At the time of writing this article, people all around the world are having to coop up indoors for potentially quite some time, due to the rapidly descending Coronavirus crisis.
This poses an issue for Bengal cat owners who are used to letting their cats roam outside.
Can you let your Bengal live inside all of the time permanently if you need to stay locked up?
When this crisis comes to pass, it’s still helpful knowledge to have anyway (and maybe you aren’t even a Bengal cat owner at this stage but just thinking about the possibility of whether you can have a permanently indoors cat!)
Depending on where you live, there may different rules of strictness regarding the extent to which you are able to leave the house, so it may really be a case of having your Bengal cooped up all the time.
If you’re wondering ‘can my Bengal cat live inside’ then here’s what you need to know:
1. It is perfectly safe and healthy for a Bengal cat to live inside. For example, if you consult our guide on whether or not Bengal cats can live in apartments, you can see there that many owners have their cats living indoors permanently with no ill health or quality of life issues. It is probably preferable for your Bengal to be able to get time outside, but it isn’t harmful if they have to live inside.
2. However, if you are going to have your Bengal living inside permanently, it is critical to have the right setup to do so. You need to provide your Bengal with plenty of opportunity for enrichment and mental stimulation. For starters make sure you have invested in good toys for your Bengal cat, as well as a scratching post. If you keep your Bengal permanently inside without anything to entertain him/her, then your are asking for trouble unfortunately.
. Ensure you have the right toileting facilities indoors for your Bengal. It is a well known fact that Bengal cats are rather obsessional about having clean litter. Therefore, make sure you have the right litter box for your Bengal cat, as well as the capacity to change it/clean it regularly. You might need to look at getting more than one litter tray for your Bengal cat (check out our article here for more info on this)
Conclusion
To sum up, if you are wondering whether or not your Bengal cat can live inside all the time, the answer is that they can.
However, if you are going to have an inside cat, then you want to ensure that everything is “set up” correctly.
Make sure your Bengal clearly has their own space in the house or apartment that can be their territory.
Ensure you have plenty of toys for your Bengal to play with (check out our guide to the best toys for Bengal cats here).
Have an adequate indoor toileting setup with the right litter box and litter type for your Bengal.
Get these things right, and you don’t have to worry too much about having an indoor cat!
