Life with a Bengal Kitten

      I picked up Ben on April 5th, 2010, knowing I would have some new experiences in raising a Bengal cat.

     After talking with the breeder for many hours I finally made the decision to bring Ben home with me. My grandson and I traveled to South Florida and again spoke with Lori about raising Ben, He was a special little breed and when my grandson and I met him we certainly were happy we had decided to go get him.

    He is a beautiful little guy with an excellent attitude. He was quarantined, by me, for 5 days in a room where he would not get into trouble with a 7 year old female cat that which had been in my household for the past 5 years. Shadow had got my attention and seemed to be very jealous if I did not give her attention every time I walked in the door. I didn't know if Shadow would accept Ben into the household. The day I walked into the house Shadow was awaiting for me and when she saw Ben gave a big hiss and headed off to my bedroom.

   Ben seemed to accept his detention very well. I provided his food and litter box right there in the room. As I closed the door on him the first night I could see we were already warming up to each other. His big eyes just stared at me as if to say. "when will you be back." I looked at him and hated the fact I would be leaving him alone in the room all night. The next morning I was up early and went straight to the room to check him out. He was bundled up in my office chair with a blue huggie wrapped all around him. He looked at me. quickly jumped up trying to get out of the huggie and toppled off the office chair to the floor. He immediately got up and walked over me, meowing and showing me he was glad to see me.

   One day I went in to check him out and he had got himself stuck on a racetrack I built that had NASCAR race vehicles on it. I still cannot figure how he jumped up there. It was a four foot jump straight up. I was lucky, as he didn't dump any of the race cars to the floor and break them. I guess I will have to watch the model "tall ships" in my living room, as he might want to sail off on me.

   The first day Shadow made about 10 trips to the base of the door where Ben was staying. She didn't seem to be warming up to Ben as fast as I had. I would go in a play around and pet Ben several times each day. Ben would always be happy to see me and would just wait to see how I wanted to play with him. Throwing a few little mice at him and rolling a small ball on the floor was his favorite things to do. He would come over and roll around in my lap as I sat there playing with him. Of course he was always purring while I was around. Every once in a while Shadow would appear at the door and Ben would run over as if he wanted to meet her. She would greet him with a hiss and put her paws up wanting to go a few rounds with him.

   The days went by and I would visit Ben every day making sure he was eating and taking care of himself. He was always ready to embrace me when I walked into the room. He would rub up against my feet and talk to me like I was a long lost friend just coming home from the wars. He was purring even louder every day. I would sit down and just play around with him hoping that when the time came for him to leave his room I would not have any trouble with Shadow. Our nemesis was also in the background wondering when when this little stranger would be able to get out of his jail, even though she had walked into Ben's room a couple of times and tormented him by being there.

   The day of release finally came for Ben, I was taking a day off so I could monitor the situation as it evolved. Ben walked out and looked all around the house. Shadow sat up on a counter and watched him like a hawk. Everyone seemed tense wondering what would happen next. I was fixing the breakfast for the two and decided to put Shadow's breakfast on the counter and feed Ben on the other side of the room. Ben jumped up on the counter and sat two feet away from Shadow as she was eating. The air surrounding the two was rather tense as Shadow looked up at him with a peculiar look. I watched as I let them sit there. Shadow finished eating and walked away without the first hiss. She went over a laid down on the floor. Ben jumped down and walked over past her on his way to his food. They looked at each other and nothing serious happened.

    Today Ben and Shadow get along fairly well. At times Shadow gets upset with him when he tries to jump across two chairs, while they are running from one bedroom to the other, and he lands on top of her or close by coming out of the air like an eagle screaming down on a mouse for his evening meal. There are times when Ben gets cuffed a little bit more than he expects because he annoyed the "old lady of the house." There still may be some issues between the two, but I think they are working it out.

   Two days ago Ben came meowing to me. It seemed like the fur around his mouth picked up a different color. I picked him up and looked at him and, sure enough Ben looked like he ran into some kind of a claw. He was bleeding a little and wanted some attention. I washed it off  and put some ointment on it. It was in the evening and I was sitting around watching TV. Ben just sat on my lap the next couple of hours sleeping while I watched the basketball game. He now watches for times when he can sit on my lap and get petted or just play around with me or something to keep him busy.

   Ben is a good eater. All I have to do is clink a spoon on a glass dish and here he comes. He gets the first scoop of food out of the can into his dish. Of course after I fill his dish I fill Shadow's and walk it over to her wherever she is waiting. Ben also prefers Kentucky Fried chicken, the traditional cooked chicken. I now have to save some slices of chicken for him and Shadow if I eat a meal there.

   It is a lot of fun when I am working around the house. This weekend I have been doing some carpentry in my kitchen. Of course, I have been looking at Ben all day today while he watches me work. Shadow is getting old and sleeps a lot, so Ben has found himself a new hobby. Watching a human work.

   As life goes on and when I come home I usually find Ben sleeping on the top of a couch looking out the window. If there is any noise outside he can check it out. He really gets excited when another cat comes into my yard or a bird lands on the patio. Tonight as I was watching him he was so excited about something being outside that he fell off the top of the couch twice, down in back of the couch.  He came flying out and back up the back of the couch to the window. As he stood up into the window he lost his footing again and fell in back of the couch. Ben seems to be a little bit clumsy, but I guess that is all in growing up. I guess he gave up on the idea, temporarily, as he just came around to the front and sat down watching the big screen for awhile. I thought he would jump up in front of the TV  and start trying to grab the basketball as it sailed around, but the falls must have tired him out.

   Now I have competition for that window and some of the views it provides. I usually have to give way to Ben when my "hot" divorced neighbor comes home. She asked me the other day if I had a new cat in my home. She saw him in the window the other day. I hope it wasn't me she was talking about. I now know she is watching if those blinds are moving around.