toys, things with feathers like a da bird or something similar, mine also love their da butterflier and the da mouse. You can get catdancer toys that have an attachment so you can stick them on the wall, so it's a built in toy they can play with on their own and a cardboard scratcher. Race track toys are great they have little Balls they push around a race track and they can play with those on their own. Cardboard scratching pads or scratching posts in every room you are going to leave him in if you don't want your furniture as scratched up but trust me if you have any leather or even faux leather it will get scratched up. He will pick where to sleep so don't spend too much on a cuddly bed as it may not get much use my two prefer sleeping on windowsills or my faux leather computer chair, they also sleep on top of their scratching barrels and my boy is rather peculiar and sleeps on top of his enclosed litter box.

A cat wheel is a very good purchase of he's going to be a house cat and there's no enclosed garden access Bengal's have a lot of energy, this isn't a normal cat you are getting they are more similar to a puppy and if they don't get adequate exercise and playtime they do get very destructive. I would recommend once he knows you and is settled in I would recommend a minimum of 30 minutes playing with him morning and evening as he doesn't have another Bengal to play rough and tumble with and trust me bengals are very strong and very rough when they play.

As Brian said above do not move a litter box if they know where it is, cats need access to a litter box at all times and most recommend you have at least 2/3 with one house cat. Make sure he knows where his litter boxes are on all the floors as once a cat pee's somewhere it's impossible to get rid of the enzymes and it will always smell like a litter try to a cat unless you buy specialist cleaning products for cat pee. Also once they have bad habits it's very hard to train it out of them.

Other nescessities I've found with kittens,

• protexin pro kolin paste for if he gets a dodgy tummy (bengals are very easily stressed out with change)
• Feliway travel spray (for vet trips and to spray his bed when you first bring him home) and Feliway plugin to help with the stress of moving.
• Nutrical or vet cal high calorie vitamin paste with taurine to help with growth and make sure they have all the vitamins they need.
• A water fountain, bengals often love water and love playing in it as well as cats prefer to drink running water it also keeps the water cooler.
• Litter tray liners it helps when you are changing the litter with a very curious Bengal as you can get it changed faster.
• Baby wipes for accidents and general mess,
• scented dog poo bags for when you scoup the litter tray of poo several times per day.
• Small animal nail clippers, I recommend clipping the tips off his nails until he's learnt to keep them in all the time, just the tips though you want him to still be able to climb.
• Natures Miracle for if he does pee outside the litter box and cos he's a male you need to be ready for possible marking.
• Silicone feeding mats as they do push their bowls around the floor and food can go everywhere also always put one under a water fountain if you do get one.
• Metal feeding bowls,
• catnip spray (spay all his scratching posts so he knows what's his.
• A heated kitten toy or hot water bottle for if he misses his siblings
• Thrive chicken treats, they make life so much easier with bonding and training and no Bengal can resist them.
• If you are using clumping cat litter get a litter tray mat for outside the box to wipe the excess litter off his paws when he walks over it also helps less of it go all over your floor.
• Lots of cardboard scratching mats and scratching posts.
• Clicker if you plan on clicker training
• Harness for when he's old enough if you want to take him out, Google Bengal harnesses there are several people who hand make them to size for you

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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

Great list, Sarah! I don't even have half of those things for my bengal! LOL

I do spoil them I a bit don't I lol, I just see it as they're my kids and I wanna try and do everything right although a few of the products they will only need as kittens and I don't have a cat wheel yet, although I am thinking of getting one at some point

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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

Well, I DO have a cat wheel for Raiden and he uses it almost daily (actually daily, except he's been under the weather now for several days but getting back to normal as he sat on it yesterday). I treat Raiden as if he were my son as well. He is way too spoiled!!!

I would want to close off a 2 meter wide area of the stairway so like that the kitten will not be able to go downstairs and hurt himself god forbidden.

What can i use to succeed at this ? This will only be used temporarily for the first week or so until we keep him in his safe zone as discussed earlier.

Thanks :)

James

How expensive are baby gates? Just know that kitties can probably climb up unless it's solid. And won't take long for your kitty to be able to jump over any barrier. Unless your downstairs is unfinished, I wouldn't worry too much. There are cute videos of very young kittens attempting to go up and down the stairs. Just know that if you are downstairs and your kitty is upstairs, it's a problem. Bengals want to be in the same room you are. You don't want to leave him alone as he will get bored and find trouble. If he has a safe room, there should be a door that you can close. I don't know that a safe room is necessary for more than a week. Once he gets confidence and comfortable and wants to roam around, you may want to let him -- and CARRY him up and down the stairs if you're overly concerned. Your baby will grow FAST!!!! And will soon be able to navigate the stairs in a single bound.

We had a baby gate across the bathroom door where we wanted to keep Quasar in a safe room when we brought him home. The room was tiny and we wanted him to be able to see outside of it.

Quasar was a tiny kitten, less than 2 lbs, but he cleared that gate within 20 minutes of being put in the room. The only way we could keep him inside was to actually close the door.

I wouldn't recommend a baby gate to contain even the tiniest Bengal kitten but I'm afraid I'm not much help at any suggestions to block a 2 m wide stairwell opening. Sorry.

Good luck!

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~ Kyenta

I wouldn't recommend any type of open gapped stairgate the ones with bars with a small kitten. A friend of mines sister got a DSH kitten and had a toddler at the time so stairgates up not sure how but the kitten manged to get stuck in the stairgate and due to his struggling and it being at the top of the stairs it fell forward snapping his neck in the process. If you want to get a stairgate with a kitten only get a solid one and tbh they aren't much use a Bengal can clear one easily if they want to. You are better off closing doors and keeping them enclosed that way.

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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

Oh, Sarah, that is so sad about that kitty getting caught in a gate like that.