Spots and Energy! (Bengal)

Member Name: FieryJack

Product:	Bengal
Date:	12/06/01 (182 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Loving, Playful, Beautiful Cats, Great Temperament.

Disadvantages: Quite Demanding

We bought Derek, a blue-eyed snow, just over 2 years ago for £200, which is at the cheap end of the market for the rarer snow. A friend of a friend breeds them so he was a bit of a bargain. He`s spotted, as opposed to the marbled variety.

He was a very energetic kitten and would wake us constantly at night if we let him in the bedroom so we shut ourselves in there and left him the rest of the flat. This had the advantage of allowing us a full night`s sleep, but when we let him back into the bedroom in the morning he`d occasionally be overcome with excitement and pee on the bed. He soon grew out of it, and with those few (4) exceptions he always used his tray.

As soon as he was old enough we took him to our vets for his injections. Other than being a bit lethargic the following day he had no problem with them. We`d picked up an insurance form as we left the vets, filled it in when we got home and posted it. We were somewhat surprised when the insurance company contacted us, saying they needed a form from the breeder to confirm he qualified as a domestic pet! Well, he seemed pretty domestic to us, but apparently they need to be at least 4 generations removed from the wild to qualify as `domesticated`. In breeder terminology, that`s an F4 Bengal. Thankfully, he turned out to be an F4 so his insurance was the same as any other domestic cat. I don`t know what you`d pay for F`s 1 - 3 but if you`re thinking of getting a Bengal and have to consider the cost it might be an idea to find out or make sure you get an F4.

It soon became apparent that Derek wasn`t a normal cat! Bengals play `fetch` and, maybe as a result of their recent wild ancestry, try to bring you down when you walk! Not viciously, they just run along behind you and attach themselves to your upper calf
in play. Personally, I think it`s preferable to, and less dangerous than the more common cat tactic of running in front of or between the feet. Bengals, mine anyway, attack from th
e rear! Reputed to like water to the extent that they`ve been know to share baths, Derek is content to sit and watch, occasionally dipping a paw in. He`ll play with running tap water too, but the only time he got into the bath was because he fell in! He didn`t panic though, just climbed out. He likes to lick us after we`ve bathed! His tongue seems particularly raspy!

To familiarise him with the great outdoors, we walked him on a lead almost daily until he was big enough to go out alone. Also, there`s a busy road across the other side of a 30 yard patch of grass at the front, so we mostly walked him around the back hoping that he`d adopt that general area as his territory. Prior to allowing that, we had him microchipped. I thought it`d be expensive but veterinary nurses can do it and it was only £20. Derek wasn`t bothered by the "OUCH!!!"-looking fat needle which caused a bit of bleeding for a minute or 2. Once chipped, you can feel it below the skin in the neck, but they move around a bit so a point might arrive when you think it`s gone missing. It`ll be there, somewhere, and they DO work.

So, Derek now has his full independence and can come and go as he pleases. He comes and goes a LOT! It`s like he needs to see that all`s well at home about every 60 - 90 minutes. Of course, he comes in when he`s hungry, but often he`ll come back, tour the flat, then ask to go out again (which he USED to do by swatting the keys hanging from the door. More later). He climbs trees, and climbs them very well. If you`re of a nervous disposition, you might want to consider your response to seeing your cat picking its way through the thin twigs at the very top of a tree! He`s not at all bothered by rain. Most cats go under cars or find some kind of shelter; not Derek. He gets so wet you`d think he`d been swimming. (Tip: Kitchen roll seems to do a better job of drying a soggy cat than a towel.)

You`d think a cat that seemed to enjoy getting that wet w
ouldn`t mind cold weather, but he does, a lot. During winter he`s in most of the time, but no less full of energy. They`ll play FOREVER! Sometimes you don`t have the time to play with them. If you find them some good toys they`ll often amuse themselves. Often, they`ll find their OWN toys?. aka: YOUR possessions. ANYTHING you leave within reach will find its way under a chair or other household appliance, swatted there by your Bengal.
Rather than buy them things, keep boxes. They LOVE boxes. Close the tops, after maybe putting a toy inside, and they`ll dig at the cardboard flaps and jump in & out for some considerable time. A box is good for up to a week, then they grow tired of it. No problem, just get another box.

