lil' beans
so, i pretty much suck at making regular blog posts (i have no idea how so many people manage to do it daily), but here is the news: tigerlily and jabari are getting along swimmingly!
there were some rough patches in the beginning, i.e. lots of growling, hissing and keeping of distances. but they moved pretty quickly onto the wrastlin' mania stage and they are now wrestling for play. there is a common fascination with water and an affinity towards all things feathery.
jabari started out as more of the aggressor/instigator, but lily has gotten more confidant and the tides have turned. jabari was initially being somewhat territorial and chasing lily out of the bedroom. he is still quite a bit bigger than lily, but she is standing her ground now and they are both sleeping on the bottom of the bed at night.
jabari is also such a boy! he plays quite differently than tigerlily and looks generally like a bit of a doofus in comparison. lily is very patient, she quietly stalks, then sneaks up on her prey and "kills" it quite thoroughly, finally carting it back to her "den" (the bathroom, i have no idea why). jabari doesn't really stalk anything--he just goes for it. sliding around on the hardwood floors, skidding into the rug (and rearranging the furniture a bit), then clamping on to the toy with his powerful jaw, ripping off a few feathers (or whatever) and then he calls it good. he walks off satisfied only to come skittering back the moment it starts to move again. he is a bull and hilarious to watch! 
i have been claiming victories with jabari in small steps: first trimming a few toenails at a time (they were soooo long), then applying some "soft claws" because he thinks my couch is a giant scratching post (he refuses to scratch the post, or the new catnip scratcher we got for him--this is probably one of the reasons his previous owner decided he was destructive and couldn't handle him) and finally giving him ear drops to treat mites.
overall, he is a great cat--very sweet and funny. it is kind of fun to have a big goofball of a cat bulldozing his way around and i think lily is really enjoying having a companion. my biggest concern right now is that i seem to be much more allergic to jabari than lily (which was basically my motivation behind getting a bengal in the first place), but i think i will adjust and build up a bit of an immunity (fingers crossed). they are a lot of fun and i am enjoying their company.
posted by Nika @ 1:05 PM
15 comments
15 Comments:
Good to see they're getting along - I wish my cats had adapted that quickly! Nice headlock photo too :)
Thanks so much for sharing your gorgeous kitties with us! They really are exquisite, and it's great to hear that they're getting along. I also have one boy and one girl cat, and they do have very different styles. My girl cat is like a little assassin, very stealthy and efficient, whereas the boy is much more haphazard and silly. He's a lot less likely to catch anything than she is, but he's so funny to watch! Mine are still kind of growly with each other after several years (they were both adults when I got them) but lately I've caught them cuddling with each other a little bit when they thought I wasn't looking. I wish you the very best with your little babies!
Absolutely adorable! I have used positive reinforcement with my kitty to get her to use the scratching (she also does it on command, and comes when called). The trick is to encourage Jabari to use the post and reward him with his fave treats immediately after he does it. You may also have to emulate the scratching, and even take his front paws to the post. Let us know how that works out if you try it :)
Sounds like things are going really well! So glad to hear it! I'm lucky with both my cats using the post or scratch boxes, once in a while they will pull on the couch or chair but it's more of in the way of a stretch than destroying the stuff. Oh yeah my boy is a doofuss too, he's so cute!
Oh they look so cute together. And it is great that they are getting along.
Hi, Tigerlily & Jabari - do lots of rasslin' over here, too! I'm Rocky, CEO (Cat Executive Officer) at the new ArtsyCatsy. Come sniff us out and watch my catstaff train our humans to start a business catering to cat lovers! If we make you purr, want to link to each other?
I just can't get over how gorgeous they both are! I've always liked Bengals and have heard lots of good things about their tempermants. So great how well they're getting along!
Those are both beautiful kitties! We boy kitties do manage to look a lot clumsier than our more delicate sisters - I do, anyway!
Glad to hear that they are starting to get along better. Sorry to hear about your allergies, hopefully you will build up immunities.
We are so glad Lily and Jabari are getting along so well! Badness hissed at Scrappy for two days but on the third day, they were the best of friends and have been ever since. Tucker is a different story though.
Both of your cats are gorgeous!
What an amazing coat Jabari's got! You two are bootiful together. An you get along... I reely wish Bonnie was nicer to me. Acourse, it proly don't help that I pounce her so much...
I'm coming over to play with your kitties.
They looks like a lot of fun and lovin'!
my Hobbes, who looks similar to one of your beautiful kitties, also loves water. He insists on drinking it from the tap and plays with it when I brush my teeth. When he was a kitten, he would scoop all the water in the water dish out with his paw, playing with it. Funny. I wonder if all Bengals love water like this. Thanks for sharing your pictures.
They are adorable! It took us a while to get our four cats to like each other and now they are inseparable. Shame about the scratching though we still can't seem to stop them scratching our sofa's to bits.
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