UPDATED 05-16-2011     REFRESH YOUR BROWSER

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BENGAL BEHAVIOR

Bengal Antics 101- a Helpful Guide to Bengal Behavior

This guide is meant to help, not hinder your decision to adopt, foster or buy a SBT Bengal kitten or cat. If you are considering an early generation/hybrid I would strongly suggest you do a lot of research before purchasing.

These stories/tips were based on breeder’s stories, pet owner’s stories and foster stories. While breed characteristics are a great way to get to know a breed we realize not every single Bengal is going to be a carbon copy of this list. We highly encourage you to always visit with a Bengal if possible or get to know your local breeders and visit a cattery before making a decision.

1) Bengals are not lap cats. For the few Bengal lap cats there are 50 that will never sit on your lap. They are much too interested in the world to consistently stay in one place.

“I had a kitten that I would continuously put in my lap over and over; she would always jump down immediately. After weeks of trying I finally gave up and just let her play on her own time. Finally one day while exhausted she plops down in my lap and purrs away for the next half an hour. Guess that taught me Bengals will come on their own time.”

2) Bengals make great leaps, both vertically and horizontally. Some can be on top of the refrigerator in one leap, others can span 5 or more feet when jumping from their cat tree to the couch. In the course of these leaps, lamps get knocked over, knick-knacks get pushed on the floor, vases get tumbled over, glasses fall off counters, cat trees are knocked down loudly onto the floor at 2am.

“I was preparing for Thanksgiving dinner the night before. I had laid out all my pots and pans and food items out to make preparation easier. At exactly 2:34am my husband and I hear what sounds like fireworks going off in my kitchen. We go rushing downstairs to turn on the light and find our two Bengals are actually using their heads to push the pots off the counter to make noise. They looked up proudly and proceeded to send the next dish tumbling off regardless of us standing there with our jaws dropped.”

3) Bengals are extremely playful and extremely active! The love feather wands, Da Bird, ribbons, socks, hair bands, balls, mice almost anything that gets you playing with them and gives them something to play with. However, with Bengals toys are temporary; you will have to continue buying them as toy destruction is a Bengal thing. Some also love to hide them. You will buy a big box of toys only to start discovering them under your coach, in their cat tree, under your oven; some drop them in their water dish! They also love to run, love to be active and they have been referred to as “A gorgeous domestic cat... with overcharged batteries.”

“Our Bengals love to steal! By that I mean when doing spring cleaning, we will often find pens, hair bands, clips, paper, chewed up envelopes, half shredded toys, bits of feathers, kids socks, balls under our couches, fridge, table, in cat trees, in food dishes.. anywhere! They can make anything into a game and just love getting their paws on any treasure!”

“When we first bought a Bengal, I’m afraid we jumped into it without really researching. I just wanted one of these gorgeous creatures! I noticed my kitten never seemed to sleep even half as much as domestic cats that I had growing up. He is constantly on the go. Pacing around the house, racing up his tree post, following my footsteps around the house, racing up and down stairs, jumping on the counters to “talk” to me while I cooked, running to greet visitors at the door, following me into the basement while I did laundry, playing fetch with my children.. the list goes on and on. It’s like having a terrier in a gorgeous leopard coat. We adore our little man and while I wished we would have done more research and found a breed that isn’t so “on”, however we are hooked and will soon be bringing home our third Bengal.”

4.) Destruction! Toilet paper shredding is a cat thing, but Bengals take delight in doing a thorough job of destruction. How would you feel if one day, you come home after a long day of grocery shopping to find your male Bengal has torn up and shredded through your house the new bulk size toilet paper you just brought home - 24 double size rolls to be exact – and is covering your living room top to bottom. Or let’s say you are trying to work on a grocery list but you are ignoring your Bengal. Be prepared for that list to be snatched and destroyed the minute you turn your back!

“One of my cats stands up and uses his paws in a scratching, digging motion, on all mirrors, windows, and pictures with glass. He will yowl while doing this. I haven’t a clue why. The same cat will sit in a corner look up, yowl, and then jump up as far as he can.. After that he will run as fast as he can. He is just playing, not sick, or mentally deficient”. “My Bengal takes a flying leap from the top of my shower into the toilet bowl, splashes around for a minute, and then proudly runs all over the house soaking everything in his path.”

5.) As stated above, some Bengals like water, whether dirty water in the kitchen sink, bath water, toilet water, you run it they will come. While some don’t like being forced into the sink for a bath, most just want to play in some form of running water or drink from a sink. Some Bengals are pigs with their water bowl; some use their paw to swipe the surface clean, knocking water two feet in either direction.

“Every morning I get up and take a shower before work. My three Bengals sit outside the shower door waiting for me to get out. As soon as my sliding door opens and the shower goes off, they jump in to play with the leftover water. As I’m putting makeup on, one sits at my feet playing with my toes, one sits in the sink yowling until I turn on the water for her to drink from and our baby waits on the corner of the counter waiting to try and snatch my hair bands, eyeliner or whatever she can carry off to her own bed. I should mention all three are purring like crazy. If I try to lock them out.. Its mutiny! All three with cry and bang on the door to be let in.”

