My family and I got Luna when she was 13 weeks, she is not overly cuddly but extremely playful. She has always used the cardboard scratchers and has generally not been destructive. I am not sure who she has bonded with, when I am home she tends to follow me around, and she slept on top of me every night since we got her until I bought her a cat bed. She now sleeps in her bed as long as the bed is on my bed. If her bed gets pushed off she'll climb on me and sleep on me. During the day she tends to sleep and snuggle with the dog.

Then Christmas came and the tree with presents, she was leaving the tree alone as long as the ornaments were not on low branches, but any presents under the tree she decided were her chew toys. I was recommended to use a spray bottle of water. After a while she started climbing in the tree. Late on Dec 26, we went to Niagara Falls and stayed there for 3 nights, the dog went to "doggie camp" and I had my niece come and stay at my house with Luna. After 2 nights away my niece called as she started peeing on all the beds in the house, she also started running across the room and leaping at the Christmas tree attempting to get to the top. We came home as soon as we could as I took her to the vet, no UTI. She has just finally stopped peeing on the beds and is using her litter again. (I've had plastic on all the beds and every time she'd run to the bed I would pick her up and put her in the litter box.)

She still seems to be going crazy, she is attacking the kids and the dog at every turn and she has started to try to scale my wall that has damask wallpaper on it, to which she is putting huge gouges in it. My husband is not impressed.

I'm playing with her in the mornings before work as I get ready and I play with her after work or after dinner. She has a cat tree and cardboard scratchers in the house.

I need her to stop destroying my house and what do I do for vacations in future?

You might try using pheromones to calm down the crazy. Feliway and Sentry make wall diffusers with the pheromone in a cat's whiskers. Sentry also has a Calming Collar diffused with this stuff. ThunderEase is now making it too, but I haven't tried it.

I had gotten my 9 year old Bengal from a friend in September who had gotten him from a rescue in May. We are guessing that he was a retired breeder and show cat. With all the changes (including being neutered in May), he had some serious stress issues. These would manifest by peeing/spraying on vents and growling/attacking the other cat.

I started with the diffuser and calming collar, and he seems to stress less and actually gets along well with the other cat now.

Hi and welcome. Here's what I think:

1. The tree... probably a lost cause. Most young cats are going to be hard on a Christmas Tree, but especially young bengals. Spraying her with water will not help, it will only make her resent and fear you. You cannot punish a bengal from wanting to play with ornaments or climb a tree, it's just too appealing. Your only chance is to put it in a room where you can shut her out of.

2. Peeing on beds... It's pretty obvious what that is... she is stressed and doesn't understand why her family abandoned her. Beds are the place in the house where the scent of her people is the strongest, so it's sacred ground for cats. So what she's doing is "marking". She's in effect saying "they belong to me... wherever they are, and I miss them". I suspect that this problem will go away when she gets older, and understands that you do come back.

3. "Attacking" Kids and dog... From about the ages of 3 months to 12 months or so (how old is she now?) bengal cats are going to be extremely rambunctious, and her people are going to get scratched up. That's just the deal when you get a bengal kitten. What's important is to put that in perspective, understand why she's doing it, and making sure you are helping her (and yourselves) through this phase. Bengal kittens are in training to become adult cats. So they have a really strong need to work on all the cat hunting skills. That means ambushing, pouncing, defending, biting, scratching, fleeing, leaping etc. You can't suppress those urges, especially via punishment. She has those needs, what you need to concern yourselves with, is how to help her satisfy those needs as constructively as you can. You should never be saying "no", what you should be doing is saying "here, let's do this other thing instead". The best ways to help satisfy her extremely high play needs:

a. "Da Bird" types of toys (also Neko flies and flying frenzy toys). Having a really high energy session regularly where she has to sprint and jump, and go up and down stairs or other structures is extremely helpful in burning that energy, helping her meet some of her simulated hunting needs, and also bonding with her.

b. playing "fetch". Many bengals love to do this. Try doing it with straws or some of those little soft balls that they sell in pet stores that a bengal cat get their mouth around but are too big to swallow.

c. cat wheels. Many people get their bengal a cat wheel. My cat Serafina loves to use it. It's a talking point when people come to visit it, and she uses it (even at age 7) to go burn off energy.

4. Climbing walls... Bengals love to climb, and once again, you can't suppress their urge, you can only direct it differently. Getting appropriate things for her to climb is huge. It help with all kinds of behavior problems and is yet another way you can help her burn energy. A good cat tree (the taller the better) is a must. I have 4 in my house. That needs to be at the top of every bengal owner's shopping list. But it's kind of just the beginning. Many people also further "catify" their houses by providing other appropriate climbing opportunities for their cat.

_________________
The little monsters 3

Brian has a great grasp on this issue! Thank you, Brian!

Christmas trees are the perfect climbing item for a bengal. I have seen a hundred pictures of bengals in Christmas trees. Many bengal owners do not even put up a tree, and you can find pictures of trees with wiring around them, hanging upside-down from the ceiling -- but one of my favorites is a tree laying sideways on the floor with the cat in the picture and the caption, "it was up for 20 minutes." Now, we know Christmas only comes once a year, so you should be good for 11 months or so.

Now to the behavior issues. You left! You abandoned your kitty. Or at least she felt that way. She acted out. It may have started with the spray bottle. You never spray a cat with water -- it does not solve the problem and lessens the trust your kitty has in your. So, that was strike one.

