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- May 22, 2021
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A while back, I adopted two DSH cats - a 3 yr old male and 2 yr old female. The female always wants to play but the male is very laid back and calm. Feeling bad for my female DSH, I recently bought a bengal kitten to be her play partner. The bengal is an 8 month old male. All cats are spayed/neutered. Unfortunately, my female DSH will not play with the bengal, his energy seems to have overwhelmed her. I did put my cats through a lengthy introduction process and my cats were completely fine with the bengal five months ago when he was small and weak and constantly napping (the female DSH even used to groom him!) until he grew bigger and started playing rough (jumping on them while sleeping, chasing and hunting them). Now my cats are wary of the bengal. The male DSH especially hates him, and will swat or hiss if the bengal even walks by. This just provokes the bengal to chase him, though the bengal does not discriminate and will also hunt my female DSH.
Ever since my male DSH got diarrhea from the stress, I have kept the bengal separated. I have an indoor screen door dividing the apt in half. Why can’t I always just make sure the bengal is conked out and tired as per Jackson Galaxy’s advice? Because it’s impossible. I would have to play with the bengal 12 hours a day to keep him continually knocked out and disinterested in my other cats. I walk the bengal daily for 1-2 hours, and play with each cat 30 minutes a day. After a walk or play session, the bengal will sleep for 30 minutes and is at full power again. I have tried feliway and it seemed to do nothing.
I now divide my time between the bengal and my other cats. All three cats are extremely affectionate and want to be with me 24/7. Not to mention the inconvenience of having to zip open and closed the screen door 20 times a day. My relationship with my male DSH has also worsened, he is absolutely my favorite child and used to love being picked up and cuddled but now he will whine if I try to pick him up while the bengal is nearby (because of the many times I had to break apart a fight and pick him up and separate him). He has also stopped sleeping by my side belly up.
Does anyone have a success story introducing a bengal with a lower energy resident cat? Will my bengal calm down as he ages? Worst case, I will keep them separated for the rest of their lives. But I would really like them to be able to have free range of the entire apt and be with me 24/7.
Ever since my male DSH got diarrhea from the stress, I have kept the bengal separated. I have an indoor screen door dividing the apt in half. Why can’t I always just make sure the bengal is conked out and tired as per Jackson Galaxy’s advice? Because it’s impossible. I would have to play with the bengal 12 hours a day to keep him continually knocked out and disinterested in my other cats. I walk the bengal daily for 1-2 hours, and play with each cat 30 minutes a day. After a walk or play session, the bengal will sleep for 30 minutes and is at full power again. I have tried feliway and it seemed to do nothing.
I now divide my time between the bengal and my other cats. All three cats are extremely affectionate and want to be with me 24/7. Not to mention the inconvenience of having to zip open and closed the screen door 20 times a day. My relationship with my male DSH has also worsened, he is absolutely my favorite child and used to love being picked up and cuddled but now he will whine if I try to pick him up while the bengal is nearby (because of the many times I had to break apart a fight and pick him up and separate him). He has also stopped sleeping by my side belly up.
Does anyone have a success story introducing a bengal with a lower energy resident cat? Will my bengal calm down as he ages? Worst case, I will keep them separated for the rest of their lives. But I would really like them to be able to have free range of the entire apt and be with me 24/7.