6.) Bengals have large, strong claws and large feet. They use their front paws to pick things up. When they land on your shoulder or back and feel they are off balance they dig in. Some love a form of wrestling where they nip and bear hug your arm or hand as a form of play. (Claws sheathed of course!)

“Two of my females love my husband’s feet and hands. It’s the weirdest thing; they will be in “high octane” mode, running around then stopping on a dime. They run up to my husbands feet and proceed to “attack” his big toe. If he says ouch, they will start licking them! Only to bite them again and run away. They and my husband find this hilarious!”

7.) Bengals are night owls. Bengals don’t like shut doors when they want in somewhere. They will either talk until it opens or leave scratches on the wood. Bengals like to sleep with their people, either under or over the covers. Some sleep on their owners, anywhere from the head to toes.

Nightly/daily races are a Bengal pastime. They zoom at the speed of sound with their tails all puffed up, sending area rugs askew as they race through the bedroom, across the foyer, up the 8’ cat tree, around the loft, down the spiral stairs where the lead changes and now the chaser is the chasee. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

“We adopted a 6 month male Bengal, we were amazed at how quickly he adapted with a little patience. One morning around 1am we could hear him running around our kitchen, living room, stairs.. knocking stuff over. We got out of bed to see what was wrong! We find him racing at top speeds with this huge puffy tail. My husband started chasing him all over trying to catch him! We thought he ate something bad.. got hurt.. was in pain! Finally after going 4 rounds and not succeeding we sit down trying to call to him. He stops.. (mid run).. calms down and jogs over to us purring. In the morning we called a local breeder and vet only to have them laugh at us.. “That’s a Bengal!” Now we enjoy his Bengal 500 runs.. with his newly adopted Bengal sister!”

8.) Bengals are smarter than your average cat. Some things they have been know to do is: break into human food, open doors & toilets with paws, fetch like a dog, and get to and from places that were never meant for cats.

“We used to have a stud we called AG. When he got to be 6-7 months, he started smelling and acting like a male, so we put him in our sunroom, which is equipped as a stud pen. For the first couple weeks he cried non-stop to be let back in and then one day, he stopped. We figured that he was busy with his new girlfriends, so we didn't think much of it.  Soon after, we would wake up and notice he was inside. When we got up, we'd put him back out, thinking someone had forgotten to close a door. Several weeks later, we woke up to a cat crying hysterically. We searched the room frantically, looking in every hiding place we could think of, but no cat. One of us noticed a scratching noise in the bathroom, so we searched there as well. As a joke, my brother suggested we should pull up the vents to the A/C since we'd looked everywhere else. So we did. And out jumps AG. He'd been pulling up the grates and using the central a/c as his own personal transit system!”

9.) Bengals can be very vocal. Some are quite silent, some are middle of the road and some are chatterboxes. Not everyone enjoys carrying on a conversation with their animals, but Bengal lovers do!

“Our female Bengal loves following us around the house, she isn’t super keen on being picked up but is a big snuggler. If my husband or I go to the bathroom or leave her sleeping in a room we will know instantly when she wakes up. She starts mildly chittering and meowing until the finds us again. She chitters when I get home; she chitters when I feed her and she meows while going to the bathroom. We crack up and talk to her like she’s our child. Our neighbors think we’re nuts!”

“I rescued a two year old male Bengal a few months ago. He was already an indoor/outdoor cat thanks to his previous owners. I discovered very quickly, this boy loves to talk! He meowed/garbled/chirped/chattered at everything! While he ate, while going potty, while I was sleeping, at the darts I throw, when he wanted in, ect. I live alone and think its pretty darn funny that my cat tells me what to do and when but I’m glad I have no close neighbors.. I’d have noise complaints!”

12.) Bengals are can be very stubborn and very curious.

“We had a Bengal that no matter what we did would continuously jump onto our counters. He would get yelled at, we’d make loud noises-clap our hands, squirt him with water (which he’d enjoy!). Finally we just resorted to actually pushing him off the counters where he’d land with a plop, turn around-glare at us and stalk away majestically. This is the same Bengal that will not enjoy being picked up and cuddled with until we ignore him. Then he’s all over us. He’s such a diva.”

13. Bengals wear their heart on their sleeve.  They seem to be sensitive to change or strong emotions, especially if bonded well with an owner.

“We had an encounter recently where we were checking into an rv park and everyone was making over the Bengals, so my husband let Duma out of the truck to show him off.  There was a large dog there that was very docile, but came right up to Duma.  Duma immediately bristled and hunched up.  My husband decided to save Duma, so he grabbed Duma without warning or having the dog pulled away.  Duma, to say the least became a whirling, twisting tornado of claws right in my husband’s hands.  He throws Duma in the window, making him my problem.  My poor husband is dripping blood.  Luckily, once all the injuries were cleaned it was only scratches.  Duma was horrified at himself.  He showered us with attention that night.  You knew he felt bad that he hurt his humans and I think he was embarrassed that he was so frightened of the dog.  Even the next day, he smelled and licked on the large scratch he had left across the top of my foot.  He’s so well behaved he rarely gets in trouble, but it breaks his heart if he lets you down”.

