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Why Does My Bengal Cat Follow Me Everywhere?

If your Bengal cat follows you around everywhere then you’re probably wondering why and what you can do about it. This post will give you a number of reasons why your Bengal cat might be following you around and what you can do about it.

So, why does your Bengal cat follow you everywhere? There are a number of reasons that your Bengal cat might be following you around. Possible reasons include wanting attention, wanting something else like food, separation anxiety, being in its nature to follow you and you might have been reinforcing the behavior by giving it what it wants. 

Before getting your Bengal cat to stop following you around it can actually be very helpful to take the time to figure out why.

why does my bengal cat follow me everywhere

Possible reasons why your Bengal cat follows you around

There are a number of reasons why your Bengal cat might be doing it that I will mention below.

Attention

The first reason that your Bengal cat might be doing it is that it wants attention. Bengals are a breed that was bred to drag sleighs for hours on a daily basis so they require a lot of exercise to be properly stimulated. If your Bengal cat isn’t getting a lot of exercise then it might start following you around since it is waiting for you to give it some.

If your Bengal cat isn’t currently getting much exercise then it is important that you take the time to make sure that it does.

Related: How to potty train your Bengal cat.

It wants something

It could also be that it wants something other than attention from you. The most probable thing that it wants is food. If it has learned that following you around will get it food then it will encourage the behavior.

Related: How to stop your cat from following you to the bathroom.

Separation anxiety

The reason that it follows you around could be due to separation anxiety. This is where your Bengal cat does not like being left without you and when it does it causes it to get anxious. If your Bengal cat get anxious when it sees that your about to leave or it pees or destroys things when you’re away or if it can get aggressive at times or it is depressed then it could indicate that it has separation anxiety.

Related: Why does my cat sleep on top of me at night?

It was bred to work with humans

Another thing to consider is that Bengals were bred to work alongside humans. Due to this, it is to be expected that your Bengal cat will look to you for direction and that it will cause it to follow you around at times.

You reinforce the behavior

It might be that it has learned to follow you everywhere because you have been inadvertently rewarding the behavior. Perhaps when it follows you around it causes you to give it a lot more attention or you give it more treats or maybe when it doesn’t follow you around you forget to walk it.

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How to stop your Bengal cat from following you around

Give it lots of exercise

Bengal cats are a breed that require a lot of exercise to be properly stimulated. If they don’t get enough exercise then it can cause them to become hyperactive and to look for ways to get it. This is why it’s important to make sure that your Bengal cat gets a lot of exercise.

And what can you do about it? To get your Bengal cat to stop following you around you can try giving it more exercise than usual, ignoring the behavior and rewarding it when it doesn’t follow you or you can get help from a cat behaviorist. 

An easy way to give your Bengal cat or kitten lot of exercise is to teach it to play fetch.  By doing so you will be able to get your Bengal cat to do a lot of running in a short time frame without having to do so much yourself.

Try ignoring it

Another thing that you can do is to take measures to stop rewarding the behavior. When your Bengal cat follows you around instead of giving it what it wants you can try ignoring it and then rewarding it when it behaves in the way that you want it to.

Get help

If you can’t get your feline companion to stop following you around then you should consider getting help from a cat behaviorist. They will be able to properly diagnose why your Bengal cat is behaving in that way and will show you what you need to do about it.

Things to consider

Don’t punish

If you don’t want your Bengal cat to follow you around then it might be tempting for you to punish it for doing so. But, you should avoid doing this since it can lead to other problems such as anxiety, stress, destruction, a lack of trust in you and it will be less willing to listen to your command in the future.

It’s not unusual

It might seem weird to you that your Bengal kitten has a habit of following you around everywhere but it’s not unusual for Bengals to do so.

Be patient

When you’re trying to get your Bengal cat to stop following you around it’s important to be patient. Getting your Bengal cat to stop following you everywhere is not something that you will be able to stop overnight so it’s important for you to be consistent and to stick to it.

Related questions

Why does my Bengal cat follow me everywhere suddenly? If your Bengal cat has suddenly started to follow you everywhere after previously not doing so then it would indicate that it has something wrong. It could be that a recent event has caused it to become more anxious it could be that it’s ill or it might be because it feels insecure. Your best option would be to take it to a vet to get it checked out.

Why does my Bengal cat follow me to the bathroom? If your Bengal cat has a habit of following you to the bathroom then it could be because it wants to protect you but it could also be due to separation anxiety. This is where it doesn’t like being left alone so it follows you to the bathroom because you normally shut it out and it doesn’t like it.