A Magic Cat
I’m breaking my rule… with permission from Lorraine, the new mom of a lovely F1 Bengal. I’ve posted a picture of this lovely boy at the end of this post. Additionally, you can see more and hear more about him in The Fabulous Lorraine blog.
Bengal cats were originally developed by pairing an Asian Leopard Cat with a domestic cat. The offspring of this match are early generation (EG) Bengals. The first generation is called “F1”. Grandchildren from the original pairing are “F2”. They are considered domestic cats by TICA, the entity that registers and shows them when they are “F4” and further out. They are wonderful cats to have as companions.
Lorraine has just opened her heart to a male F1 Bengal. Originally she was going to foster and socialize him for adoption. We do not want this little guy to go to a sanctuary. The poor little guy had been in 3 different homes before Lorraine took him in. He unfortunately had suffered abuse in one of these homes. The story was that he has litter box issues and does not do well with other cats.
It took about 5 minutes for Lorraine to fall in love and decide that the little one will stay with her forever. Lorraine is providing him a wonderful home. She has the right attitude about him, believing that he is perfect just as he is, even if he never truly trusts a human again.
I am helping Lorraine socialize him and help him feel secure in his new home. The goal is to help him feel safe and to bond with Lorraine. Right now he is terrified and only wants to hide. If he does have litter box issues, I will help Lorraine through behavior modification and some management.
Currenty, he is eating and he is using the litter boxes. For the next week, Lorraine will simply go into his room, put his food down and sit in a chair and read or sing to him. We want him to see Lorraine as the provider of everything good… translation… yummy food… and to become familiarized with the sound of her voice.
She is making progress. The little guy is now starting to feel comfortable enough to put his play mice into the water dish at night. When Lorraine inadvertently steps over his comfort boundary, he’s letting her know with a hiss or a growl. With a little time and patience that will stop.
From time-to-time I will post little snippets about this new little one and how he’s progressing. Lorraine will also be posting on her blog about him.
And… maybe soon, he’ll have a name. … we are leaning towards “Magic”
Lorraine's new friend
That is a very handsome cat!
I'm an avid blog lurker coming out of the woodwork to say that I'm looking forward to reading your posts and learning more about cats and what makes them tic.
I hope Lorraine and Mr. MagicMerlin Dan'Balor can work through his past and get him to see his amazing future. Or as is probably more accurate with cats, see his comfortable and happy present.
Hey Joely...
He's an extremely handsome boy.
Eve,
I'm glad you de-lurked and left me a post. I think it will take a bit of time til Magic feels safe and secure. He can not be with a better person though. Lorraine is purrrfect for him.
What a gorgeous kitty. I've been following him on Lorraine's blog.
I would love to hear more tips on working with scared kitties in general. I volunteer at a busy city shelter and while they have made a wonderful environment for the cats to roam in we get some poor little guys who are very scared. When I was a newbie I did get clubbed in the eye once by a tom in a solo "condo" cage who did not want me getting too close. Claws in, I'll note, because he would absolutely have shredded me if hurting was his intention. I've picked up some behaviors that seem to help but any advice you can offer would be very helpful!
I think that Marilyn and I will make a great team for this Kitty. He is my first F1 and so I have a LOT to learn, and it's a bit scary, in that I really want to do this right, and make him truly Magic and happy in my home. F1's are not Bengals. I am not sure they are CATS, lol
Lizvelrene
At some point I'll post about working with scared kitties.
Hi Marilyn!
So glad to see you're working with Lorraine. I'm another of the EG Bengal "servants" who is following her blog, and giving suggestions, as I think of them. Once you LIVE with an F1 (or in my case two F1's) there is no shortage of stories to tell, and ideas to share.
It's so great to see you have started a blog! This will do so much for the humans in our "cat" community.
No surprise to me. You've been so much help to me, over the years, with my foster cats - and all the suggestions you gave me, when Louie first came to live with me are working - well - except the idea that he would be "adoptable" -- he's HOME here, too (smile)
Thanks for ALL you continue to do!
Thank you LaVon... you are too nice.
The EG cats are so hard to part with. Something about them grabs your soul...
It sounds like you are off to a wonderful start with this boy, and just wanted to throw my two cents in... ( I own 2 registered bengals, one semi-feral and a shelter DLH, those are my only qualifications, and forgive me if Marilyn has already given you this guidance as I'm sure she has.)
Treat him as you would a feral rescue, make certain that there is no eye contact made between you, but if there is, just slowly bink at him twice then look away and pretend like you don't care that he's there.
But keep talking out loud to yourself the whole time. It takes a little while, but the relationship later on is soooooooo worth it! Thank you so much for caring enough to take this time with him and let him come to you on his own terms!
And keep up the great work, Marilyn! Nice blog! 🙂
Thank you Betsy. I also told FabLorraine to sing softly to him...
Marilyn
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