My demanding Bengal kitten excessively meows

[stridermomma]

I adopted 6 month old Savannah-Bengal in the end of November and over the course of the last few weeks, he has become increasingly demanding with me. I give him lots of love, play sessions, he has a cat tree, several toys, and I just bought him a cat wheel (hasn't come in the mail yet) but he is constantly demanding my attention by incessantly meowing at me. When I'm not home or when he forgets I'm not home when I'm in bed- he is fairly quiet, but as soon as I walk in the door or he finds out I'm in bed he is meowing. And it's not a cute meow, it's almost a yell (and sometimes is). He is always wanting my attention to play or for food. I have tried the ignoring method but it only works about 1% of the time, I'm trying to quiet train him with treats but so far it's not going well, I've even gotten to the point that I've got him a calming collar. I try not to make him wear it because I feel like it's not necessarily healthy for him, but I'm losing sleep over his meowing and it's making my family nuts. He's getting neutered in a couple weeks so hopefully that will cut down on some of the nighttime meowing, but what do I do about his demanding behavior with me? My husband doesn't want us to get another cat (he's not much of a pet person and getting my Bengal was a sacrifice for him).

 

[sivyaleah]

I think once he's neutered you'll see a big difference in his personality.  It can take up to a month for the hormones to be gone completely, but eventually he'll start to calm down.

BTW, Bengals are known for having a different sounding "meow" than a regular domestic cat.  The can be quite talkative also and really, one should have read up on their behavior and special needs.  My understanding is they are more demanding and very very active.  If you were hoping for a calmer cat, well, that probably won't happen until he's a lot older LOL. The must have a lot of interaction - this isn't a cat you can leave home all day by itself and think it will be happy.

I'd make sure to challenge him daily with good, hard play sessions.  This will help him discharge all that natural energy and, will help bond him to you also.  I hear they are very good at clicker training too.

BTW trying to quiet him by giving treats is only teaching him to continue to loudly bother you because guess what? He's trained you to give him treats now 

  Overall, since it seems to be worse when you first come home, I think devoting time to him right away might help.  He may be lonely, and Bengals do love their humans!  Let him chase around a wand toy with you for 10 minutes or so and see how that goes.  Treats should be saved as a reward for positive behaviors - not to avoid negative ones.

Hopefully some others here who have experience with Bengals/Savannahs will chime in as I'm sure they will be able to help much better than I can.

 

[stridermomma]

I adopted 6 month old Savannah-Bengal in the end of November and over the course of the last few weeks, he has become increasingly demanding with me. I give him lots of love, play sessions, he has a cat tree, several toys, and I just bought him a cat wheel (hasn't come in the mail yet) but he is constantly demanding my attention by incessantly meowing at me. When I'm not home or when he forgets I'm not home when I'm in bed- he is fairly quiet, but as soon as I walk in the door or he finds out I'm in bed he is meowing. And it's not a cute meow, it's almost a yell (and sometimes is). He is always wanting my attention to play or for food. I have tried the ignoring method but it only works about 1% of the time, I'm trying to quiet train him with treats but so far it's not going well, I've even gotten to the point that I've got him a calming collar. I try not to make him wear it because I feel like it's not necessarily healthy for him, but I'm losing sleep over his meowing and it's making my family nuts. He's getting neutered in a couple weeks so hopefully that will cut down on some of the nighttime meowing, but what do I do about his demanding behavior with me? My husband doesn't want us to get another cat (he's not much of a pet person and getting my Bengal was a sacrifice for him).

I think once he's neutered you'll see a big difference in his personality.  It can take up to a month for the hormones to be gone completely, but eventually he'll start to calm down.

BTW, Bengals are known for having a different sounding "meow" than a regular domestic cat.  The can be quite talkative also and really, one should have read up on their behavior and special needs.  My understanding is they are more demanding and very very active.  If you were hoping for a calmer cat, well, that probably won't happen until he's a lot older LOL. The must have a lot of interaction - this isn't a cat you can leave home all day by itself and think it will be happy.

I'd make sure to challenge him daily with good, hard play sessions.  This will help him discharge all that natural energy and, will help bond him to you also.  I hear they are very good at clicker training too.

BTW trying to quiet him by giving treats is only teaching him to continue to loudly bother you because guess what? He's trained you to give him treats now :lol3:   Overall, since it seems to be worse when you first come home, I think devoting time to him right away might help.  He may be lonely, and Bengals do love their humans!  Let him chase around a wand toy with you for 10 minutes or so and see how that goes.  Treats should be saved as a reward for positive behaviors - not to avoid negative ones.

Hopefully some others here who have experience with Bengals/Savannahs will chime in as I'm sure they will be able to help much better than I can.

I meant I'm quiet training him as in, I've followed Bengal training videos on how to teach him to sit for a treat then count to 5 and up to 10 seconds before giving a treat if he's quiet the entire time I'm counting (in my head). He's catching onto it, but only when he knows he's getting a reward for being quiet. I do work 5 days a week but come home at lunch since my work is 5 minutes away for play sessions and I give him a lot of attention when I'm home. I really hope he calms down a bit when he gets neutered... [emoji]128522[/emoji] Thanks for your feedback!

 

[stephlny78]

I have a 5 month old bengal and we are about to lose it w the meowing. "The ignore her until she stops" thing doesn't seem to be working, which is mental. I have 2 cats which have to eat different food. The older cat will eat all of the bengal kitten's food so we have to separate them to eat. Older cat will eat her food, the bengal just meows incessantly about being closed in the bathroom w her food and won't even eat it. Literally 45 minutes go by..... WON'T STOP. She also meows in the AM for us to let her in at 6 am. Ignoring doesn't seem to work. Will it ever? Does anyone have experience training them in this way? We trained the first cat not to meow at the door, after a few days of ignoring w the closed door she quit. The bengal, not so much.

 

[Summercats]

I know someone who adopted a Bengal. They don’t like to be alone, locking a kitten up alone to eat will yes, probably result in meowing. Can you stay with her while she eats?

They are very interactive people oriented cats. Not sure about those closer to the wild cat generations but most seem to be good cats if not bored.

I would not get a Bengal expecting a quiet cat. Get a Persian if you want quiet.
Bengal mixed with Savannah would seem a very active cat. Having a friend to play with would probably help.

 

[danteshuman]

I have never had a bengal but I have heard active doesn't begin to describe it. Have you tried treat or food puzzles so he is being mentally stimulated? Besides neutering him you may want to harness train him & take him on walks. You may also want to try clicker training or using those treats for when the wheel arrives. Also since they like to climb you can never have enough cat shelves & cat trees. Lastly I would get him a neutered/spayed playmate so he has some one to interact with while you are gone (personally I would go for an active cat to play with him.) I saw these mice feeders where the dry food goes in the mouse and then you hide the mice around the house in different spots to help occupy the cat's mind. That might be worth a try.

 

[danteshuman]

If Siamese are the problem children the I think Bengals are the kids with ADD