2 different breeds of cats = OK? And other cat questions

[sunama]

Sorry skipped a lot of the last few pages (looking at the piccys too much ) but what have you named the Bengal?

Not sure at the moment. I dont like the generic names like Max, Tigger, etc. I want to give him a name that suits his personality or physical characteristics. Ive only had him for 3 days and so far Ive noticed that he:

is extremely vocal and loud
is brave, bold and fearless (but gets beat up by Reflex)
has fantastic jaw grip (much more so than Reflex)
is very affectionette and friendly
has big paws

How about Bigfoot?

BTW loving the sound of his character trying it on with Reflex Sounds like a plukey little fellow

The Bengal makes a lot of noise. If he is left alone in the room, he screams and shouts at the top of his voice. When Reflex goes to attend he quietens down. At this point he is a little insecure I think. When Reflex attacks him, he screams and shouts - which makes it sound worse than it really is. Reflex stays silent during the playfight. He has chased Reflex a few times today and at feeding time he dominates the bowl. Reflex lets him have the best feeding position, but when feeding time ends, Reflex lets him have it.

 

[sunama]

I had to trick her into eating dry food by hiding it in with meat,

Ive done this with Reflex, but the more dry food I put with the meat/wet food, the less likely he is to eat it. And when I go completely dry, he sniffs it, and walks away.

I think that longer term it's much easier for yourself and your cats to feed dry,

Yep. Not to mention its cheaper too. Wet food has high transportation costs, which the cat owner ends up paying.

 

[sunama]

sunama, what dry food did you try them on, was it for kittens ?

Yep kitten dry food.
James Wellbeloved
Royal Canin
Hills Science
Orijen

When fed on their own, none of them went down well. The minute I brought out the wet food, they couldnt get enough of it.

are you planning on keeping them in full time ?
I only ask because if you do you should consider slightly lowering their calorie intake as they wont burn off as much as a cat outside.

Yep, indoor cats. Once they hit 9-12 months, I will bring down their food intake, though this would depend on their size, their fatness, etc. While they are kittens though, I feel it is important to give them as much food as they want. This hasnt done Reflex any harm.

Oh and before i forget, you may already know (no one told us) you may find the odd tooth on the floor as they approach 20 - 30 old as (obviously when you think about it) they have a milk teeth (as do all mammals)

is that 20-30 months old?

 

[sunama]

Hehehe. The cat tree you mean.

Rotty got one from the same supplier as me.

I got mine off of ebay for about £75 inc delivery. I think mine was the biggest available, but you can get varying sizes. Check out Rotty's thread, as he has pics of it and said that you can pick his one up for around £50.

Goto ebay, Item number: 220231967121.

Obviously if you go for something else, make sure you check out the dimensions of the thing as pictures can be deceptive.

 

[sunama]

Update time.

The Bengal has settled in nicely. He no longer hisses or growls when Reflex wrestles with him. Its all done very quietly now. I would say it took about 3-4 days.

Also, where initially, Reflex really hammered home the point that he is the more dominant, now he is a lot more relaxed and allows the Bengal to chase him and take the lead during their wrestling matches. However, from time to time, Reflex always like to show who is boss.

I might also add that the Bengal has picked up his speed. He isnt as slow anymore. Reflex tends to stand back and let the Bengal play with the toys. All Reflex wants to do now is wrestle with his new playmate - he shows very little interest in toys now.

And here are some piccies of the 2:

Here is one of them sleeping. Reflex still maintains his dominance in that he doesnt let the Bengal sleep in his bed:

And here is one of the Bengal on his own. He has very fine features, looking almost feminine:

 

[sunama]

I probably will move them onto a predominantly dry food diet after they hit 12 months+, however, while they are still growing, I want them to eat as much food as possible, so mal nutrition wont hold them back. Once, they have finished growing, then I can start to reduce their food intake and gradually bring in dry food. The only time I've seen Reflex eat dry food is when he is literally starving and I just dont see them growing to their full potential eating (dry) food, only when starving.

Even now, I do mix in dry food into their wet food, but wet food forms about 85%+ of their diet.

I read on another forum that eating dry food doesnt mean that your cat will have fewer dental problems. That is a myth, however, I havent looked in depth into the dental condition of cats on wet food.

 

[sunama]

I dont believe that the age has much to do with it.

When you introduce a new cat to another cat, who has been living in your home and has claimed territory, then it will do a bit of hissing, growling and maybe some real or fake swiping.

In my own case, I made sure that the 2 cats were bought not too far apart (1 month) and were both young (3 and 4 months old). This ensured that they would be more likely to integrate with eachother better. As it happens, it took them 3-4 days to fully accept eachother. During this time, there was a lot of fighting, hissing and growling, however, at their age, the damage they could do to eachother would be limited.

You, have an older cat. Probably heavier and stronger than mine, which means you have to be careful. Also, your kitten is extremely young, so you need to keep a close eye.

The extreme method of introducing your cats to eachother is to keep them apart in separate rooms and then gradually introduce them to eachother's scent.

