Our Soon To Be New Fosters

[lvoss]

As many of you may know or not, we have two cats 13 year Spot and 7 year old Nu. You may only think we have one cat since only Spot is really comfortable with the dogs and lays around with them to get his picture taken. 7 years ago we adopted Nu because we had two bonded boys Spot and Sparky. At that time, I began to worry that if we lost one of the boys the other would mourn so inconsolably that we would lose him too if he didn't have another cat companion. The rescue coordinator swore up and down that Nu would be perfect for a household with dogs and already lived with one. Well, he is far from perfect for a household with Basenjis but he has some great accomodations and he did exactly what we got him for and gave Spot the will to keep going after we lost Sparky. If we hadn't had Nu, I am not sure Spot would have started eating again after his bout with fatty liver but Nu would come and lay with him every night. I am now worried that as Spot ages and Nu is completely incompatible with the basenjis that when Spot is gone, Nu will need a companion.

My husband and I agreed that it would take a special cat to live in our household. It seems there are not many cats out there with the natural confidence it takes to hang out with basenjis. We decided that this time rather than make a commitment to a cat that may not work out we would help out homeless cats while we shopped for the cat that was the right one. Sometime in the next two days we will be picking up our first foster cats. They are purebred Bengal cats, I am hoping the breed will have enough moxie to live with basenjis. We really aren't looking for two cats but these boys are losing their current foster home and really need us so until they find a forever home they will be here.

Here is a link to the California Bengal Rescue page. Champ and Bailey are the two boys that we are picking up.

http://www.pacifier.com/~ltdltd/CAavailcats.html

[sharronhurlbut]

Lovely kittys.
Do let us know how it goes with the "new" pack.

[agilebasenji]

Ohhhh, shame on you for sending me that link! I love the look of the Bengals. Let me know what they're like to live with.

[lvoss]

I will. We are very excited about their arrival. I first looked at the breed about a year before I got Nicky but at the time had 2 cats of our own and our roommate had a cat too. I recently came across some links to them when I was at a basenji website and thought they might have the characteristics to live with the basenjis. It will be interesting to see how things go.

[tanza]

I can tell you that Maine Coon Cats do really well with Basenjis (and Silkys too)

[Schouiffy]

Good to know, good to know! Yes please keep us abreast of how the kitties work with the Bs.. we are looking to possibly add a kitty to the fam and I really liked Bengals..

[lvoss]

Well, the boys have arrived. They are a little overwhelmed with the sudden change in surroundings. We had to give them a towel bath when they got here since they utterly stank. I guess they had been in a cage in the back yard for several weeks since the foster person moved into a new house and the husband didn't want it to smell like cat. The boys have apparently been sleeping in their litter box and smell like it. Yuck!

I am hoping now that they have the nice space in my library with a cat house of their own and one of our spare 200 size crates decked out in cushy dog bed that they will abandon their new bad habit.

The dogs were relatively well behaved they did jump over the baby gate in the kitchen to try to greet the boys as we brought them in the house but they didn't crowd around the carrier and overwhelm them. They just sat back and stared. They are now being a pain though because they know they are up in the library and the that the separation gate is up in the hallway upstairs. This is a taller gate than the kitchen gate they jumped to go see them. This is just so they can't go scratching at their door and bother them all night and day. It is the our secondary containment gate for when we have had to separate boys and girls during seasons and seems to work pretty well.

[Ninabeana26]

Glad everything seems to be going smoothly so far. I hope it continues to improve & the boys feel at home soon with all those crazy Bs! :p

[Schouiffy]

Well good luck!!! I'm glad they both arrived ok … very excited for you

[Schouiffy]

So how goes it with the kitties?

[lvoss]

They have been in isolation from our animals for the last week. They have one more week of isolation then we can start to integrate with our animals so they have more space and freedom.

I must say that they have phenomenal temperaments. I know many cats who have been through far less than these boys have who are not nearly as well adjusted as these boys. They are amazingly out going and social. They love being petted and having attention. Really, I am amazed that they have been in rescue so long. They are really great cats. They use their litterbox and their scratching post, they are social and interactive, they like toys, and they are only 18 months old or so. Truly, they are just about everything most people are looking for in a cat.

I am not sure how well they will get along with dogs, just because they have never been around dogs. Though if this is the typical temperament for Bengals, I would feel pretty confident that there are ones out there that would do well with basenjis.

[Schouiffy]

Thanks much for your posts Ivoss. I have def. been thinking about getting one - I was just worried they might be overwhelmed with my B..so yay for good news!

[lvoss]

We have started doing introductions through the baby gate between the cats and the basenjis. Right now the only basenji they have seen is our oldest one Nicky, since he has always loved cats.

He is such a funny dog. He loves cats so much and stands so still so they will come up and greet them and then as they are touching noses he sticks his paw through the gate and pats them on the head. They leap back 3 feet and stare at him and he is confused by why they won't keep talking to him.

I think it is a good sign that they are calm around him and though they do leap out of his way when he paws them, they don't really run away they just leap back to get his paw off their head. They then continue to look at him and don't seem afraid of him, just cautious.

[lvoss]

Our foster cats now have their own webpage, so they can hopefully find a forever home. They are real darlings and have been doing well with the dogs on a one to one basis. They actually seem to get along very well with other animals. Unfortunately, the same can not be said for my 7 year old cat.

http://kineticbasenjis.tripod.com/Fosters.html

[lvoss]

The Bengal fosters have finally gone to a new home. Yay!

[bellabasenji]

Awwww, keep us posted on how they are doing. They sound like real sweeties. My friend has had two Bengals, they are gorgeous animals!

[basenji_fan]

Awe great news!!!

[Buana]

I Love bengals!!!

Before we got our spaiky,we searched for a (snow)bengal or a abbesijn!
In Holland they are very very rear and expensive…
A friend of us bred bengals for a long time, he stopped just before we wanted one...

[YodelDogs]

That's great news!