Anyone on here have a Bengal cat ?

[Lardlizard]

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

He’d be chilly. He was in the kitchen overnight unless he was ill and then dh would sleep in the spare room & Asbo would sleep in our bed with me, so he needed keeping warm.

So he had a covered bed with a hot water bottle in it, a flatter bed with a fleece on it if he got too toasty and a folded up fleece throw on the windowsill with a hot water bottle so he could watch the road and stay warm.

Would he meowing all night then if he was cold ?

I don’t know we just did it. If he was unhappy about anything you’d know about it.

You’d know all about it.

@Fluffycloudland77

I don’t know we just did it. If he was unhappy about anything you’d know about it.

You’d know all about it.

That's like every comment on the Bengal rehoming sites. 'Doesn't like cats, dogs, small children, older children, men in hats, men in welly boots, Thursdays, the wrong food. Will attack if threatened. Threatened by cars, especially red ones. Only eats off china plates with flowers on, won't eat off any other pattern. Will howl if offered food not on correct plate. Must sit on favourite armchair. Will attack if not on favourite armchair. Can open doors.'

Can also open cupboard doors, the drawers under the bed, the wardrobe doors, remove the kick boards in the kitchen & climb ladders.

You can just make him out on this photo climbing the 5 drawer chest, it’s got claw marks all up it.

@Fluffycloudland77

He’d be chilly. He was in the kitchen overnight unless he was ill and then dh would sleep in the spare room & Asbo would sleep in our bed with me, so he needed keeping warm.

So he had a covered bed with a hot water bottle in it, a flatter bed with a fleece on it if he got too toasty and a folded up fleece throw on the windowsill with a hot water bottle so he could watch the road and stay warm.

I'm glad my Bengal cat can't read 😂😁

To add:

Also steals food, toys and various items of clothing from neighbours. Treats neighbours houses as own, they have no choice. Has trained said neighbours to fetch him a glass of water on arrival and sit holding it while he drinks. 50% of neighbours love him and pander to his whims, the other 50% think he’s the devil incarnate, have nicknamed him “voldemort” and are convinced he’s out to kill them. Generally triggered by him yelling loudly and following them when they don’t immediately fall at his feet with the required worship.

Then there’s the local dogs, which he sits and waits for on the garden wall...

We do. Well she's half Bengal and half Asian Forrest cat.

Depends what you're looking for. She can make her territory, so that's very unappealing.

She is a huge character and always wanting to "help" with everything we are going.

She had broken a LOT of stuff.

She isn't cuddling unless on her own terms.

She absolutely loves the children.

She does scratch.

She's a climber.

She drinks only from the fish tank 🙈😂

Honestly, she's perfect for us, we have a Birman cat too and I love how different they are, I would have another Bengal in a heartbeat. We knew she would be much higher maintenance than our Birman for example. She's an intelligent cat, very energetic, inquisitive, and full of life. She vocal but not too loud. She isn't phased by noise or a busy household.

The marking is a massive issue, seems quite common with the breed but of course not all do it. Think it would be less issue if she was only cat. Although they do get along fine and play together.

I know a Bengal. He lives several streets away! But visits my garden regularly as his best cat friend lives next door to me. They play fight in my garden. So cute.
Mr Bengal is extremely friendly, wanders for miles, very curious, very dippy, gets in fights (more noisy than vicious), lovely cat but I wouldn't want him as he would go with anyone. He's like a wandering hippy!

She had broken a LOT of stuff

They are great for making you declutter!

I have nothing on my windowsills, accessible shelves, tables etc.

Specific warning- do not put a glass of water on your bedside table. You will be awoken at 3am by the bengal tipping it all over you. Bottles only!!!!

The first time I found a tipped over glass of sparking water I thought it was an accident.

We had acrylic picnic glasses for a while.

bluebluezoo

Mine has conned the neighbours she is a starving kitten. My next door neighbour baby sits his grandson quite often, the grandson refers to it as, 'visiting Misty'.

Misty is a tabby isn’t she? You rarely see a dainty tabby.