Personally, I wouldnt leave the big cat with the young one, unsupervised, until they seem to be getting along fine and your gut tells you its safe.

As an example, the breeder I bought my Reflex from had a 13 month old, big, strong Egyptian Mau. He was totally fine with having kittens rubbed in his face. He didnt even flinch. However, there was a 5 month old Egyptian Mau who was weaker, smaller and much closer in age to the kittens, yet he would growl and hiss at any kitten that came near him.

I think you just need to take your time and use your common sense when introducing the 2 cats.

 

[sunama]

I took them to the vet today.

The Bengal has an eye infection that has been brewing for the past few days, so I got him some eye drops to sort out the problem. Other than that, he is very active and most of the time appears to be the dominant cat (believe it or not). Though when Reflex is in the mood, he is definitely the dominant one and Mr. Bengal can't defend against him.

I can't really come up with a name I like for the Bengal, so I shall just use his pedigree name which is Mr. Bengal.

He is certainly the more vocal of the 2 and was screaming non-stop on the way to the vet, while Reflex just sat and watched.

 

[sunama]

Sunama, I would recommend looking into some pet insurace as vets bills can get out of hand pretty quickly - they would've picked up the bill for the eye infection for starters.

The Bengal who had the eye infection is insured by PetPlan. However, they dont cover the first £80 of the bill. Hence, they will not be paying towards the eye infection.

Insurance really only comes into its own when you are faced with £100s or £1000s.

Insurance also doesnt cover regular check-ups or worming.

 

[sunama]

I took nice 5 minute video of them going absolutely bersserk up and down the cat tree. Unfortunately, it was so long that my camera refused to upload it to my PC

So, I took another video. Its shorter and shows them near bed time, so they arent too active.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZCE_TZeOCU&fmt=18

 

[sunama]

Update Time:

Reflex @ 5 months old:

Mr. Bengal @ 4 months old:

 

[sunama]

Bengal = noisy.
Reflex = hardly talks.

Neither of them have changed in terms of the amount of noise they make, so I think Ace will always be noisy.

When you saw the 2 of them playfighting, all the noise was being made by Mr. Bengal; Reflex was silent.

Another point of note is that Mr. Bengal is at a stage where he is biting everything he can get his jaws around. He literally tries to bite anything and everything. His favourite has to be cardboard. So, if Ace is anything like him, he might also go through this stage. I'm not sure if your previous Bengal cat did this when she was young.

 

[sunama]

oh yes, toes were the favourite

OUCH!!!

 

[sunama]

Yes, Mr Bengal makes exactly those types of cat calls, from time to time. However, if you are saying it gets worse than that, then Mr Bengal is definitely not as loud or frequent in his cat calls.

I actually think that once Ace sees another cat in the house, he will quieten down significantly. I guess we shall find out in a week or so.

Please don't tell me you bought those cats for hundreds of £££

Yep. Pedigree cats cost a lot. Savannahs are looking to go for around £1000 (once they start the UK breeding program) and someone on this forum bought a Pixie-Bob for over £1k, which is about the going rate.

 

[sunama]

Yeah i paid a hundred and fifty each for my Maine Coons, and they were worth it, you get what you pay for, litter trained, weaned, good breeding which usually leads to a better personality etc etc.

You got a very good deal. Ive seen pics of your MCs and they are the real deal. In the London area, you would be looking at around £450/MC kitten.

 

[sunama]

Nottingham isnt too bad.
I had to goto Bournemouth to collect Mr. Bengal. That was a 3hr trip, each way.

 

[sunama]

Update time:

Reflex, aged 7 months:

And Mr. Bengal, aged 5.5 months:

Mr. Bengal, aged 6 months:

Video to follow.

 

[sunama]

Hehehe.

That pic of Mr. Bengal was taken while he was cleaning himself. As I focused the camera, it beeped, he froze and then looked up. I snapped.

Mr. Bengal is very long in the body. Almost snake like. When you handle him, his backbone gives very easily and he almost drapes himself over your arm. Reflex, on the other hand, has a very stiff backbone and when handling him, he remains very stiff.

EDIT: Rotty, I just played the video you posted earlier in this thread of your Bengal making his cat calls. Reflex, who was happily laying down, relaxing, with his eyes closed, immediately got up and started investigating the lounge, to find the cat, making the noise.

 

[sunama]

Its been a while since I updated this thread, so I thought I would do so now with some new pics.

The pics were taken a few months ago. The newest pics are still on my camera, but I shall post what I have:

Mr Bengal:

Reflex relaxing on the chair:

The 2 of them playing fighting games:

And after all that activity:

More pics to come.

Mr Bengal is now a lot larger and fatter.
Reflex's bones have grown but his waist is thinner. He is remarkably thin and lean, while Mr Bengal is cuddly.

Most people actually like Mr Bengal more, as he is more approachable and bold. New visitors will be approached by Mr Bengal, while Reflex remains guarded.

Reflex remains my favourite though.

 

[sunama]

It looks extremely worried.

How old is he/she?