Duma [a silver Bengal from Deer Fern Farms] has just turned three years old. He was neutered at 6 months of age.

For the most part he is a very nice and super intelligent Bengal. However, for the last year or so we have had two issues with him. The first is quite puzzling

1.> When my wife cleans his litter pan - he gets into this Man of the House crazy mode. No growling or anything like that. But he will stalk her trying to get her away from his litter. It seems specifically more intense when she removes his poo from the box. His stalking always ends up at the very least in a definitive challenge. Such as standing in her way as if guarding the path so she can not leave with his prized possession. Or this morning she made it to the toilet on the other side of the house and he came into the bathroom behind her. He didn't attack this time but was on that sort of war path. When she turned and firmly, not yelling but very firm, told him NO he stopped but sat up and swung his paws as if to say "Oh yeah well you come get some of this...". If she doesn't see him coming then he will absolutely come up behind and bite her. Not recently but about a year ago he jumped onto her head and well she ended up in the ER for cuts to her face and head. Now here is the weird thing... to me anyway.. it isn't just her. He will challenge me if I go and pretend to get into his box but that is where it ends. The challenge he gives me is more watching as if he wants to challenge but if I step towards him he leaves the area. At times I will have to give him a NO but normally eye contact is all it takes.

2.> Perhaps this is related to #1??? I'm not certain. He will seemingly routinely bite her when I'm not in the room. Especially if I've went to bed he seems to pick those times to stalk and bite up her legs. He will bite certain company if they attempt to pet him. But other than that it is just her that he chooses to bite. What gets me is that SHE is the CAT person! I don't hate them in fact I even kind of Love Duma but still I'm not someone who leans to cats. Yet since day one he has chosen to cuddle near me on the bed, in my chair what have you. Again I'm not a cat person so it is always when he chooses. Yes, at times I'll pick him up for a quick cuddle and put him right back down. And he is ok with that. But my wife does everything for him. Plays with him [toys not hands, hands are never near him during play], feeds him etc. But she is the one he attacks. Now lately he has been coming and laying down beside her for short spells. But lately he has also been attacking her more often.

Any thoughts or suggestions to stop this behavior would be appreciated.
TIA

Welcome to our forum. I'm sorry you're having this behavioral problem! Cats are very territorial and bengals even more so. You don't happen to know the F generation of your bengal, do you? Most Deer Fern Farms are F9's, so I'm guessing your Duma is not an early generation bengal. Regardless, all bengals have a percentage of wild blood in them. Duma's behavior is not normal to the bengal cat, but every bengal has their own personality. Most bengals are not vicious creatures. But that is not to say they won't attack.

You also didn't say whether Duma is the only pet in your house. Are their children in the home? If it is just you and your wife, then something is really up. Does this behavior occur every single time the litter box is cleaned? Does he only have one litter box? Would adding a second one somewhere maybe calm the situation? I don't know.

I would recommend a vet visit if he hasn't been to the vet in a while. Every cat should go once a year for a wellness checkup (and vaccinations, if recommended). It is hard to put a cat in its place. NO doesn't always work. Hopefully, you spend a considerable amount of time with Duma, play with him, and you are bonded closely with him. Bengals are not your ordinary cats, but even Duma's behavior isn't normal for a bengal.

I think you are looking at these things through kind of a distorted lens, ascribing intentions to actions incorrectly and then making bad assumptions about things.

Bengals are very high energy, and have a very high prey drive and need for stimulation and exercise. If your cat had a bengal playmate, he'd be tearing across the house, chasing, pouncing, putting his "adversary" in headlocks, biting necks, swatting with paws, and doing all sorts of other very rough cat vs cat play. It sounds like he has no such playmate, so your wife is his surrogate playmate, and has to fill that role. The consequence for not having those needs filled adequately is simply that he has to invent his own games that fill that void. And the games he invents may or may not be to your liking! Scolding him is pointless in this case (in most cases). You can't "scold" the need to play and exercise out of him, the answer is to work with him to meet his needs in a way that you both find acceptable.

I think in the short term, the fix would be to simply get out a wand toy and play with him (make him run hard, jump, climb etc) and then you're golden for scooping the litterbox. But in general you probably just need to up the quantity and quality of your play with him. Just hugging him every so often really does very little towards meeting his needs.

_________________
The little monsters 3

Great advice, Brian, but you mean bengals don't like to be hugged? LOL I give mine hugs every single day. He always just stands there and takes them.

Chai (snow Bengal) tried that stuff once. He got time out for five minutes, as I have a cage right in by the litter box. Now he sits and watches. I consider him to be around the 3 yr human area and time outs seem to work with him.

Caging a cat, especially a bengal, is never a good idea. They don't understand "time outs." And it honestly does nothing to solve the situation. When it comes to bengals, they have the upper hand.

Sounds a bit like attention seeking, one of mine bites me when she's bored of me not paying attention to her (that's what I've learnt). She has changed a bit with the passing of time and very kindly taps me on the leg to let me know an "attack" is forthcoming, so I get two false death hugs before she decides to kill my leg. So she's trained me well.

I cannot advise regarding the litter issue. I can only say that my other one, ishka, is highly possessive oh her pelt as she tries to attack the brush after I've brushed her - may be hyperexcitement again?

So all in all... Play more until kitty is exhausted... That tends to be the answer to quite a number of behavioural problems...