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Ben, owner of a 4 year old Bengal Female tells his
story.....
I bought Lily as a young kitten from what I now know
was not a good breeder. The kitten was too young and I was told Bengals
are easy cats that get on with other cats and are very clean. I have since
discovered this is not true. Lily was fine at first and then started
messing all over when she was about 15 months. This was intermittent at
first then got worse. I found a behaviourist through my vet but I don't
think she actually knew anything about the breed.
Everything I was told to do I did but it didn't make much difference. I used a
diffuser, different litter and trays in different places and she just continued.
When Lily was about 2 it had got a bit better but I moved
house. I was in a flat with a small walled courtyard and my shifts had
changed too. Lily got very bad. I would dread walking into the
house. She would have weed in several places including a leather recliner
chair that eventually stank so bad I had to throw it out. I had no
cushions on the sofa because she weed on them every day. She would
also do it after I got home so I had to just put old towels and newspaper on
them.
I love Lily and I didn't want to get rid of her but I
couldn't have people round. When I got home I would put her straight out
into the yard but she would cry at the patio doors to come in and then the
second I wasn't looking she would mess. My vet thought she was incurable
and this went on for almost 2 years. She is a loving cat and I love her a
lot but I had to throw out furniture, stop friends coming and almost hated her
at times.
I spent a fortune on trainers. The vet recommended one
who suggested things like Chinese herbs, to no avail. Another one came and
said the cat was stressed but had no idea how to cure it. I paid for a
second visit when she said she'd never seen one this bad and Lily actually bit
her when she tried to examine her. This sent the trainer into a frenzy and
she told me the cat needed to be put down.
In desperation I rang Bengal Rescue and Sarah told me to
speak to Debbie Connolly before doing anything. Debbie was reassuring and
came to see us. It was so different from previous trainers. She is
totally straight forward, told me off about the things I made a mess of and gave
me a long list of things to do. She prescribed some Bach Remedies for
Lily, correctly identified that the yard had been invaded by another cat even
though she didn't see it and Lily adored her.
I was warned that nothing was a quick fix but I understood
what to do when I came home, where to leave Lily, what food to feed and how to
give her proper attention. Although it made sense after my previous
experiences I was sceptical. I needn't have been. Within one week
Lily was clean. She had relaxed, seemed much happier and was happy just
hanging around. Lily has never messed again apart from an odd accident
when not well. I have a new sofa! I have friends round and I almost
can't believe the way we used to live. To think I almost gave Lily up is
frightening. Please help your cat.
Ben 2006
Claire owner of Thomas a 2 year old male moggy
When I got Thomas I already had a female cat called Tia.
She was fairly quiet and gentle and when she was about 2 years old I decided to
get her a kitten friend so I got Thomas. He was a cheeky kitten, the
boldest one in the litter and I just thought he was funny. I didn't know
then he was too young at 6 weeks to be leaving his Mum.
I have two kids who loved Tia and played gently with her
without problems but it was quickly apparent that Thomas was different. He
bit he children enough to draw blood even when young and didn't like to be
picked up. Stupidly I told the kids to stop annoying him and basically we
all stopped picking him up, examining him and most other things he didn't like
as he could be quite aggressive.
He started stalking the kids and eventually me too. He
would run out from behind things and latch onto you with teeth and claws.
Any attempt to discipline him was met with a snap and he would try to bite you.
In between this he was lovely, constantly involved with everything, screaming a
lot for attention, jumping on your knee. He seemed like Jekyll and Hyde
and we really thought there was something wrong with him. Truthfully we
became quite frightened of him.
Then he got worse because he started attacking Tia. She
had never been fond of him and generally just kept out of his way. I first
noticed him hissing a lot at her and occasionally striking her with his claws.
Tia gradually lost a bit of weight and started hiding. One day as I was
coming down stairs I saw him run down the hall and attack her. She was
screaming and I got bitten trying to get him off her. I was shaking and
threw him into the downstairs toilet whilst I took Tia to the vet. She
needed a stitch in a nasty wound to her head. I just cried all night and daren't
let Thomas out. Eventually I had to and I kept Tia in my bedroom.
Next day I spoke to the vet and they recommended rehoming
Thomas or seeing a trainer they recommended. I didn't want to part with
him so we tried the trainer. He came and said we'd been too soft and
should have sorted Thomas whilst young. We had of course figured that out.
He suggested some handling of Thomas but didn't seem to want to show us with the
cat. I said I was honestly afraid to touch him in any way apart from a
stroke and the trainer said that was stupid and I'd have to toughen up. He
still wouldn't show me with the cat though. So he left and I felt a bit
stupid and I was scared to let the kids touch Thomas as I was scared myself.
Thomas reacted badly to the handling and I was just too scared to do it properly
which made me feel like an idiot. I decided Thomas had to go and the kids
were devastated.
I rang a cat rescue who weren't keen on taking him because of
his aggression which stunned me. I had never thought I wouldn't be able to
give him away. Then I thought I'd have to put him down which just made me
and the kids cry. My mother came and said we were stupid and that he had
to be put down before he hurt a cat or person again and I felt like s***.
So I rang another rescue and could hardly explain for crying
and they suggested Safepets and told me to ring Debbie. I wasn't keen
after the previous experience of a trainer and I didn't want to give the kids
false hope. But the alternative was worse so I rang her and she came to
see Thomas. She was very critical of us and what we'd done! But it
showed it wasn't all Thomas's fault and maybe that meant it could be stopped.
At one point he tried to tell Debbie off and went for her and she tapped him
sharply and he backed off! I was stunned. She showed us all how to
stop him, how to gradually teach him to be picked up and how he was to get his
affection. We realised he was very understimulated and Debbie showed us
how to play properly with him and wear him out mentally.
There was also a lot to do to get him safe with Tia, but we
followed that through, even caging him as told although we felt sorry for him at
first! It took a few weeks to feel he really was changed but truthfully he
was improving from just a few days into the new routine. Tia doesn't like
him but she isn't afraid of him and neither are we. Even my Mother
admitted she was wrong! We now live happily and I am so grateful to Debbie
that we were able to keep Thomas and all of have a quality of life we thought
wasn't possible.
Claire 2007
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