Tex's Story

   Introducing a new cat can sometimes be a difficult experience for any balanced human/feline family. We recently came home with a five year old male Bengal cat who we've had for about a month. He was adopted from a cattery because he is now a retired breeding cat. His name is Tex, and he is 16 pounds of cuddle machine.

   He came to us as a somewhat nervous guy, and in the beginning, we gave him a room to himself so he could acclimate to his new surroundings. His former owner had owned him since he was 12 weeks of age and I can only imagine what a scary experience it was for him coming to a new home. The first day all he did was hide under my bed and wouldn't eat until the second day. It was then that he surprised me and came out for some attention. He is very affectionate but doesn't like to be approached by strangers. In fact, I have noticed that if you approach him standing up he will nine times out of ten, run and hide.

   After some time, we introduced him to our other cat Sushi. She had come to us extremely young, perhaps four to five weeks of age because she is a rescued cat and is the progeny of a local Egyptian Mau who has not been fixed. We actually found her on top of a running gas tank after who knows how long, and had to nurse her back to health. We were worried about her because she hasn't had the normal socialization that kittens get growing up and living around other cats, however she had spent time with some of our family who have cats when one or both of us were out of town. Sushi's initial reaction towards new cats and new people is to hiss, or sneak up behind them until they look at you, and then run away. She's not exactly a social butterfly. Yet, over time she did warm up to our family's cats and become good friends.

   When Sushi first saw Tex, she hissed every time he tried to step closer. Tex is a very cat friendly guy and was attempting to check out his new roommate. After a few days of the "hiss and retreat" behavior, she began following him everywhere. In a few more days, they were playing, and if you were very sneaky, you catch them sleeping together when they didn't think we were looking. Now, they are the best of friends, and you can often find them playing chase or grooming each other on the couch. 

  Our decision to get a new cat started when Sushi would come to us wanting to play at all hours of the day and night. When we'd come home in the evening, we'd find her watching for us at the window and then at the door. She would wake us up at all hours of the night, wanting attention or play. The poor cat was miserably lonely being by herself much of the day and she was making it very clear that our attentions simply weren't enough.

  One day we were coming home and noticed two large, beautiful orange spotted cats in the window underneath our apartment curiously watching us. The months of conversations about getting another cat began to center around Bengal cats, a breed we had heard of but knew very little about. We spent time researching the different options, and decided that maybe an adult cat was our best choice. One night I was on the couch browsing the internet and found a picture of Tex. He was our type of cat, large, wild looking, with beautiful rosettes. We reserved him that night, and the rest is history.