My experience of most cats is that they sleep on & off all day. They might have one long stint outdoors and one sleep lasting longer than others, but typically are seldom asleep for more than 3 hours at a time. Again, NOT Bengals. Derek will sleep 9 hours solid sometimes. Bar a few short naps, his sleeping pattern is more like that of a human`s than a cat's. Unlike other cats, that tend to stay pretty much in a ball, a sleeping Bengal is usually to be found stretched to its full length, often with its head bent right back to what looks like an uncomfortable extreme. Otherwise, similarly stretched on their backs exposing their bellies. They also like to sleep IN the bed. I have a theory, which would explain this and their apparent dislike of the cold.

Pure Bengals have no guard hairs, they`re all `undercoat`. I don`t know that the longer, thicker guard hairs trap more air and keep regular cats warmer, but it would explain why, when it`s icy or cold and windy outside, the Bengal is INSIDE. Lacking guard hairs makes the Bengal a VERY soft cat. Nearly anyone stroking Derek comments immediately about how soft he is. You won`t mind your Bengal sharing your bed! LOL

NO cat is more curious than a Bengal. They`re all over anythin
g new brought into the house. Each item of shopping is checked, anything you want to put into a floor-level freezer can only be put there once the cat has been moved out of the way. It`ll be back for items 2, 3, 4, ad infinitum. Bengals are always keen to `help` plumbers, carpenters, painters, etc, that come into the home. If they`re doing something potentially dangerous you`ll have to restrain your cat, because it won`t leave them alone of its own accord. Typically, they don`t like being kept from something they want to be doing. They`ll "meow", LOUDLY, if you shut them in a room; they`ll `attack` (again in a friendly fashion) if you try to remove them from somewhere they want to be. "No!" is not a word a Bengal relates to very easily.

If a Bengal wants to be let out, or fed, or to go to bed, it`ll never hesitate in letting you know. It will pester you like crazy, or "Meow" and `destroy` things in the vicinity of what it requires. Make no mistake, you`ll do what it wants or be bugged until you do. Similarly, while they can wander around trying to decide what to do, more often than not they go direct to whatever they want. Upon letting them in, they`re very likely to go direct to their food bowls or directly to bed, NO pausing. Given that soggy Bengals could fill a small swimming pool with the rain they seem to enjoy getting into their coats, you might want to remember this `go direct` tendency and have a towel or kitchen roll handy for when the drenched cat comes in.

Even though we`re in most of the time, spending winter with a demanding Bengal that won`t go out for more than 5 minutes occasionally became tiresome. So, what did we do? We got ANOTHER one for him to play with!

When we brought Clyde home midway through last summer, Derek wasn`t best pleased. He made `jungle noises`, the like of which I`ve never heard. Once he`d calmed down a little, he sniffed and swatted the kitten, though never really went for
it. As a precaution, we bought a large cat cage, only to find that Clyde soon discovered he could escape if he went to the right parts of it! We figured it`d be about 2 weeks before he grew enough to stop him getting his head through so just left him free and continued to monitor them. We were right about the two weeks, but it counted for nothing because by the time the two weeks elapsed the cats were getting along for the most part, and have mostly been OK since.

Technically, Clyde isn`t a bengal. He`s Derek`s half-brother but his father is unknown. He LOOKS like a Bengal, has all the (brown marble) markings with spots on his belly. The only way you can tell he isn`t a Bengal is because he does have guard hairs. Behaviour wise, he shares the same characteristics as Derek but keeps a bit more to himself. Otherwise, he`s more Bengal than `regular`. He sleeps the same way, climbs trees (he drew a crowd of onlookers recently, being about 80` up a tree!), hassles when he wants things. He LOVES Derek, they play a lot, but Derek sometimes tires of him and swats at him or goes out. On the whole though, when they`re in they do keep each other busy instead of demanding attention from us. They`re often to be found cuddled up together on the bed. About the only difference between them is that Clyde doesn`t do `house patrols`. He can be gone for hours. Sometimes we regret getting Clyde due to Derek`s on & off resentment, but most of the time the cats are happy so we`re happy.

