Bengal: Aggressive Behaviour

[Ripley88]

Hi all,

I'm new to the site, and I hope someone might be able to help. My partner and I have been trying to introduce our cats for the last 10 months, however, after 1 week of bliss the 8 year old male bengal began attacking the 3 and 5 year old female moggies.

This bengal is the cuddliest, gentlest cat with people, but he attacks the females as though he is trying to kill them. This is to the point we cannot let him see them, ever because he immediately attacks.

All the cats are fixed and we have tried everything from distraction, to felliway, to using a cage to introduce them, but he's like a demon possessed.

Its stressful trying to move from room to room without him escaping and attacking them. The poor cat he keeps going for pees herself when he gets loose.

Has anyone met this behaviour before? How have you coped?

 

[ArtNJ]

"Trying for 10 months" - that is too long if there is real fighting with intent to harm. After real fighting, behaviors set in, and you aren't going to make progress without redoing the introduction. Have you tried that? ("After one week of bliss" - not sure how that interacts with the 10 months, kind of confused -- was that after the initial intro? Maybe tell us more about that.)

More info would be good. However, the advice will likely be the same -- you probably need to reintroduce them, and to follow the guide slowly. Here it is:

How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide
How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction (mostly just says to redo the introduction)

 

[danteshuman]

It sounds like your poor girls need a break. *sigh* some cats are just jerks or what you would call bully cats. It sucks to accept ... trust me my beloved punk Dante is one. It may not be a Bengal thing & may just be a bully thing. That said Bengals are extremely active cats that need to be challenged physically & mentally. If I had to do my punks hyper 7.5 years over again he would be on prozac!

So it might be worth trying a multi-pronged attack plan. Prozac if your vet says it is a good idea ... when that has kicked in then try re-introducing the cats. In the meantime build up your girl's confidence with one on one play. Also your male cat can begin clicker training or harness training or both. You can get him to learn how to go through multiple obstacle courses and a long daily walk where he can 'hunt' outside helps. If Dante doesn't get his backyard bird watching time he hunts his brother I don't know what you have tried so far? It might help us know what will work & what hasn't worked so far. Since Bengal's are high energy cats the last thing you want is him or any cat trapped in a room all day, bouncing off the walls. So I would suggest sight swapping, crating him if need be to put him in a spare room or to lock the girls up while giving him run of the house 12 hours of the day. That way all cats get to run around the house ... just not at the same time, for now.

I might start binge watching my cat from hell. There are a few episodes on Bengals.

Cat Fight! - My Cat From Hell | Animal Planet

 

[rubysmama]

I've never had 2 cats (or more) at the same time, so can't offer any suggestions from personal experience. I also don't know anything about Bengals, or their personality traits.

I did want to welcome you to The Cat Site. And I'll also post a few TCS articles that may be helpful:
Bengal Cats

The Multi-cat Household
How To Safely Break Up A Cat Fight