14.) Without offending some, we’d like to say that every single animal has a chance to be aggressive or skittish. Bengals have got a bad rap for this and we’d like to share some stories both good and bad. Without proper socialization every animal can be skittish around humans, what sometimes people mistake for unsocial can actually is shyness. If you left a dog tied up in a backyard for months, he might be untrusting of people. Always go to a good breeder or foster home that has friendly open cats that they can actually handle themselves or at least be willing to take it slow and be patient.

“I bought a Bengal kitten for cheap off an internet site. She was selling at much less than the normal asking price and I leaped at the chance to get a kitten at half price. When I brought my baby home I knew nothing about properly introducing or isolating her as the breeder pretty much gave me nothing to go off of and there were tons of kittens running around her house. My kitten hissed and growled when I tried to pick her up out of the crate. When I let her out she ran underneath my rocking chair and stayed there for hours. I’d try and coax or force her out with treats, food, gentle handling to no avail. She’d only want to stay under that chair. I could not pick her up without being bitten or scratched but I could pet her gently on her terms. Eventually I learned to accept this as her behavior but kept working with her as much as possible. Months passed, she is pretty open with me but will still not let me pick her up, carry her, cut her nails or catch her without treats. Vet trips are a real hassle. When strangers come over she has a flee reaction. I assumed this was normal Bengal behavior since I had heard they could be quite skittish until I visited a colleague who had a Bengal from a very reputable local breeder. His Bengal came to greet me when I walked in! She purred, let me pet her and gave me “head-butts” all night long. I was simply amazed at the personality difference. After awhile though, I had to admit I missed Sasha a bit. This Bengal would not leave me alone! She was into the center of attention and had to be part of everything we did that night. It was amusing and slightly annoying. However, I will never give up on Sasha, but

I think in the future I will rescue or look into a more docile breed.”

“My husband loves purebred anything. When I mentioned I wanted a unique cat, he found me a mini leopard! Aka our Bengal. Unfortunately, my husband also isn’t good with details. We have three children under the age of five. When I pictured a cat, I pictured my children’s snuggle bunny, their dress up playmate, my furry foot warmer,

our beautiful beast laying in the sun.. what I got was an adorable mini terror. Max shredded anything paper, darted around my house like a crazed thing and while tolerates it for a short while does not like being handled by the children. He was never still and was never quiet. He tended to nip when forced into being picked up for periods of time. My husband and even my vet said he must have aggression or anxiety issues. It finally got to the point where we surrendered him to a local Bengal rescue group. Tina was absolutely amazing and really helped us understand that Max was not our idea of a quiet family cat and that is our fault, not his. He is now in a home that is much better suited to his antics and is thriving. We have now learned the lesson of impulse buying and would still recommend a Bengal for a family that likes an animal on the go!”

“We almost didn’t buy a Bengal because of the stories we had heard. We did hours of research, bought a book and visited several catteries before making our selection. Our Bengal, Chico, is the light of our life. He is smart, gorgeous, loving and a fantastic companion. He has never been aggressive; although he did have a bit of kitten play biting stage and isn’t what I’d call skittish. If strangers come over Chico watches from a safe distance away like his cat tree, he will observe, talks to the stranger from a safe distance, then eventually can’t stand it and will come to meet his acquaintance. If you pet him and give him attention.. oh lord! He’s your new best friend for life. I’ve noticed if people quickly walk up to him and force attention on him without his approval.. he’s gone for about 20 minutes. I’d call him cautious if anything but I couldn’t imagine life without him.”

So, if you want a cat who...

is extremely intelligent and can be trained, but will also adapt to subtle cues you give off,
is loving and affectionate, but not clingy,
you can have a unique and developed relationship with,
loves to run, jump and play,
is gorgeous and looks like it stepped out of the wild,
has an easy to maintain,  short coat,
will never bore you
                 ...then a Bengal may be the cat for you!

If you don't want a cat who...

requires time, love and boundaries to thrive,
qants to joinyou in everything you do (and tell you how to improve on it),
requires a lot of playtime with both mental and physical stimulation,
can be destructive when bored,
develops quirky habits,
picks up and learns from subtle cues-- good and bad,
can be extremely vocal,
           ...   then a Bengal may not be the cat for you!

So if these stories made you laugh or intrigued you, congratulations! A Bengal may fit into your household beautifully! If some of these stories worry shock or annoy you, Bengals just may not be for you.

Bengals are a wonderful, exciting, beyond gorgeous breed. But they are not the only one out there. Many wonderful purebred, mixed breeds, shelters, and rescue groups have wonderful companions to offer to you and your family. Don’t be afraid to ask a lot of questions to ensure you are making the right decision for you, your family and your new furry family member.

Put together by Tara Hackett of ToughnMighty Bengals with the help of numerous breeders, friends, pet owners and rescue groups. Thank you everyone for your help and contributions! And as always, once your owned by a Bengal.. no other cat will do!

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To visit BENGAL KITTENS AVAILABLE page Click Me!

To visit brown rosetted Bengals Click Me!

To visit new Silver, Charcoal, and More Bengals Click Me!

To join us: arshiel@mac.com

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