Is it likely he’ll get out? Bengal kitten

[GorgeousLadyofWrestling]

I have just acquired a Bengal kitten - he’s 12 weeks old. We have 3 other cats and a micro chip cat flap. I got him microchipped today in the hope I could add him to the cat flap and lock him in because I’m worried as he gets a bit older he’ll work out how to get out. Sadly it’s not the kind that can prevent indoor cats from getting out. If I set a curfew, it sets a curfew for my other cats.

The flap itself has not been a great success. Only 1 cat can use it fully to fork in and out. 2nd cat can leave but is mystified about how to come back in so sits and waits at the window. 3rd cat is terrified of it completely and we have a high bathroom window she uses instead. They all come and go throughout the night (well the 2 that can come back in do; the one that can’t goes to her other home) so I don’t want to lock it overnight.

We’ve been locking the kitten in our bedroom at night, which is fine - lovely actually because he snuggles in with us - but I don’t really want to do that for months until he’s spayed.

Is he likely to work out how to get himself out if we don’t teach him yet? Given the utter failure of all my other cats ability to use it properly?

In order to fulfil the cat law of doing exactly the opposite of what you want, yes. He will teach himself and get out.

Is he male? Female cats get spayed. Males get neutered. An intact male cat will wander further but only to look for a mate, so hopefully he won’t until he also shows other signs that he’s matured, like spraying. You can have him done from four months.

Bengals are very intelligent and restless

@SoScarletItWas yes he’s male - got them mixed up, he’ll be neutered. The vet today said it’s best around six months. I really do not want him to get out. I’m sorely tempted to change the cat flap to one where you can curfew individual cats but that seems like madness for the sake of a few months and a couple of hundred pounds.

Our Bengal is very clever, can open door handles, gets into shut cupboards, plays fetch, gives a paw for a treat and is clicker trained, he is also an absolute Houdini

The bengals I know are very much outdoor cats. They are the neighbourhood thugs, very territorial. Great big personality cats too

It's usually advised to neuter cats around 4 months old. I used a different vet to neuter my 2 boys at 4 months as my own vet wouldn't do it until 6 months.

https://www.cats.org.uk/what-we-do/neutering/find-a-vet

This database shows vets that will neuter from 4 months

My neighbour's half bengal costs me hundred every year in vets fees. Just this afternoon I had to shave and disinfect one of my cats after a scuffle this morning. He's a menace and a thug and will even square up to me.

However, we've got a Sure microchip cat flap and he can't work out how to get in - and, he's tried. We've got a motion camera on the door and some nights he tries 3 or 4 times to get in. He's tried smashing it and tailgating our cats and it's stood up to him which is more than my cats can

It's the one with the app - I can set a general curfew for all cats and also make a cat an indoor cat. I'd recommend it.

Surely if you don't add his microchip to the cat flap it won't open for him?
I suppose he could "tailgate" one of the others going out though.

Unfortunately you can open it from the inside without a chip, unless we specifically locked it going out - but that would mean the two cats that use it to get out can’t.

Thats the one I want @IncidentallyAndAccidentally but unfortunately I have the Sure Flap Pet Door because one of my cats is part Norwegian forest cat and just massive so I went for the bigger flap. Wish now I’d got yours. It cost a couple of hundred plus fitting and I don’t really want to have to buy another one.

If I lock the cat flap going out, the part Norwegian will wake me up throughout the night tapping on the window to get in and tapping on my face to get out.

Cats!

Yes he’ll probably figure it out because bengals are clever little sods.

Personally I wouldn’t neuter a bengal early, I had mine done a month early and he had a life of recurrent uti. It’s a late maturing breed so they need to develop.

Even if you get a new cat flap he can't use, there's nothing to stop him jumping out the bathroom window like cat 3.

Get him neutered sooner , if necessary find a different vet . Our vet did ours as soon as they weighed enough and it was about 16/17 weeks .

Their urge to be outside is strong! They love up trees too 🤔 I have one and hardly see him. The first time he went missing for almost a week I was v anxious but had sightings of him. Same the second and third time too. Now, we just know it's his way. A friend with one has the exact same experience with his.

Bengals are intelligent, strong and need to be outside - his desire to be "out" will likely overpower anything you've put in place to keep him in.

I would get him neutered as soon as you can - lots of vets will do it at four months.

We just let out kittens go out once they have learnt to use the cat flap. We neuter as soon as possible and let them get on with it. Only 1 of them did it a bit on the early side for comfort. He was a feral rescue found near death at 3 weeks old. He was so tenacious!! He just ran at the clap flap for hours at 10 weeks old. He was too light to open it with his paw and he managed to work out a way to run, head butt and jump through at the same time. All our abandoned feral rescue kittens have been wired differently to our domesticated kittens but he was another level. If he wanted to be somewhere, he got there!

I wouldn’t bother changing the cat flap. My bengal at his previous home had a microchip cat flap. He just rammed it until it opened! Whatever they did, boxes up against the door, expensive cat flap etc, he’d find a way to get out. He was neutered but still just wanted to be outside.

They’re like having a little tiger in your house, a bit too close to their wild roots!

By all means try the cat flap, but I’d say locking him in your room is the most likely solution to work. But I wouldn’t put it past him to learn how to open your door and head out that open window once he gets the urge to wander. Or he’ll learn to tailgate one of the others out of the cat flap!

On the plus side, any cat he impregnates will have beautiful kittens! (Joke, but it is also on the female cat owners to spay theirs if they don’t want them getting pregnant).