@bluebluezoo 😁 completely agree re the water! I've said to my husband a number of times in the morning 'don't drink from that glass as Baxter was at 3am' 😁

@Fluffycloudland77 yes she is, and she is small, she looks about 6 months old and is quite skinny. She is well fed (not just by me).

A couple of gratuitous pics to show her coat.

Yes we did. Absolute nightmare cat, never again.

Now have a rescue who is so laid back and easy by comparison.

Please get a rescue no matter what breed you decide on. There are LOADS of Bengals in rescue - they are not your average cat.

In my experience: yes they are pretty, yes they are friendly, yes they are clever and entertaining.

However - they are also massively aggressive to other cats and are big hunters. Ours fought constantly, forever at the vets. Decimated the bird population (we are rural, tried keeping him as a house cat but he was so bored he was going nuts, so he ended up being let out once we realised we could not keep every window in the house closed forever).

Friendly, but obsessively, neurotically so. Screamed, cried, howled if a door separated you from him. Constant trying to jump onto your shoulders if you were trying to do something/walking past. Just constant noise really. Clawed everything, all the time.

Basically they are more like dogs than cats, and hyperactive terrier type dogs at that. If you get a laid back one, I can imagine that they'd be amazing. But they are hard hard work and you need to be prepared to give them a LOT of time, real time, playing and interacting and keeping them out of mischief. Don't imagine yourself with 'a cat' - they really aren't the same.

Oh and yes to peeing and marking - any stress, any change, and he'd pee everywhere.

Been reading some ad for bengals needing rehoming and one says very fussy about having a clean litter tray
So I’m guessing unless you change the litter every time that cat won’t use it

Don't do it! I lived with one for it a bit. It was hell. I love most animals but felt sorry for him, he was very unloveable, pissed everywhere, killed all the birds hated all humans.
Get a fat tabby instead.
And yes it mewed if cold/bored/hungry/all the fucking time.

I agree they are like a dog, but more like an annoying terrier puppy that never grows up.

I'm so naive I can't believe cats can turn taps on and open doors

@Lardlizard

Been reading some ad for bengals needing rehoming and one says very fussy about having a clean litter tray So I’m guessing unless you change the litter every time that cat won’t use it

Mine would wee in the house if his tray wasn’t clean. I had to tip the litter to one end daily and wipe the end he used. The litter had to be ultra clumping and ankle deep.

He would escort me to the tray if he had to poo so I could clean it up straight away.

@Lardlizard

Been reading some ad for bengals needing rehoming and one says very fussy about having a clean litter tray So I’m guessing unless you change the litter every time that cat won’t use it

Ours would piss and shit in places to show that they were upset about something.

Obviously that's a way for all cats to communicate, but when you've got a cat that will do it because you went out shopping and left it alone for three hours, well...

I have an F5 female Bengal. She is now 9.
To be honest I haven’t had any problems with her at all. The breeders were very nice and both their cats were show cats so had excellent temperaments.

She will greet everyone that walks in the door, kind of like a dog.
She sleeps with my 5 year old daughter most nights at the bottom of her bed.
She does go outside but has never brought anything home, usually she just sits in the garden and people watches.
She has never chewed or clawed anything up
She has occasionally weed on clean washing but that was my fault for leaving it in a nice pile (my sisters non Bengal cats do this too)
Other than the washing incidents above she uses her litter tray religiously
She’s never attacked anything or been out of control
She’s generally quite timid so will avoid people if she’s seen out and about
The neighbours all know her but that’s just as they see her sitting on our fence.

I don’t know if it’s because she’s female (most people I see with problems tend to have males or pairs), because her breeder has been breeding for temperament rather than appearance (she has a snow mum and a normal dad which means her markings are slightly duller as she’s tan underneath but silver tipped but both parents were calm and docile) or because of how she was raised (she was picked up at 16 weeks which was the earliest the breeder would let her go so her mum taught her how to do everything including socialising and litter training before she left her)

I would pick carefully if you go down that path and do a lot of research

@TheRubyRedshoes

I'm so naive I can't believe cats can turn taps on and open doors

Yep! Mine is just like the velociraptor in Jurassic Park when it learns to open the door