My true companion cat died recently from a snake bite  He meant SO much to me, as he came into my life just after I had given birth to our stillborn girl, so he was there to make my days brighter and my sadness heal quickly. I was pretty devastated, but couldn't help feeling that his work here was done. His name is/was Kahu and he is/was a Bengal. I am crazy about animals, most specifically cats!! We have Hine nui te Po (a rescue cat, large ginger fluffy girl), Tiny Ninja (Isabella's catbaby, black and white moggie girl from a friend's litter), El Qahira (my catbaby girl, another Bengal), and Daisy (Angus' catbaby girl, a wee white rescue girl with one green eye and the other blue)...Greg is getting an Abyssinian catbaby boy soon...We also live with Zac, a rescued Norwegian Elkhound dog, who is so gorgeous and (not surprisingly) seems to think he is a big cat! I have lived with more cats than I can count throughout my life - Dad even got Mum a grey boy kitten when I was born, he was my first ever true companion.

here's the canine family member...

Awwww. To answer your question...no, I reckon Bengals are pretty low maintenance, definitely a difference between boys and girls (boys more laid back...that could be pretty safely extrapolated to all cats though!). They are super cuddly, almost aggresively cuddly. Very funny cats, BIG personalities, some are loud, and they just fit right in with your life - not bothered by other pets, kids etc. They are into hunting though...hence Kahu being bitten by a snake (this is the 2nd time he was bitten, the first time we found him straight away and got the right anti-venom - brown snake, living under our house  ) There are definite comparisons with oriental breeds and Bengals...like the fact that they fetch, carry things around with their mouths, suss out how to do complex tasks and generally KNOW they are beautiful  I got Kahu from a local breeder - he was the last of a litter and had been given back because some of his spots were joined  I got Qahira from another local breeder who was retiring her as a Queen since she wasn't interested in looking after her kittens. So they are kinda like rescues in that they were 'unwanted'. Their coats are stunning, full of glitter, they sparkle gold in the light. Here is a pic of the wee Abysinnian boy that we are picking up next week...(I've always been dead set against getting cats from breeders, but I have discovered that they often have surplus that need rehoming...couldn't help myself, after 34 years of taking in broken old moggies I felt the need for a couple of 'flash' cats in the mix!)