Perfect Cat Care

Your friend told you of this wonderful breeder in your area and the litter of extremely cute kittens he has. A friend of a friend or your Uncle Harry perhaps, tells you that these cats are the best you can have around you but that they need to be treated like your own children. What kind of cat is this? A Bengal! What is it about these cats that has folks fascinated and causes them to adore these little ones so much?

Well, first and foremost is their intriguing background. These cats are actually the offspring of the first cross breeding of an Asian leopard cat with a regular domestic cat. Some used to refer to this wonderful little animal as the “Leopardette� while others called it the “Bengali�. It appears that we can thank a Mrs. Jean Mill for this cat, since in the 1980s she acquired some of them from a geneticist and then bred them with some feral cats. The results are magnificently spotted or striped animals. Their fur is the first tip off to their ancestry, since it is a very thick pelt that may have spots and sometimes even carrying the signature stripes of the tabby. Colors may vary from the nut brown to a faint tan or gold. These cats actually still have the look of the wild in their eyes, and an enthusiasm for life and exploration to match. Nonetheless, they do have the domesticated cat’s temperament and are a good match for active people and families.

They are small animals, weighing in at less than fifteen pounds, and usually reaching only about eight pounds. One of the most amazing aspects of this breed is its fondness of water. Usually a cat will turn into a hissing ball of fur, claws and teeth if brought within the vicinity of water, yet this breed actually loves to play in water if given a chance!

If you have finally fallen in love with the perfect little kitten, it is time to consider the best place to put her when you introduce her to her new home and family. Ideally, you will confine her to a small room for the first couple of days; this way, she will have an easy time identifying her food dish, what it is that you are giving her as food in the first place, her water dish, as well as her litter box. Additionally, this will permit her to learn which of the accommodations in your home her bed is. By confining her to this small room, you are permitting the kitten to have quick and easy access to all the little things she needs, and she will not have to go looking through a whole big new world for her litter box. The quicker the latter is identified, by the way, the easier the box training will be. Should your kitten instead go off and do her business behind the sofa or under the kitchen table, it will be so much harder to discourage her from doing so in the future, especially since the smell will be there. Similarly, you will want to establish early on if your little Bengal is allowed on the couch, bed, or easy chair, or if she will have to sleep only on her little kitty bed. Since these cats are fond of a soft lap and some snuggling, you may want to consider giving her couch and bed privileges.

Food is another big aspect of pampering your little feline. Be certain to purchase a high quality chow, and also feed at the age appropriate stages. Kitten food should be given until the cat is at least one year old. If you are breeding your cat, you will also want to feed this high fat and high protein mix to your pregnant or lactating cat. Conversely, you may wish to supplement dry food with canned food and by doing so you will offer your kitty a wonderful variety of flavors! Of course, remember that your kitten may become spoiled and may not want to go back to the dry food once she has tasted the wet food. Overall, baying your Bengal is very easy, give her lots of love and attention, some good food, a soft bed, and you will have a happily purring kitten on your hands!

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Just to clarify, when you have your cat declawed, you are actually amputating the first joint of each front toe. This is necessary because the nail bed covers almost the entire joint, and leaving a portion of the claw un-amputated can result in some nasty infections and other complications.

Make no mistake, this is painful for a cat to undergo, and it will take the cat several weeks to recover physically. Typically, declawing is only done on the front claws, leaving the back feet intact; this isn’t necessarily good, as a cat can do massive damage with back claws alone once it clamps onto you with its teeth!

You should not declaw your cat unless you really need to – and there are a few reasons why you should. Here are five reasons given by people to declaw their cats, some good, and some bad.

“He claws up my furniture.” Cats are going to claw things; it is not just instinctive, it is physically necessary for them to keep their claws at a manageable length. There are alternatives to declawing a cat to protect your furniture; you can purchase a scratching post and train the cat to use it, for instance, or you can get claw sheaths that fit over each claw and then clip the cat’s claws regularly.

“He will scratch the baby.” This is a much more valid reason than the cat clawing the furniture. If you have a very aggressive cat, it might be something to genuinely worry about. Not only does a cat scratch hurt, but it also can carry some nasty diseases; cats do use their claws to bury their feces, as I remind my son when he wants to let the cat on the table.

“I’m pregnant and afraid of getting toxoplasmosis.” Obstetricians routinely admonish pregnant women to not change the litter box or handle cats that could scratch them because of the risk of toxoplasmosis. However, the reality is that most toxoplasmosis is contracted by gardening or handling raw meat that is infected with the bacterium. If you have a history of problem pregnancies and a cat that will scratch, this might be a valid reason to have your cat declawed.

“I’m an immunocompromised person, and though I love my cat, I can’t afford for him to scratch me.” This is probably the very best reason to get your cat declawed. Immunocompromised people, whether the issue is organ transplant or HIV, need the companionship of those they love, but a simple cat scratch can cause a raging infection that your body may not be able to fight off. If you do have a problem like this, you should get your cat declawed, but you should also be aware that you cannot let your cat outside after this; it will be at a disadvantage against dogs and cats that don’t have this disability.

“I’m afraid of cat scratch fever.” This is also a valid reason, but it’s usually not a danger. Cat scratch fever is spread by bacteria called Bartonella henselea. It is generally found to infect humans in the cold fall and winter months, possibly because your outdoor cats spend more time indoors. About five percent of the US population have been exposed but have not developed this disease. Symptoms include fever, chills, and a lethargy and malaise, and it’s often mistaken for flu. A more serious form involves swollen lymph nodes that may have to be drained; most of the time, this form is found in people with weak immune systems, and it can kill.

The odd thing is adult cats only rarely transmit the disease; most commonly it comes from the kittens. The bacterium lives in the cat’s mouth and migrates to the claws, but only the claws appear to be able to spread the disease. Declawing kittens at an early age if they’re in a household with an immunocompromised person is the only reliable way of preventing the disease; though kittens with the disease can be screened and treated with antibiotics, the bacteria generally comes back. There is also no record of a person having the disease more than once.

And the one good reason to not have your cat declawed: any cat that goes outdoors is exposed to terrible danger if he or she is declawed. Only get your cat declawed for a good reason, and then be aware that you must take pains that he or she never get out of doors alone and unleashed again.

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