Bengal Troubles

[zerosoma33]

Kamikaze (as we have named him, due to his insane energy and running into/over/under things) has been sort of a problem child since we got him 18 months ago. We bought him from an independent non-professional breeder but he isn't officially licensed. We got him at age 1 month. I'm guessing he didn't have proper training/handling/socializing during that first month.

When we first got him, we could barely see him. He would hide in the deepest crevice under the darkest piece of furniture in our spare room. It took 3 days for him to even sniff our hand and then would run back under the couch. He meowed constantly. CONSTANTLY. He eventually warmed up to where we could finger-pet him, and we tried to pick his little body up with no luck. He scratched both my wife and I very deep and basically scrambled out like his life depended on it. He didn't come out again for another 2 days.

Fast forward to modern day. High energy, high socializing with other cats, but he still runs whenever a human approaches. If you catch him during a nap, you can pet him and he'll start purring very loudly but as soon as he realizes what's going on (being violated by a hoooman), he darts straight up from dead sleep and high-tails it to a safe distance.

His bubble is roughly six feet from a standing human before he decides to run. For a sitting human he approaches cautiously in a wide-angle fashion (left to right, looking for the safest way to approach and the clearest way out), until the sitting human makes a noise and he darts, then returns.

He went through a period where he pissed on everything he could find. I wanted to kill him. We got him neutered and the pissing went away eventually but we have found territory marks (maybe 2 in the last 6 months). He has no conception of other cats' personal spaces and will bounce like a pinball from one cat to another (we have 4 total). We adopted another cat specifically so he had a play partner and she is the same age and has a high energy level too (DLH) but gets tired of his antics and starts screaming/gurgling when he pins her down. It's literally the worst sound in the world. So he goes to another cat, hiss, growl, run, repeat. Then when he's exhausted all the other cats or we start yelling for him to stop, he starts howling or crying like a baby very loudly for up to 5 minutes.

The affection he does show is VERY particular :

1. I have to be reclining on one section of the sectional, which he then joins my "feet" and begins snuggling and purring intensely, sometimes laying down on my ankles (although if I move or make a sound he darts off instantly);
2. I have to be in the basement sitting in the black office chair to which he then snuggles with my ankles and purrs loudly but if I get up or reach my hand down, he's up the stairs and gone. Also it's funny because he will run up, then run halfway down to check if it's ok, repeat;
3. I have to be laying in the bed on my back and he rubs his chin on my tippy toes;
4. He runs on his wheel (which he beckons us to watch him and tell him we are proud of him...) and after he's exhausted he falls over sideways and meows at me to pet him with my hand which is the ONLY time this happens. The petting session lasts between 10 seconds and one whole minute.

I read stories about Bengals being affectionate cats but I don't see it. He's my least favorite cat but by far the prettiest. He is literally the most frightened cat I've ever seen in my life. He sees his shadow on the wall and jumps. Any creak in the bed, normal house sounds, a door opening, a tap on the countertop, he will stop, slink, and look with eyes wide open before running from the sound.

His obsession with feet is disturbing, and his fear of hands or movement or sound is frustrating. I'm not really sure what to do. We play with him constantly, but when play time is over, he's crying again.

Ugh.

 

[ArtNJ]

I can't comment on the other stuff, but it is not uncommon for cats to start with spots/conditions for petting. There is a trick to helping such cats become more affectionate, and if you don't know how to do it, you may not make progress. What you do is work on gradual expansion. To do that, you have to respect the cats boundaries and start with only doing what, when and where the cat allows. However, you can be clever about it, using the spots the cat likes to interact with you to link signals that you can use to link other spots. For example, start using a call noise on the black chair and sectional to get his attention and get him to link that with goodness. You can also add a tap to signify where the cat likes to go anyway. Then you can use the same noise & tap in a different chair/couch. You can also try working in giving treats in the spots where the cat is willing to approach you, then shaking the treats while making the noise in a different spot. You get the idea - its analogous to courting someone a tad odd that doesn't trust you much - at the beginning of the courting process, you might need to pretend to like opera, insects or god knows, but if you go super slow you might eventually be able to eventually introduce the object of your affections to other activities. Going super slow and working on expansion does usually work over time, sometimes dramatically, but usually at least to a degree. Trying to force it by grabbing, holding down or picking up doesn't.

