Anyone on here have a Bengal cat ?

[Lardlizard]

Or experience with them as dh and dd want to think about getting one

It's not looking very promising, is it?

Neighbours have got one. Everybody is pissed off with the cat and the neighbours.

The cat is bored shitless and attacks everything that moves - other cats, birds, even a puppy. It climbs into people's houses through upstairs windows.

People in my neighbourhood are now at the point of hosepipes and buckets of water.

Bengals hunt, they need territory and stimulation.

Bengals are very intelligent and have a lot of energy that they need to burn off. They're more 'wild' than other cats. Very loyal to owners but often aggressive to neighbours as mentioned above. We had a neighbour with similar issues to the last post. I'd go for a moggy.

Yes, don’t do it is my advice. Our cat’s behaviour was so bad at one point we almost split up, as I couldn’t cope with him (I’m not joking). To summarise:

-Constant urination and defecation on beds and sofas
-Can open windows and doors so frequently “escapes” and has to be “rescued” from the top of sheds, under cars, trees etc often at night and in terrible weather as he becomes aggressive and is literally paralysed by fear.

• “Breaks” into the bedroom just to piss on our bed

-At times non-stop “screaming” to be let outside/for us to turn the tap on/attention/god knows what -Can turn taps on, almost flooded the bathroom

• Aggressive with our other cat at times
• Very sensitive to any changes, even him just seeing another cat outside the house is enough to set him off, which then triggers the above behaviours
• At times very demanding of affection and attention, will jump on our bedroom door handle during the night repeatedly while screaming to try and get into the room waking us up

-Refuses to drink out of bowl, will only drink fresh water from a tap -Patrols the house every evening, meaning he constantly comes in and out of the living room and god forbid we close the door to keep the room warm and he can’t get in. This cues him screaming and jumping on the handle until I open the door for the fifth time that hour

I am a cat lover, have always had cats, but I have had a really really hard time living with him for the past five years. We’ve had to change so much of our behaviour to suit him it’s unreal. He’s my fiancée’s baby and she’s very attached to him, luckily we’ve learnt to live with most of his bad traits and have been able to prevent the soiling of our bed and sofa for a while now by installing locks on the doors and making sure he’s never alone near them, but honestly, it’s no way to live and really not worth it, he’s cost us thousands in new furniture as cat urine is virtually impossible to get out and at one point he was doing it almost every day as he didn’t like our new house (we think).

I work with a woman who has a Bengal and her cat is pretty much the same, so it’s not just ours that has problems. We spent a lot of time trying to understand why he does what he does and found his behaviour is very common in bengals.

A neighbour has one, it's working its way through the I Spy Book Of Garden Birds, it's got a high score!

P.S. It seems especially partial to blackbirds!

Very bright, very easily bored, high prey drive, less likely to enjoy socialisation. Dd has a half bengal alongside 3 other cats. That one is best described as 'she does her own thing', and she really does! Winning the vote for most likely to fend for herself if she ever became a 'lost cat', will accept things only on her terms, least needy but also least friendly. Absolutely beautiful coat... But definately more a 'I'm choosing to live my life with you in it for if it suits'... her other cats are all more 'we're part of the family crew and that's how we like it'. The half has also caused damage to the walls, has the most issues using the litter tray, and if there's a scrap is the instigator every time.

I have one. He spends most of his time asleep on my bed. He does meow to be let out the front door (despite having a cat flap), and to have the tap turned on as he too only drinks from a running tap. For the latter he mostly tends to run to the preferred tap as a sign he wants it on. I wish he could turn it on and off himself!

He rarely brings in prey, we've had a handful of tiny mice over 6 years. He did go through a phase of attacking my now DH's legs before he moved in, but that settled down once he lived here full time. He does still go into attack mode sometimes, with me too.

He's not massively affectionate; I'm the only person he's ever sat on, and that's pretty rare. He's destroyed my furniture as he uses it as scratching posts despite having a cat tower but I love him dearly.

Oh, please get a rescue. There are so many cats with no homes, why pay a breeder and just encourage more into the world? We have 2 rescues and they are absolutely brilliant. They might not be as pretty as a bengal but they just have the best personalities.

I'd love one, they are stunning cats, but my existing ginger mog wouldn't be impressed. It's a shame as I live fairly rurally with great territory for a cat, and I handily have a local Bengal breeder. I think they specify that the cat can't go outdoors, but if I had one he'd be free range. I don't do indoor cats.

She's loud and stroppy, brought a pigeon through the cat flap, eats too fast and makes herself sick sometimes, gets into fights with other female cats. Very territorial.

On the other hand shes beautiful and intelligent, very affectionate, intuitive to human emotions and cares a great deal about the other cat. No weird pissing issues referred above. Gets on well outdoors.

I had one, he was amazing, but boy did he live life in top gear.