You didn't mention how well your kitty knows your niece. Someone who visits daily, weekly, or just came in to babysit the kitty! Separation anxiety is a real issue in cats. And we've had this come up before on the forum. Should you have skipped the vacation? Definitely not, but now you need to deal with a cat who is still acting out.

I am going to suggest that you purchase something new for her -- she may be upset you didn't bring her home a t-shirt or something (I am just kidding). But, perhaps another cat tree -- smaller one. Another cat bed. A new toy. Something that may garner her attention for a while.

Outside of that, you might want to talk with your vet in giving her something to calm her down. I hate having a cat on medication. Jackson Galaxy has Spirit Essences which are holistic remedies that people have tried and either loved or hated. You can find them on his website and there are remedies for every kind of situation.

In the mean time, you simply need to keep things calm and collected at home. Keep Luna and the kids at a distance. You may have to do the same with your dog. Also, teaching her the word "NO." "STOP" can also work, but it takes repetition before she may get the jest of what you are trying to say. Do not punish her because cats do not understand punishment. They really have no idea what they are doing is wrong behavior.

Most of all, take the time and have the patience to work this out. If you just think it will happen by itself, you are wrong. Know something else -- when your doggie came back, he smelled like the boarding facility where there were probably other dogs there. When you came home, there were different smells on you as well. And with the fact that she probably spent days looking for you around the home and did not find her support system, it just created a mess!

I really hope things improve so you can stop tearing your hair out! Please keep us posted.

Thank you to you both.
It was my breeder that suggested the water bottle, so I am surprised you both didn't like that.
Luna will be 1 in February.
Luna does not know my neice well, so maybe if were going away I should get her to stay with us more before we go like a transition phase?
We do plan on leaving the dog at home too next time, we thought it would be better one on one with Luna, but now that I think about it, the dog might have been a familiar comfort.

I love the pictures with the platforms on the wall, that looks good.

i have never seen or heard of cat wheels, i will look into those and the other toys.
Thank you!

_________________
The little monsters 3

Hi there

Just thought I'd share my experience on this!

I think definitely Luna needs to be more familiar with your niece. I also think if your niece can cope with the dog, who Luna is very close to, this would help her... Having her best buddy and humans disappear all at once and being left with your niece who she's not fully familiar with was probably the main problem. If your dog was still at home, she would take her lead from her as to whether to be anxious or not.

I have two siblings. They are very familiar with my mum who always cat sits for me. The first time I went away, it was just over night and then I built up to longer times away. They are always much more well behaved with my mum than they are with me, but I'm told they are subdued if we are away. But they have each other to fall back on for reassurance - and they now know I always come back!

With the inappropriate play, stop playing if she starts to hurt you. Redirect her if you can, if not, I used to shut myself away (put myself in time out!) and not let them have access to me. They would calm down and be desperate to be friends when I reappeared. It's worth having a large cuddly toy to redirect her attention to close to hand at all times.

Not sure what to suggest re the damask wallpaper - that is a massive temptation to a Bengal. We only have one place with wallpaper (which fortunately I don't like anyway) and they do enjoy scratching it. All I can suggest is blocking her access to it somehow.

Definitely get a flying frenzy for her to chase, stalk and attack. Teach your children if they are old enough how to play with her with it as well, you need to give her some hard playing sessions to use up that Bengal energy.

You need plenty of interactive toys and kickers and rotate them as otherwise she will get bored. Do you have a play tunnel - my two love charging through that and attacking each other. Catit do some good interactive toys. Treat puzzles are good for keeping them busy as well.

It will be trial and error but you will find something she really enjoys to burn off that energy. My two were horrors at that age. They don't sleep as much as almost fully grown and just look for mischief to keep themselves entertained!

Springs are fab too if you have hard floors that she can chase them around on if she isn't a Bengal who likes playing fetch.

Good luck!!

_________________
Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

_________________
The little monsters 3

What a great topic this has turned into and thank you to Brian and Clare for their input! They have incredible experience with bengals.

As has been said, your niece needs to be more of a fixture in your house for your pets. She needs to visit and take care of the feeding and playing while she is there. Giving the pets attention. They need to love her! I'm sure Luna missed the doggie, too. It was as if everyone had left her.

It just really is hard to reinforce behavior in a cat. We've had questions on how to keep a cat off the kitchen counter. The only thing that works is to pick the cat up and put the cat down on the floor and repeat as necessary. I've never been able to keep a cat off the counter. Distraction is the key. Turn the cat's attention to something else. Toys can help. Most of the time, I just turn the cat around to go in the other direction. Just know if a cat wants to do something, it will do something.

As for the aggressive playing with you -- find some interactive toys the cat can play with on its own. There are many on the market -- not the cheapest things, but Luna may love them. Sometimes my bengal gets so worked up when playing that he jumps on my leg. He never scratches and I have no idea why he does that.

In the end ... all of your hard work will pay off. And you may not see changes overnight, so patience is the key.

My cats get to have my two kids wear them down. I have a laser lght and they run her up and down the hall. We also have a cat tree we hide chicken and tuna on so she has to work for it.

Thought I’d post an update, been trying for a day or 2 and the post hasn’t been working, so I’ll try again.
Luna is doing a bit better, no more peeing on our beds, she still occasionally will on the dogs bed. We’ve got some new toys and she seems to be coming around and hasn’t attacked my wall in a few days!

Thank you for the advice!
I

Keep up the good work. Any slight improvement is good. But, this could take a while. Just keep at it. And keep us posted.

Yes, I know it will be a slow change, but I will take every small step :)