Mirabell Bengal Kitten Care Instructions:
INTRODUCTION TO THE HOME AND BONDING TIME
Once you bring your Bengal home, we recommend that you keep him/her calm and comfortable until he/she becomes accustomed to the new surroundings. We recommend that you first place your kitten in a small area, such as a bathroom or a bedroom, with his/her food, water and litterbox, prior to taking him/her on short excursions throughout the house, until he/she becomes familiar with his/her new surroundings. He/she may cry for the first 48 hours or hide under the bed or other small, dark spaces (make sure you ‘kitty-proof’ the room before bringing your kitten home!). Remember, it is scary for a 12-week old kitten to leave his familiar surroundings! Lure him/her out with teasers and just give him / her time to come out on his/her own and explore. They need to feel secure in their new home.
If your kitten was shipped, please show him/her extra love and attention, hold him/her close and comfort him/her, and he/she will love you for “rescuing” him from the airport. When they arrive at your home, try giving them wet kitten food and see if they will eat it – if they do not, that is normal, as some kittens want to explore the sights and smells of their new house. If you have small children, please caution them against chasing and yelling the kitten. Please show them the proper way to hold the kitten. Bengals are wonderful with small children, and the make great companions. Be relaxed around your new kitten because they will pick up on your nervous energy and anxiety (trust us, we’ve had this happen before – the more relaxed the client, the less issues with the cat!)
Litter Box
Our kittens are used to using a covered litter box or a tall sided top entry litter box. Place the litterbox in the kitten’s bedroom and in the living room (if that is where the family normally gathers).
Do not place the litterbox in the laundry room or another floor of the house hidden and out of sight– the kitten will not find it! The more litterboxes, the better, at least for the first month while the kitten adjusts to its new home. We also use TOFU cat litter and/or Tidy cat litter, so please use the same, at least for the first week or two – if you want to change out to a different type of litter, place one litterbox with the litter that kitten use to and another litterbox with the new litter side by side, while your kitten adjusts.
To ease in your little one’s transition, we recommend that you buy a similar type of litter box. Do not use an automated litter box for your Bengal until they are at least 6 months old! We also suggest that you put litter attractant in the litter to help the kitten find the box. ** ONLY IF THEY ARE HAVING A PROBLEM. The use of this product from the start can actually cause problems.
We place our litterboxes within eyeshot of the kitty’s food and drink bowl. So, when you first bring your Bengal home, try and do the same, so the little one does not get lost trying to get to the litterbox. We also suggest that you show them their litter box first thing upon their arrival, and watch them carefully after they have just eaten or drunk water, to make sure they know where to go.
Our kittens are litter trained when they leave us, but we have found that, in some very rare cases, some kittens find it harder to adjust to their new homes, become confused and have accidents when they arrive at their new home. Please be patient with your kitten. It is more traumatic for some kittens to leave the familiarity of our cattery their littermates than others.
SOCIALIZATION, TRAINING and DISCIPLINE
Bengals are very smart, but they are also very active, so you need to train them early on, to prevent destructive behavior. Do not encourage your kitten to play rough or to “play bite” and this will carry on to adulthood. If you have children, teach them not to play rough with the kitten, because when your kitten is grown up, he will play too rough.
Be firm with your kitten from the very beginning, so they know what behavior is acceptable, and what behavior is not. Reward them with treats for good behavior.
FOOD AND TREETS
Because of their energetic nature, Bengals need a complete and balanced cat food rich in protein (10%+), such as Pro Plan Complete Essentials or Pro Plan True Nature dry and wet food.
Our kittens are weaned on PURINA PRO PLAN kitten formula (dry). Kittens has access to their dry food 24/7, they eat approximately 1+ cup a day. Can food we recommend ones a day before bed time.
If you are planning to change you need to SLOWLY change to the new food (over the course of at minimum 2 weeks) to avoid upsetting the kittens’ digestive system.
If you would like to feed a homemade balanced RAW diet, please find local trusty company or try this recipe: https://tcfeline.com/original-raw-cat-food-recipe/