Since getting Clyde, Derek has developed the curious habit of "Meow"-ing in the bathroom when he wants something. He might want to go out, or he might want feeding. Although he`ll still occasionally swat the door keys when he wants to go out, often we need to figure out what he wants. He used to "Meow" in the kitchen when he wanted food too. Now, as with his key routine, he sometimes does rather than always.
We think he`s learning what it`s like to have a Bengal d
emand HIS attention, since Clyde usually follows him everywhere. Like humans, cats occasionally need their space.

We`ve microchipped Clyde too. He limped quite badly following his injections, we thought he`d done it playing with Derek but the vet said it`s like a temporary arthritis they get from the combination injection. It only lasted 48 hours and we got him his booster injections a week apart and he was fine after each.

Both of them are easy to handle, not remotely aggressive. EXCEPT, Derek absolutely will not take pills. For his worm pills, we have to take him to the vets and even they have trouble with him. Otherwise, they sit happily to have their claws clipped and enjoy grooming. They`re short haired, so little grooming is necessary. They`ll fight you if you want to fight them, and sometimes when you remove them from somewhere they want to be, but if you keep their claws clipped they won`t hurt. Likewise when they hunt you and wrap themselves round your leg!

Seemingly, they`re totally fearless. Derek actually wanted to go out on Guy Fawkes night having watched the fireworks from the window. (Our previous cat would hide or bury itself in a lap on such occasions). Although powerful and probably a good fighter, Derek doesn`t seem interested in fighting other cats beyond seeing them off of his territory or defending himself. He`ll watch other cats pass through but seems to avoid fights if he can. Not sure about Clyde yet, he`s still establishing himself outdoors.

BOTH are good hunters and bring things home in varying states of health. Derek seems especially fond of frogs and can bring as many as 3 home per night, although days pass in which he comes home empty mouthed. He`s pulled fish from somebody`s pond too! Haven`t seen a fish for a while so maybe the pond owners bought a net, or ran out of fish! If you REALLY don`t like a cat that hunts then maybe a Bengal isn`t a good idea, but I think all cats bring something home occas
ionally. Little you can do about it other than keeping them indoors, which isn`t much of a life for an energetic cat.

To summarise then:
Bengals are beautiful, striking cats with astonishingly soft, glistening fur. Everyone comments on their looks and how soft they are. They have great temperaments, at least towards humans.

As kittens, they take well to using their litter trays. Expect a couple of `accidents`, but mine have been no worse than any other cat.

They seem to be fearless, which is fine up to a point, but if you live in a place where you think they`re liable to be snatched or where gangs of children might kick them (or worse) it might be wise not to get one or certainly get them chipped. They`ll walk up to ANYBODY.

They`re better climbers than most cats, which is saying something because most cats can climb pretty well, so don`t worry when you see one high up in a tree. It`s unlikely to fall and it WILL get down on its own.

They`re slightly but not especially fussy eaters.

They`re playful but never aggressive, at least mine aren`t. The family we got them from had a few kids and the Bengals there didn`t seem phased by the larger ones running around or the smaller ones manhandling them. They`re hardy cats.

They bring you presents, often live ones. Consider NOT getting a cat-flap.

They enjoy attention and will give plenty in return. If you can sit still for 9 hours they`ll gladly spend it on your lap if they`re tired. We have recliners, Derek will sleep along the legs, head by ankles, back legs stretching right up to the chest. He`s a LONG cat!

I can think of NO reason not to get a Bengal unless you don`t have the time to cater for its needs. They LIKE you to play with them when they`re indoors. They`re a FUN pet to own.

Oh, the females are considerably smaller than the males.

We use Frontline for flea control and thoroughly recommend it.

If you
want to make further enquiries or see the varieties this site is quite good and has links to MANY others. http://www.bengalcat.com/home.htm

Otherwise, I`ll check every 2 or 3 days for any questions in the comments and answer them if I can.

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