Things nobody tell you about Bengals I should know?

tigerlord

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 30, 2007
Messages
308
Purraise
11
Location
Chicoutimi, QC
Well, I complained, moaned, complained some more and screamed a little - and the LL said as long as my kitten do not damage anything, they'll "tolerate" (hear the grin) them.
1 for Tiger 0 for LL


Anyway, before I get Nala (Kiara and Sarabi will be here two weeks before) is there any particular behaviors I need to be aware of that could be dangerous? I'm more worried about Nala than Kiara and Sarabi honestly...

This is sort of the last minute preparation after 6 months... - go figure !

PS. Is it ok if all three share the litter robot or do I need extra boxes?
PS.2 The Siamese kitten are used to being bathed, do Bengals love or hate water naturally? I read they loved it, but as far as a bath is concerned?
 

twstychik

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
5,720
Purraise
4
Location
Northern IN
Yeah! I'm so glad your LL "caved". Just be sure you have lots of places for them to scratch appropriatly!

I would have at least 2-3 boxes for 3 cats. While they are small it's not too big a deal but as they grow they'll need more littler room. Oh, and bengals are all energy... but I'm sure you knew that.
Good luck... you'll have your hands full with 3 kittens!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

tigerlord

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 30, 2007
Messages
308
Purraise
11
Location
Chicoutimi, QC
I'm hoping my cat tree will do if not I'm open to the idea of putting a scratchpad or two in other rooms... but the huge tree is in the living room already, so they should stay away from sofas and kitchen tables.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

tigerlord

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 30, 2007
Messages
308
Purraise
11
Location
Chicoutimi, QC
I just can't wait to have them run at the DaBird wandtoy... that will probably bring me hours of laughs
 

twstychik

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
5,720
Purraise
4
Location
Northern IN
Originally Posted by TigerLord

I need boxes on top of the litter robot????
My only concern would be territory. Some cats what their own litter box. I'd say give it a try with your litter robot but at the first sign of inappropriate elimination (going outside the box) I'd get another.
 

gingersmom

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 11, 2006
Messages
8,028
Purraise
22
The rule is, one litter box PER CAT, plus one extra. I have 4 cats and 4 boxes.

Bengals get bored really easily and when bored, they get destructive. Not to BE destructive, but simply because they are trying to amuse themselves. I have cat trees AND scratchers in every room, and my Bengals still scratch at the corner of the sofa and climb all over and get into everything.

You MUST set aside at least an hour a day just to play with Nala - but the good thing is, Bengal females are more mellow than the males (as I am just now REALLY finding out.
)

I don't bathe my cats unless they get into something that they shouldn't (like the time Ginger sat in dishsoap.
) Most Bengals like to play in water, so leaving a pot to soak in the sink could become a problem.
 

goldenkitty45

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 29, 2005
Messages
19,900
Purraise
44
Location
SW Minnesota
Its better to have more then one litter box to avoid problems. If later they agree to use one, that's fine, but at the beginning get another pan or two.

If you start young in bathing, most cats won't give you a hard time. Charlie loves his baths now and loves playing in water (he's a show cat, so gets baths regularly). He complains when you drain the water out and are done rinsing him
 

jellybella

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 10, 2007
Messages
2,314
Purraise
3
Location
UPNY
I find that with scratching posts, like most real estate, the key is location, location, location

I have three scratching posts and two trees for two cats. They don't touch my furnature. When I saw them scratching my chair, I put a taller post next to it---they now scratch the post. I also have posts near the doorways--scratching (leaving the scent and the shed nails) is a form of communication.

Keeping them occupied is the biggest issue. Bored=destructive. I would have Da Bird (plus lots of refills) and a laser pointer among other things. Also get in the habit of leaving new toys to be discovered--you won't believe how much fun they'll have if you just leave a cardboard box out
 

hopehacker

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jul 6, 2003
Messages
8,147
Purraise
4
Location
Los Angeles,CA
My female Bengal is as mellow as any cat could be. She's not active, she doesn't get into things and she's not destructive. Now, my male Bengal Simba is a little tornado. He's into everything, knocks things down, climbs, but he's not really destructive. He's also loads of fun, and is my little comedian. He's about as delightful as a little Zulu Warrior can be.

I think if you're getting a female Bengal, she will probably do well with you Siamese, and probably won't mess up your house. My female Bengal, Angel, is and Angel. She's a perfect cat, as far as behavior goes. I just like em a little naughty.

Oh..and Bengals love water, and your kitten might even crawl into the bath with you. Simba of course likes to play in water and empties the water dish all over the kitchen floor at LEAST once a day.
 

siggav

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
1,327
Purraise
22
Location
Scotland
I have a female bengal that sounds a lot more like Simba than Angel, she's all girl but she gets into everything, runs around, climbs, jumps very high and gets destructive when bored.

I can't have any knicknacks lying around that she can easily push down or she will (her newest thing is going into my wardrobe and throwing all my clothes on the floor).

They can be quite loud but since you're getting siamese cats I'm certain you're prepared for a vocal feline.

