Food | Indoors or Outdoors | Cat-Proofing Your Home | Cat Claws

"What exactly IS a Bengal, anyway?" The Bengal breed originated by crossing a wild Asian Leopard Cat (ALC) to a domestic housecat. The outcome is a stunning wild-looking cat that is also tame like a house cat. They are sleek and muscular, and very beautiful. You can find more information on the history of the Bengal on our Bengal Origins page. In this link, however, we will discuss all aspects of caring for this beautiful creature.

Food

Since Bengals are different than everyday house cats, they require more than just grocery store cat food for their diet. We give our cats a combination of certain veterinary recommended dry biscuits, other high quality foods, and raw, ground whole rabbit. They should always have a ready supply of fresh water on hand.

Indoors or Outdoors

Plan ahead when you bring your Bengal home. Ask yourself - is the cat going to be both an indoor AND an outdoor cat or indoors only? Bengals are high quality cats that are not inexpensive. If the Bengal is allowed to go both indoors and outdoors, how will you protect your investment from getting run over by a car, or from mating with random neighborhood cats, or from getting stolen? Will they have protection from the weather elements? Protect them from fleas and worms by asking your veterinarian what treatments they recommend for prevention of these bothersome pests. Furthermore, are there any neighborhood animals which may pose a threat for your Bengal, such as a mean dog?

Cat-Proofing Your Home

There are many things you must do to make your home cat proof, or at least, more cat friendly. First, check out this page at the Cat Fancier's Association to see a list of house plants that are poisonous to cats. It is extremely important you check this list before bringing home your Bengal, as there are numerous plants which could cause death for your cat. Next, Bengals have a strong fascination with water. At Owlsdene Bengals, I advise you to leave your loo seat down at all times to keep the cat from falling into the toilet and drowning. Bathtubs with standing water left in them are also very dangerous.

Bengals love to play, and will find all sorts of small household items to use as toys. If you have small children in the home, toys with lots of tiny pieces can be dangerous to your cat. Bengals love to bat these small objects around the house, often chewing on them as well. If your cat swallowed any of these small bits, they could choke and die. Or, this tiny toy (let's say a Lego, for example) could cause injury passing out the other end in the cat's feces. Even objects such as marbles or paper clips should be kept out of a cat's reach.

Cat Claws

It is in a cat's nature to scratch things with their claws. In order to protect your furniture from getting destroyed by cat claws, you will need to have some sort of scratching post or toy available for your cat to claw on inside your home. There is a very wide variety of cat scratching posts available, both in pet stores and form online distributors specializing in such creations. Find one or two that agree with both your budget and the space in your home.

In addition to a scratch post, your cat's claws need to be trimmed about every two weeks. You will know it's time to trim them when you are playing with your cat, and get scratched in the process! Getting a cat scratch on an arm or legs can often be painful, as the scratch can be accidentally deep. Be sure to put an antibiotic ointment on the scratch along with a plaster to reduce the risk of infection from a scratch.

How to trim your cat's claws:

You will need a small pair of claw trimmers or wire cutters. Hold the cat on your lap, with its back against your stomach and the paws facing out front. Give it some cuddles at first, then carefully take a front paw in your hand. Put some gentle pressure on the back side of the dew claw and trim it, making sure to stay in front of the pink part. The pink part actually has blood inside, so cutting into this bit will cause the cat to bleed. Keep trimming all the front and back claws this way. If you do accidentally cut into the pink part and your cat begins bleeding, quickly wrap a paper towel around the paw and squeeze it gently for a few minutes until the bleeding stops. If the bleeding seems especially bad, call your veterinarian. For beginners at the cat claw trimming process, having a partner on hand to help hold the cat may not be a bad plan.