Other Bengal owners coping with inappropriate urination?
 

At first we looked for the usual suspects - bladder infection,
misdirected pain, anxiety. Then we discovered it may just be the
breed, who (bless their little hearts) haven't made the move to
domestication that well.

My first tip-off was a correspondence with Tammy Quist, who runs The
WildCat Sanctuary here in Minnesota
(http://www.wildcatsanctuary.org/Resc...lRescues.html). She says
that the most common "domestic" she receives is the Bengal. She has a
trailer for her Bengals that has been severely damaged by all the
urine, and has had to replace the wiring in the trailer several times.
It's the most common cause of surrender of the breed she's seen.

So, we've done some behaviour modification with Louis. There are some
spots that have caused him stress that we've reinforced positively:
the door behind which we kept the disagreeable stray Henry, for
instance, is a play and treat spot now. He's left it alone for a
couple years.

The remaining spot he uses is a high-traffic spot, where the front
door meets the living room and den, and upstairs staircase. Since my
desk overlooks this spot, I can catch him when he squats - and provide
either a toy's distraction or a less ceremonious plop into his litter
box.

I am thoroughly chastised that we picked a pure-bred instead of a
shelter cat. My reasons are in the archives of this newsgroup. Now
however, we have a beautiful and very affectionate cat that is
reducing our property values (and perhaps the structural integrity of
our front hallway).

I would like to avoid the common advice; keep him locked in a room
till he forgets how much he wants to pee in the front hallway. If
that's what it takes, though, we'll suck up the 100db howling instead
of giving him up.

He's such a wonderful and sweet cat in his 7th year. He's an ideal
companion for our energetic 15-year-old moggie. I can't help but think
if we didn't buy him from the breeder he'd already have wound up at
the pound.

Louis is worth working with - I'm curious what strategies any other
Bengal owners have adopted to mitigate this unfortunate trait.

Thanks!

BLink
"God created all tribes of men, and certainly had a righteous purpose in creating each"
- Geronimo