# Bengals



## xkitxgirx (Mar 28, 2008)

Can anyone give me some good info on Bengals? My husband has fallen in love with them and we have been talking about getting another cat for Tyger to play with along with the dog, lol. She loves cats! What do you look for in a good breeder? I dont want to make the same mistakes I made when I accidently got my dog from a possible puppy mill.


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## TerriNye (Mar 4, 2009)

While they are very beautiful to look at Bengals are VERY active, destructive and can be very aggressive cats. You really need to know what you are getting into before getting one. Since they cannot be shown in CFA I suggest attending a TICA show in your area. There are usually many many exhibitors of Bengals there as they are one of the most popular cats in TICA. You can see them in action (always a trip later in the day of a show) talk to the exhibitors/breeders there and get a little more information.

You can look up the TICA show schedule at www.tica.org (it is arranged by date not location so you will have to go thru the list to find one near you)

Good luck!

Terri


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

At Petsmart, we can't let the Bengal-mix cat out to play with the other cats because she's too rough, and she's not even a purebred. 8O 

I've heard they do best with other Bengals. If you're looking for a purebred kitty, a nice gentle breed might be a ragdoll or maine ****. You can look for purebreds on Petfinder, but shelters also have them. Every kind of cat is being given up, especially with the economy the way it is.  There are also "rescues" for almost every breed you can think of.


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

There is a sticky at the top of this page on what to look for in a good breeder. Here is a link to a similar article that I found very useful when I was looking for may Maine ****. The article is a bit MC-centric, but most of the advice applies to all breeds. 

http://www.mcbfa.org/articles3.html

As suggested I agree that going to a cat show is a good place to start. You're looking for someone who is open and honest. If they avoid questions or don't seem forthcoming, move on to the next one. Make sure the cats look healthy, that they're willing to give you a health guarantee. Be prepared to answer lots of questions about yourself, your home, your other pets, and possibly even have to give references. A breeder that isn't interested in where the cat would be going is indicative to me of someone who isn't in it for the cats, which begs the question about their other practices as well. 

Good luck....


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## Sonargaon (Jun 25, 2009)

Hi
I breed Bengals, so i hope i can shed a little light, Bengals are very active cats, beautiful and naughty, I got my first cross bengal about 6 years ago and decided i would like the real thing so i bought a beautiful Sorral Spotted Boy he was an angel right from the start, needless to say it went on from there and i now have 14. I have over the last couple of years brought from various breeders some cats have been dreadful to handle so i can understand where people get the idea they are agressive, infact if they are brought up righ in the beginning with someone who loves them and spend time with them from birth there is no reason why you could not have a loving sweet play mate for your other cat  
All the kittens that i have sold to people have been really well adjusted so my advice would be go to a small breeder who only has a few and spend lots of time with her babies.
Sara


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Thanks for the post, Sara. People do have preconceived notions about cats. I know I was afraid of Siamese cats as a child because of _*Lady and The Tramp*_. 8O 

One of the reasons Hattie can't be with the other cats in the Petsmart cattery is because her former owner played rough with her, so that's how she plays. I personally think she should be in a foster home, because she's not going to be socialized or re-learn how to be more gentle when she's not allowed any interaction and, because of that, really is the most isolated kitty.


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## xkitxgirx (Mar 28, 2008)

Im fairly certain Ive found a good breeder. Her contract seems very good. She requires neuter/spay by 6 months of age(at which point youll get papers), and there were a lot of other things that sounded accurate to me. You have a time frame to get the kittens health checked and such. She doesnt show herself but gets her cats from other breeders who show. Ive been talking to her the past couple of days through e-mail. She told me that if I want to go with to the kittens first check up I can come along. She also is allowing people to come see the kittens starting next week. I think they will be about 5 weeks old. She has the mom but the dad has been sent back to its owner/breeder. Here's the daddy:

http://asianbamboobengals.net/images/ga ... index.html

And heres the mommy: Rio

http://www.tnmbengals.com/Queens.html

She emailed me some kitten pictures but I need to load them to my photobucket so I can show you guys! What do you think? She lives super close to us, and every other breeder Ive found has been at least a 2 hour drive away, and she is only 30 minutes away. So wed be more able to go and visit the kitten and see the mom and stuff before buying than if we bought from anyone else.

If you want to look at the daddy's breeders site its here:
http://asianbamboobengals.net/


ETA: I noticed that the "A good breeder" sticky says something about a contract. But that just means like contracts with strings attached right? I mean I liked the idea that she has people their kittens neuter by 6 months to prevent backyard breeders, and prevent you from having a spraying cat in your home. lol. That seemed to be the only "string" attached if thats what you would consider it...Im just curious what you guys thought.


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

Your breeder has quite an extensive contract...see the link at the bottom of this page:

http://www.tnmbengals.com/Purchasekitten.html

The one thing I see on the site that I don't like is that they re-home kittens at 10 weeks and will ship at 12 weeks. I would prefer to see 12 weeks for local and 16-20 for shipments. Kittens spend their first 6 weeks opening eyes and ears, learning to eat regular food, how to use the litter box etc., they really don't start learning socialization skills until 6-7 weeks and only having 3-4 weeks to learn them is cutting it short. especially for a Bengal. It wouldn't be a deal breaker for me for other breeds of cats, but I would think twice with a Bengal. 

Also, this is anecdotal info, but it is my understanding that T.Foetus has been a problem in many Bengal catteries. I recommend asking whether this breeder has had any problems with it. T. Foetus causes stinky messy diarrhea. It can be treated with medications or may run it's course in like 2 years. Here's a couple sites with more on it:

http://www.fabcats.org/breeders/infoshe ... monas.html

http://www.tffelines.com/


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## xkitxgirx (Mar 28, 2008)

Thank you for the info! I just sent her an e-mail and added in the question about T foetus. She was pretty quick in replying last time(same day) so she will probably e-mail me by tonight.

ETA: she already e-mailed me back! She says she doesnt have any problems with T foetus mostly because she only has 3 female bengals that live in the home. She also says she never lets her cats around other cats unless its for breeding purposes. She doesn't let them outside either.


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