Hi... As many of you know I have 2 gorgeous brown marble babies, Rebel & Marble... I'm not entirely sure if I should post this here, or in ''discussion'', but here goes...
Rebel & Marble will be 8 months on 14th December... I cannot believe how fast time goes... I am still learning about so many things, but just wanted to share my experiences so far... Hope that's okay..
Admittedly, until 10 months ago I had only heard of bengals, I didn't know anything about them... An old school friend of mine had a litter of bengal kittens, and whilst catching up over coffee one day, she introduced me to her 8 week old litter of 7 kittens... Some were cheeky, others were cautious, and a couple just hid in the corner...
I had no intention of even contemplating taking one home, but I was befriended by a little marble boy, who was a fluffy thing with big googly eyes & a tiny body.. I went home and kept thinking about Bengals... Then started researching them on the internet... I was immediately drawn to the idea of their crazy personality & started thinking of bringing home a spotty girl.... I suddenly wanted a mini leopard & a girl... Probably beacause we had always had girl cats growing up...
I contacted my friend to discuss the possibility of taking one of her kittens, so we arranged a proper viewing... However, when I arrived I was forced to accept the fact that the only spotty girl of the litter already had a prospective 'home'... Honestly I was gutted..... I did my best to hide it, but my friend knew of my disappointment, although the googly eyed marble boy I had noticed previously came over & started rumbling & rubbing around me.... My friend told me I was the only person who he had been confident with, which to be honest broke my heart because he wasn't spotty & wasn't a girl.... I also saw a stunning spotty boy & a gorgeous marble girl in the litter, but went home feeling that it wasn't meant to be....
Then I had a dream 2 nights in a row about the googly eyed marble boy... That was it... I had to go back to see him & ask 55 million questions... I walked into the kitten room & knelt down on the floor... Almost immediatley he came over to me... And then I knew.... He chose me...
Fast forward a week & i took my 8 year old daughter to meet him... Ok, ok... she persuaded me that we should get 2... 1 each she said... Our marble boy was a dead cert but then we had to choose... Another marble boy, a spotty boy or a marble girl.... Anyway, the marble boy was a total hooligan & scratched my daughter in 5 seconds so she didn't want him... Both the spotty boy & the marble girl were very shy, so the breeder brought them out of the corner & put them on my daughters lap... Marble girl was sooo shy but when my daughter held her she started rumbling so decision made.. 5 weeks later we brought them home.... Rebel & Marble....
They couldn't have been more different.. Rebel was confident from the word go, but Marble seemed like she'd never settle in.... After 2 weeks of her running away from me, and weeing on my bed I cried.... if she had been my only bengal I'd have given up, but I saw how happy Rebel was & it gave me hope....
Patience, understanding, a quiet room, a feliway plug in & about 3-4 weeks sorted out the teething issues...
5 months later....Despite being littermates, they couldn't be more different... However, Marble is now so laid back, it's Rebel who is the trouble maker... Marble is abit aloof at times, so we feel very privelaged when she comes for cuddles... Rebel is a lap cat at night, but a total devil by day... They are both crazy, athletic, energetic & at times they drive me insane, but they are like no other cats I have ever had, and I look back on our teething troubles with much affection...
They are now the most hilarious things ever... And I would love another one... or maybe 2.... Yes, I even find their fixation with the christmas tree endearing...