Lots of noise, all the time, constant narrative on his day. If things weren't to his liking you'd know about it.

You couldn't pick him up and sit him on your lap, but when he was in the mood he would jump up and knead you painfully.

We lived semi-rurally, I definitely wouldn't keep one as a house cat. Didn't have any urinating problems but he had 24/7 access out.

And oh the adventures, definitely get pet insurance.

Hit by a car in a quite cul-de-sac, i susupect he just refused to move on principle. Into other peoples houses stealing food. Stealing dog bones. Caught him one day trying to get back in the cat flap with a feather duster (sideways). Dipped himself entirely in engine oil (at neighbouring farm). Caught a whole pheasant. Always getting shut in sheds or peoples houses. Went missing for a week, had got stuck up a four-storey disused factory roof (waited for us to get him down).

Died of a heart attack at 12 and broke our hearts as he was so lovely.

Ooh forgot a pic

I have a half Bengal. Friendly, sociable, loving but by God, he’s a pain in the arse.

Vocal, definitely the leader of the pack with our other cats. Did I mention vocal? High energy, very intelligent, needs stimulation. And vocal. Very shouty. I mean, VERY shouty.

Mines 13 now, shows little signs of slowing down. Definitely a different beast to my usual mog experience. Think dog in a cat body.

Not a cat for a beginner!

And like @thalassoma, not a house cat! Get insurance, the number of times he’s come in with giant ears, bites, scrapes etc (fighting with local strays we think). Definitely defends our home from foes.

And they will return smelling of other ladies perfume as if they want to pop in for a visit, they will use their charm to get food/beds/loving from other locals. Ours prefers the older lady.

Collars, bells & chipping a must. Have return phone number on our Moose’s collar (furthest window he climbed into to snuggle in a family’s clean laundry was a couple of miles away). Never had any wildlife brought in (but kept in from dusk til dawn).

@thalassoma gorgeous

We’ve never had one for the reasons outlined above but my colleague and his wife had a male Bengal. He was an indoor pisser like your first reply and a shouter. They had twins about a year after I left the company. I’d put good money on him ending up in a rescue.

Up until about six months ago, mine and my neighbours gardens were home to numerous different types of birds. There were also about half a dozen cats who hung out in them - south facing, so a sun trap - and foxes visited every evening. Then, some people moved with their Bengal cat, and now all the birds are dead, the other cats are too terrified to visit, and the foxes are long gone. The only creature I now see in the garden is that obnoxious, loud-mouthed, tabby bastard.

I love cats, I really do - I'm leaning over my own fluffball to type this - but as lovely as Bengals look, I don't think they work as pets.

Don't do it. They're basically a wild animal. Awful. My mum has one and no one really bothers going round hers anymore as the cat will just end up attacking you somehow. Got my leg last time I was there. Beautiful to look at though!

Meet Baxter! We adopted him 27th December 2019 and absolutely love him!

He is a character and has broken numerous things but he has brought us so much joy this year.

You have to have eyes in the back of your head as they're into everything but Baxter is extremely affectionate, always comes for cuddles and sleeps with us. Wouldn't be without him.

There is a Bengal Rescue Association and I would strongly recommend them first

A friend has two. They really rule the roost. Personally I find their eyes quite creepy!

Gorgeous eyes Autumnchill

We have two indoor Savannahs (brothers) which sound a lot easier company than the descriptions of Bengals here and may be a better option?

Not very vocal (one “chirrups”, the other occasionally loudly sings the song of his people at 5am, but rare). No problems with spraying, and as indoor cats (we live on a busy road) no problems with fights or prey.

They are very intelligent and quite “dog like” in that they have one favourite owner (DH) and follow him around looking for treats, and will play fetch with their toys.

No weeing outside their litterbox, no aggressive behaviour, and sometimes very funny. Both have been very good with the children. Obligatory photo attached

We have a Bengal house cat, along with a Mainecoon. The Bengal is quite low down on the F scale for bengals, so more domesticated. That being said he is still hard work, he needs a lot of time and attention. He has no issue figuring how to use door handles, he's very vocal and half the time he's screaming its because he wants your attention whether that's to fuss over him or entertain him. Super smart cats, that take up a lot of time, he's looks gorgeous and is super affectionate when he wants to be. He's has a real attachment to my husband, and must have cuddle with him at least once a day!

The mainecoon on the other hand, most laid back cat I have ever met - would fully recommend one of those. They just eat a lot and are bloody massive!

I think my experience of a Bengal was not typical, my Gizmo was the most loving and friendly cat I had ever had, very sociable played fetch never broke a thing. He was 7 when we had DS as he adored him never attacked him and slept at the bottom of his bed. Sadly he died a couple of years ago, now we have a Maine coon and it’s a flipping psycho has trashed the curtains clawed the sodas, bannisters, carpets, attacks you are you are walking past; all in play. I love him but I miss the calm Bengal