Do Bengal Cats Like To Be Held?

Don’t you love holding your cat?

I personally do. The problem is that certain species do not prefer that. These days, Bengal cats are quite popular. However, plenty of Bengal cat owners want to know the answer to the question do Bengal cats like to be held? I will answer that today and also will help you know more about your Bengal Cat’s behavior.

Do Bengal cats like to be held?

No, Bengal cats do not like to be held. It is not about you but rather their behavior. They do not want to be restrained in any manner. As a result, when you try to pick them up, they will often resist it.

Wondering, why they do so?

I will answer this question below.

Why do Bengal cats do not prefer being held?

There can be reasons for this behavior of Bengal cats. Some of them include:

1. Fear:

Fear is one of the prime reasons why Bengal cats do not like to be held. Any kind of restrain makes them fearful. It would be best if you kept this factor in mind while picking them up or holding them.

2. Personal preference:

Even in the same species, the behavior of one Bengal cat can vary from another. Sometimes, it is just a personal preference of your cat. Your cat might not prefer being held as opposed to other cats of the same species.

3. Bad experience:

When did you last hold your Bengal cat?

Chances are it might be during vaccination or bathing or veterinary examination. All these are bad experiences for your cat. When that happens too frequently, your cat associates being held with bad experiences. That is why Bengal cats do not like to be held.

These are some common reasons why Bengal cats do not like to be held.

However, not all hope is lost.

Do you want to still hold your cat from time to time?

If yes, my tips below will certainly help you out.

How to increase the tolerance of your Bengal cat to be held?

While your Bengal cat’s behavior might not change overnight with these tips, it will certainly do. It would help if you practice these tips for a long time. Once you do so, you will notice that your Bengal cat is now more responsive towards being held.

1. Associate positive experiences:

The best way to increase the tolerance of your cat pertaining to being held is to associate positive experiences with it. You might be thinking about how to do so?

• Cuddle your cat when you hold him/her

• Do not restrain the movements of your Bengal bank while holding him/her

• Let them get out of your restrain after a few seconds of holding them

Following these few simple tips will familiarize them with being held. Once they are familiar, they will not hesitate. Once they experience nothing negative while being held, you can indeed turn it into a positive experience for them.

2. Use an incentive:

How about a treat every time you pick up our hold your cat?

Yes, you read that, right!

Doing that will provide your cat with some incentive. It will undoubtedly change his/her behavior. It is one of the easiest and fastest ways to train your Bengal cat to be held.

3. Pick up the Bengal cat in the right way:

How do you pick up your cat?

If you do so by a jerk, it is the wrong way to go about it. It might be the reason why your cat does not like to be held. Instead, you have to pick him/her up slowly. You have to do so in a fashion visible to him/her. It will undoubtedly increase the trust quotient and make your cat comfortable with being held.

4. Slowly increase the frequency:

If your Bengal cat is not comfortable with being held, doing so frequently will make him/her resist it even more. You must first follow the above three tips while holding a Bengal cat and then only increase the frequency.

At the start, you have to limit the frequency to just once in a while. After that, as your cat shows signs of being familiar with the same, you have to increase the frequency slowly. It is the only perfect way to go about it.

Many cat owners start to pick the cats or hold them every time they come across the cat. The problem is that if the cat is not comfortable, the cat might get frightened. Instead, slowly increasing the frequency of holding the cat can help solve all the problems.

So, in most cases, Bengal cats do not like to be held. However, with our tips above, you can make them comfortable with being held. It is not entirely a lost cause. Our guide above can solve this problem for you.