To ask you to talk to me about Bengal cats?

[LokiBear]

I contacted my local animal sanctuary looking to adopt a cat. They have some 13 week old kittens whose mother is Bengal and father is a black domestic shorthair. The owners of the mum cat thought they would sell for a high price and handed them over to the sanctuary when they didnt. They have their fathers colouring so are obviously mix breed. The sanctuary have advised me to do my research, as Bengal cats can be a little needy and more 'dog like'. Ive had cats all of my life but always domestic moggies. Can anyone advise? Want to know what im letting myself in for!

I had a half Bengal once and she was hectic. She climbed the curtains, the ladder whenever the loft was open and would often snooze on top of bookshelves. She also could bring in half a dozen wild animals in a single evening as she was a prolific hunter.

There is a topic called the litter tray. Loads of helpful cat lovers there, ask MN to move your post and I’m sure you will get responses. AIBU might not be the best place for this.

We are on our second Bengal, they are very intelligent and loving cats. We have had both of ours from a rescue centre. The one we have now is a 3 year old snow Bengal who is very loving. He just wants cuddles, he follows us around the house and loves to play.

Full bengals are one of the most vicious and hard to handle cats I have come across. In 20 years in the profession I have met one nice one!

A half breed should be a bit calmer, but I would still expect some Bengal characteristics, so it might not be the best choice if you have kids and want more of a 'family cat'.

We're just moving this over to The Litter Tray for the OP.

I have a rescue Bengal. She has been with me for approx 6 years now and is a very loyal loving cat. But she is also very needy, very very very loud (think of screaming meows which continues as she is stuffing her face) a prolific hunter and a thief.

Some poor soul has lost a lot of koi carp over the last year or so. She steals cat food sachets from neighboring houses. We also have to rescue 4 or 5 frogs per week.

She is at her cutest when she is asleep.

I love our Bengal cat. She is now 5 years old. She’s an outdoor cat but prefers the indoor quiet life, quite vocal and loved to sleep in our bed with us by our feet.

Then we had our little girl and they are inseparable. She sleeps by the feet of our girl now, gives kisses and cuddles, my girl will comb and brush her and she’s tolerated all sorts when she was a baby. She used to be pushed around in the dolls pram or dressed up and always came back for more. She gets on well with our dog but isn’t a big hunter; we’ve never had presents brought back and in fact she’s probably more dog like than cat like to the point it took her around 10 months to realise she could jump over the child gate at the top of the stairs.

Whenever people come to visit she goes to the door to greet them and usually plonks herself on heir knee for strokes and cuddles.

I would definitely say she is a family cat and very sociable and 100% recommend the Bengal breed.

Thank you for all of the responses so far. Im going to struggle to say no to one of these little guys. The lady at the rescuse centre said that she will struggle to find homes for them as they are black.

We had 2 Bengals, mother and son. Mother had a lovely nature and was friendly to us from the off, but a sniff of an open window and she was gone. She liked to lick DD's dolls and Disney costumes so they always had to be where she couldn't get them, and I have never seen anything move so fast as when she spotted our original cat strolling past the door. I'm sure she would have been a highly efficient hunter had she been allowed out. Her favourite trick was to make a noise that sounded like "roland, roland" then regurgitate food onto the floor for the other cat.

We bought them a water fountain and they took it to pieces. They also worked out how to watch boxing on my pc, but we never did find out how. I don't ever have cause to watch boxing but it was often on when I came home and they would be actually watching it. One night they turned the vacuum cleaner on and couldn't turn it off. They were huddled as far away from it as possible and gave me such an attitude when I went in to see what was going on. I suspect a lot of that was the female because we haven't had so many incidents since we lost her.

Son OTOH is very nervous. He hates being picked up and any wind of going to the vet has him straight under the bath. If we succeed in grabbing him his claws are like knives and none of us emerge unscathed. He famously bit DH's nose hard the last time he had to go in his basket. (how the rest of us laughed)
We were told he would never be a lap cat but if we make the mistake of sitting still for more than 2 seconds he will come and balance on our lap, then get comfortable and plonk down to sleep. He is very vocal and demanding. He likes to knead clothing and carpets and his favourite place to sleep is the airing cupboard, once he has chucked out all the duvet covers that live in there.
The female used to have a lot of digestive issues. The male doesn't, but is incredibly fussy about food. He was ill and the vet advised us to feed him bits of chicken. The only way we could get him to eat it was to drop it on the floor and leave the room, so he thought he'd stolen ours. In his bowl he wouldn't touch it.
They are more like dogs than cats but ours haven't really been any more difficult to look after than any other cat. They can jump vertically to the top of a door from standing, and they do like to be up high. I suppose it depends on the individual cat.

I had one full who died last year and have 2 halfs. They are villains noisy, needy and very dog like. I had Bombays & a Tonk before (All hard to home rescues because of their behaviour) and by far Bengals are the most challenging. But they're so worth it, they're funny, engaging and loving. Ours meet us on the walk home from school and tell us all about their days (loudly).