Basically though you have to be prepared to deal with some "bad" behaviour while being aware that the reason the cat is misbehaving is simply because you've not provided enough stimulation and ways for the cat to get rid of their energy in a more productive way. So really if the kitten keeps you up at night or wrecks some of your things it's your fault, the cat is just being a cat and it's not their fault they're very intelligent and athletic and filled to the brim with energy that needs to go somewhere.
 

gingersmom

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 11, 2006
Messages
8,028
Purraise
22
Originally Posted by Siggav

Basically though you have to be prepared to deal with some "bad" behaviour while being aware that the reason the cat is misbehaving is simply because you've not provided enough stimulation and ways for the cat to get rid of their energy in a more productive way. So really if the kitten keeps you up at night or wrecks some of your things it's your fault, the cat is just being a cat and it's not their fault they're very intelligent and athletic and filled to the brim with energy that needs to go somewhere.
Excellent post.
I firmly believe this. We say that they train us, and to an extent that is true, but just like raising skin children, we are the ones that define their boundaries and teach them what they can get away with by how we act and react to them. By how we reward or punish certain behaviors.

They want to please us, for they feed off of our energy as we do theirs. We set up the basic guidelines, communicated through word and deed, and then let them be themselves to grow and flourish under our care.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #13

tigerlord

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 30, 2007
Messages
308
Purraise
11
Location
Chicoutimi, QC
Many thanks for the comments


I am however very perplexed with the litter... a Litter Robot costs 350$, am I expected to get a second one? I've seen posts of people who have one for 5-6 cats.

I'd also be pissed if the cats only used the box and not the robot... any thoughts?
 

hopehacker

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jul 6, 2003
Messages
8,147
Purraise
4
Location
Los Angeles,CA
Oh I provide playtime with Simba, however, he likes to do most of his naughty stuff while I'm sleeping. I wake up to find hundreds of DVD's knocked all over the floor, as well as my collection of My Little Ponies pulled out of their spots on the floor. He doesn't do this when I'm awake or when I'm at work. Simba just doesn't believe I should sleep. I know he's hoping all his clatter will wake me up Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn't . Simba just likes to get a reaction. He also has fun pouncing on my older Siamese, and my female Bengal Angel, because it upsets them. My female Siamese, SunLee will play right back with him, and so he plays nicely with her.
 

larke

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 9, 2005
Messages
2,278
Purraise
6
Location
SE Canada
It's not whether or not the robot's 'good' or 'enough', but many, if not most, cats often like to do their business(es) in separate places, and it just seems that with so many cats, apart from their being extra large, you could be training in trouble from the start. Do everyone a favor and have at least 2-3 boxes of whatever kind from day one. I've always had multi cats, and always more than 1-2 boxes.
 

siggav

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
1,327
Purraise
22
Location
Scotland
The reason people are adviced to have more litterboxes than cats is that litterboxes can become places of psychological warfare between cats.

Basically if the cats don't get along 100% they can bully one another and prevent the other cat from going to the toilet in the preferred place (litterbox) simply by sitting in the hallway leading to the litterbox, fighting and hissing isn't necessarely a sign. Cats are really good at intimidation and psyching each other out in more subtle ways.

Also some cats don't like to smell other cats too much at the litterboxes and they can be picky about location and cleanliness as well.

The number of cats plus one rule for litterboxes gives each cat a choice of atleast two boxes when they have to go (this is assuming the boxes aren't all in the same location) even though the other cats in the house are "guarding" a litterbox each.

This might not happen, so you can try out having just the one litterbox. However if you then later have cats not using the litterbox and rather peeing or pooing on the floor or in your bed or on the sofa the main reason for it is probably not enough litterboxes.

As for the litter robot, if you want one of those get it and also have normal litterboxes (it would be very expensive to buy three litter robots) however if the cats refuse to use the robot and only use the normal boxes that's a clear sign that they don't like the litter robot at all.

If that happens just be happy you provided normal boxes for them because otherwise it wouldn't take much at all for the cats to go somewhere else. It's impossible to force a cat to use a toilet they don't want to use, you can train and teach and usually it works out. Cats are naturally very clean.

Anyway good luck
 

twstychik

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
5,720
Purraise
4
Location
Northern IN
About litter boxes... it's better to have too many and too few. Trust me, a cat with litter box problem is NOT something you want so I would do everything in my power to prevent it. Even if that means the $350 litter robot gets put into storage. Frankie has had behavioral litter box issues for years and i still can't figure out the solution for her.
 

river

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Sep 16, 2005
Messages
185
Purraise
1
Location
Earth
My bengal kittens are great, one is a bit needy and constantly wakes me up in the morning by licking my nose and chin, my walking alarm clock. The problem I had with my boys is they don't do well on canned and hard food, I had to switch to Raw. You might want to search bengal tummy or bengal diarrhea if you run into any problems.
 

pee-cleaner

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jan 6, 2006
Messages
469
Purraise
12
My 3 cats share the Litter Robot with no problem. As one earlier poster said, try using just the robot, but it it doesn't work out (accidents) have a regular litter box ready.
 
Top