Once you get expansion working, it tends to snowball as the cat starts to trust you more and expands on its own. For example, we adopted a 3 year old stray that we found in our yard, and she started skittish. One thing she was willing to do was crawl on my wife's chest while in bed. So we encouraged that, I layed in the same spot, we used a noise and tapping, and ported that to the couch in the living room. Fast forward, and one day she surprised me by crawling on my stomach when I was on the floor stretching for a run. She is quite affectionate now, no sign of the stray left, but it took a lot of patience and she has kept some of the oddball behaviors we encouraged along the way like wanting to lay on you, and still liking the back of the chair behind my head as much as a lap (lap took a longgg time...had to do the "behind the head" petting for months).

 

[Desertmouse]

Hmm does he have a favorite treat? Is he very food motivated? I haven’t had a cat like yours before (I tend to leave toward lap cats mor then play buddies) but what I would try in your place is I would start by asking someone to take the other three cats and hanging out in another room with the door closed, then I would get the treat he likes best and make a trail leading up to a place I would be sitting on the ground. I would be doing something quietly (using a tablet or reading, something I can do with one hand) and lay one hand on the ground next to the last treat, maybe even putting a treat on top of my fingers, keeping my hand still and relaxed. I would then do my best to ignore him. The goal of all this is to have him approach your hand and get a good sniff in, as well as to start associating it with good things (treats).

 

[rubysmama]

I'm not familiar with Bengals, so don't know if any of his traits are breed related, or not. Therefore, I don't know if these general TCS articles will apply to your cat or not. However, hopefully there will be some tips that may help.

How To Get A Cat To Come Out Of Hiding?
16 Top Cat Experts Share Tips For Dealing With Timid Cats
10 Must-know Tips For Happy Living With A Shy Cat
14 Cat Experts Reveal: How To Get A Cat To Like Me

Plus, one on bengals:
Bengal Cats

 

[Monk'sMom]

I'm no Bengal expert. But what occurred to me when I read your post was that the pivotal line is "..We bought him from an independent non-professional breeder..."
Could your cat be not enough generations removed from the wild Asian leopard cat ancestor and thus basically not fully tame or tamable? Bengals are licensed as pets only once a few generations of breeding with domestic cats have completed. Your cat sounds like a second generation rather than a fourth. (Quoting Animal World Information Resource: "Once separated by at least four generations from the original ALC × domestic cat crossing, the breed's temperament resembles that of a domestic cat.")
Regardless, he is keeping you on your toes if you manage not to lose any. What an adventure.

 

[danteshuman]

I agree with Monk'sMom . I would add that your other cats may appreciate a safe cat room, where they get a break from him a couple hours every day. My hyper cat needs play & outside time. Normally when talking about a Bengal I would recommend harness training ..... but given you can't really pet him, I would suggest a catio. The largest cat run you can build/hooked up to an entrance or two through a window, so he can go out as often as he needs. Then feeding birds/ a small fountain so he can 'hunt' birds daily. Puzzle feeders that you change/create a new one every couple of weeks should help tire him out mentally. Some cats need to work for their dinners.

In your case I wouldn't have bought from an unlicensed breeder I didn't thoroughly vet before hand (to see how they are treating the mom & proper socializing the kittens.) Spilled milk and all that.

I would look up everything about socializing feral cats and start from there. You need to respect his boundaries and let him come to you, so he feels safe. Let him learn how great people are from your other cats. Cats learn from watching other cats! Your other cats may be a bridge for him.

He will appreciate all the cat trees & cat shelves you can give him.

 

[Kieka]

I'm no Bengal expert. But what occurred to me when I read your post was that the pivotal line is "..We bought him from an independent non-professional breeder..."
Could your cat be not enough generations removed from the wild Asian leopard cat ancestor and thus basically not fully tame or tamable? Bengals are licensed as pets only once a few generations of breeding with domestic cats have completed. Your cat sounds like a second generation rather than a fourth. (Quoting Animal World Information Resource: "Once separated by at least four generations from the original ALC × domestic cat crossing, the breed's temperament resembles that of a domestic cat.")
Regardless, he is keeping you on your toes if you manage not to lose any. What an adventure.

This exactly is my response. Unscrupulous breeders are known to sell early generation cats to unsuspecting people because they are less desirable. The age you got him was too young to leave Mom but he should have adapted to humans well. I really don't know if traditional socialization methods will work for a cat who it too close to wild.

I'd agree with the advice for an outdoor catio and focus on making him comfortable. With time he may be more comfortable around your family. I know my feral girl took a good two years to be more comfortable around anyone other than me (aka not running and hiding with every stranger) and she gets better with each passing day.

 

[zerosoma33]

Thanks for all of the responses! I will try the suggestions listed. He just curled up onto the recliner part of the couch now - he can be so affectionate sometimes! Key word being sometimes, lol!