And they're shocking hunters- our big one killed a fox, all of them have decimated the local squirrel, rat, mice, magpie & other bird populations. The most-tup one tried to catch a bat at 6am this morning & was most offended when I stopped him. You can't leave them for big chunks of time as they get bored, destructive & huffy, but they are fab cats.

I have twohalf bengals , they think they are dogs ... amazing cats !!! 😻😻

They’re total bastards. I love them 😍

I have a half bengal, half common tabby called Arthur and he is magnificent, gingery, stripey and spotty. He is very loud, complains a lot when hungry or when it rains, brings in and eats and/or loses lots of mice in our kitchen. He also quiet likes toads, but just to play with. He plays fetch in the garden, will chase a thrown ball and bring it back. He is always hungry. He is very attached to me and will follow me everywhere, meeting me from walks, and galloping across fields if he hears one of our cars coming home. He adores the Ocado man, as he brings food, and always goes to the door when someone knocks. He loves being high up, we have a couple of radiator hammocks to sleep in, and he likes sitting on top of the bathrooms cabinets. He can be bitey, but he obeys me like a dog and will lie down on command if he is naughty, but is also very good at the vets, and will let me cut his claws with no issues. We love him .

I already have a needy feral cat who I rescued at 5 weeks old. I can do needy. I had another cat who died in September so im hoping that he will get along with a newbie. Or at least have the same 'frenemy' relationship he had with Shrodie. Loki is a prolific hunter too. DH wont be happy. He likes to feed wildlife and Loki thinks the bird tables are an all you can eat buffet.

I have two bengals, they are 7 years old now. I descibe them as Cat+, they are normal cats but jump higher, run faster, meow louder, and look so striking.

My two have quite different personalities. One is confident, calm, and cuddly. His brother is high strung and reactive, and wasn't cuddly for the first couple years but he is now. The calm one hunts small birds and rodents. The reactive one never hunts but does fight with the neighbourhood cats. They get on with my dog but keep their distance from my toddler and baby.

I think they're great cats, would recommend if you don't mind lots of (sometimes incredibly loud) meowing. I knew someone with a bengal cross and it seemed pretty chill tbh, I suppose with a cross you never know what traits you are going to get.

A picture of Arthur - Couldn't resist......

I swear my tabby boy is a bit Bengal (mainly due to stomach markings). He honestly thinks he is a dog. He happily approaches any passing dog having a walk, sits in the road when cars are coming towards him and does not move (cul de sac). He has such a character, although he is hard work.

Oh Arthur is gorgeous!

I looked into getting a bengal having known a beautiful one belonging to my old neighbour. Spoke to several rescues who all said not to get one if you have an "ordinary" cat unless that one is pretty tough as they can be too much and bully them.
Where we now live there are several bengals. One is lovely, just a pretty, sweet cat. The rest are bastards. They kill everything in sight and beat up any other cat. Everyone round here has to have microchip controlled cat flaps as otherwise these feckers come in the house.
I've gone right off them now and I don't think they should be allowed outside - but they'll destroy the house and make too much noise if kept in so the owners don't want to put up with it.
I would tred with care especially as they are kittens - you can't tell what they are going to grow up like. One of the ones here was sweet sweet cat as a youngster and when he got to about 2-3 he turned into a hellbeast and has remained that way. One of the others lives with a moggy and he is always beating him up. Our cat is terrified of them and he's everyone's friend.

Adopt an ordinary black cat (or kitten) there's still so many of those in rescue you won't have to go far or wait long (black cats rule)

psicat - I wonder whether those bastard cats are neutered. Arthur is neutered and in fact gets beaten up by other cats. We had to get a micro-chipped flap to stop everyone else's cats coming in and making him a nervous wreck.

My boys 😻😻

I love the pictures! Gorgeous cats! This is my boy. He is just a moggy but I do adore him. I think I will visit with the kittens before making a decision. They will be neutered in the next week or so, so im hoping that reduces the likelyhood of fighting.

Yes they are all neutered. The owners are responsible nice people but they're blind to what their cats get up to. They beat up every other cat and even some of the local dogs are scared of them.
I spoke to my old neighbour (who's boy is simply stunning, they are beautiful cats) to ask what he's like now - she's built him a large run that he has free access to as he kept bringing home kills. The dead baby rabbit on her pillow was apparently the final straw
Lots of moggies can be the scourge of small flurries and beat up other cats (usually better if neutered early) but it is in the bloodlines of bengals to be wilder, more active and tougher. Of course you will get some that not the norm - which is why if I was to look at one it would be an adult rescue that I knew the temperament of.

They are beautiful cats and I'm sure huge characters to their families - but if they are bastards please don't let them terrorise everyone else! Plus OP said she had another cat, I would just be cautious going on own experience yes but also what bengal rescue said to me - maybe have a chat with them?

Mine are nothing like that @psicat but they are not full bengals . They are very tough and won't allow any cats on their land but so were my old boys who were just normal tabby cats . One of my won't even go outside much and is much more dig like let alone catch anything .
My sister on the other hand has a moggy boy who is a prolific hunter , sometimes it's just how it goes .
I have heard full bengals are very full on big mine are just lovely . I also have an older girl cat who still rules the roost !

Your boy is gorgeous @lokibear 😍