- Joined
- Dec 19, 2020
- Messages
- 311
- Purraise
- 559
I have a seven month old Bengal. Despite her breed, I know little of her background but I do know she was crated with another cat as a young kitten, I'm assuming it was a sibling.
She appears to be a very gentle, affectionate cat. About a week ago, she snatched a stuffed moose and adopted it as her own. It's one of those gangly stuffed animals with long arms and legs and it almost looks like a cat. Sometimes because of those long limbs, for a second I'll mistake it for a cat!
She really likes it. Unlike my dearly departed Aniki and his stuffed tiger, she doesn't drag it around as prey. She cuddles with it, and last night I caught her wrestling with it...exactly the same way two cats will play fight. So I have three questions:
1. Is she trying to tell me something? I know Bengals require a lot of stimulation. She has loads of toys, two cat trees, and I spend several hours a day playing with her. If she wants me to and I am able, I will drop what I'm doing and engage with her. But my work schedule has increased since I got her (since before, actually, so me not being around four days a week isn't new to her) and I wonder if her treating the moose like another cat means he's lonely or if she's just being playful.
2. How are Bengals with other breeds? It was never my intention to get a Bengal. I always loved black cats and never had one but but she kind of fell into my lap and I took it as a sign and adopted her. She certainly is a wonderfully intense cat but I wonder if she might be too much to pair with a domestic shorthair, although I'm thinking that individual personality might have more to do with it than breed as far as compatibility goes...
3. This question is more of a request for an opinion: should I get another cat for her? After decades as a multiple cat owner, I really enjoyed this past year when it was just me and the last remaining cat of my last batch. He got all of my attention and I liked that. When we lost his housemates, he seemed to be really happy being an only cat, and I started thinking about all the positives of being a one-cat owner, most of them having to do with the singular attention a lone cat gets and the closeness that results. I wanted that for this new girl, but I have no idea what she wants.
To be honest, I felt a little guilty when I adopted her because I had been dreaming of that black cat for a while, and I sort of felt like I was letting him down when I got the Bengal. Silly, I know. But I believe in adopting rescues and thought of it as one more homeless cat that lost out on finding a good owner. Now I realize that if my cat is indeed lonely, I can have my black cat after all.
But I'm not 100% convinced I want one right now. Money is tight, and I'm not sure what the future holds as far as living arrangements. Adopting a cat is a big long term responsibility and while I'd like to make my girl happy, I'm not sure it would be fair to the new cat if I got him just for her and not me. Of course I'd love him and give him all the attention he wanted and more, but my heart isn't totally in it right now. The Bengal is still adapting (she was poorly socialized) and I'm enjoying the fact that I can focus all my time on her. Eventually, she'll settle in perfectly, but if she settles in too much, she might be less apt to accept another cat in her home, so I'm wondering if I should decide quickly so I can introduce a new cat while she's still a kitten.
I have a tremendous amount of love and respect for these animals so I'd be willing to put up with the financial strain and time constraints having another cat will bring. But most of all, I want her to be happy and not bored. Thoughts?
She appears to be a very gentle, affectionate cat. About a week ago, she snatched a stuffed moose and adopted it as her own. It's one of those gangly stuffed animals with long arms and legs and it almost looks like a cat. Sometimes because of those long limbs, for a second I'll mistake it for a cat!
She really likes it. Unlike my dearly departed Aniki and his stuffed tiger, she doesn't drag it around as prey. She cuddles with it, and last night I caught her wrestling with it...exactly the same way two cats will play fight. So I have three questions:
1. Is she trying to tell me something? I know Bengals require a lot of stimulation. She has loads of toys, two cat trees, and I spend several hours a day playing with her. If she wants me to and I am able, I will drop what I'm doing and engage with her. But my work schedule has increased since I got her (since before, actually, so me not being around four days a week isn't new to her) and I wonder if her treating the moose like another cat means he's lonely or if she's just being playful.
2. How are Bengals with other breeds? It was never my intention to get a Bengal. I always loved black cats and never had one but but she kind of fell into my lap and I took it as a sign and adopted her. She certainly is a wonderfully intense cat but I wonder if she might be too much to pair with a domestic shorthair, although I'm thinking that individual personality might have more to do with it than breed as far as compatibility goes...
3. This question is more of a request for an opinion: should I get another cat for her? After decades as a multiple cat owner, I really enjoyed this past year when it was just me and the last remaining cat of my last batch. He got all of my attention and I liked that. When we lost his housemates, he seemed to be really happy being an only cat, and I started thinking about all the positives of being a one-cat owner, most of them having to do with the singular attention a lone cat gets and the closeness that results. I wanted that for this new girl, but I have no idea what she wants.
To be honest, I felt a little guilty when I adopted her because I had been dreaming of that black cat for a while, and I sort of felt like I was letting him down when I got the Bengal. Silly, I know. But I believe in adopting rescues and thought of it as one more homeless cat that lost out on finding a good owner. Now I realize that if my cat is indeed lonely, I can have my black cat after all.
But I'm not 100% convinced I want one right now. Money is tight, and I'm not sure what the future holds as far as living arrangements. Adopting a cat is a big long term responsibility and while I'd like to make my girl happy, I'm not sure it would be fair to the new cat if I got him just for her and not me. Of course I'd love him and give him all the attention he wanted and more, but my heart isn't totally in it right now. The Bengal is still adapting (she was poorly socialized) and I'm enjoying the fact that I can focus all my time on her. Eventually, she'll settle in perfectly, but if she settles in too much, she might be less apt to accept another cat in her home, so I'm wondering if I should decide quickly so I can introduce a new cat while she's still a kitten.
I have a tremendous amount of love and respect for these animals so I'd be willing to put up with the financial strain and time constraints having another cat will bring. But most of all, I want her to be happy and not bored. Thoughts?