Hello there

I am just looking for some advice on above mentioned breeders. Ultimatecats is located in IL, about one hour from Chicago ( their website: http://www.ultimatecats.com/index.html ) and Aristocatbengal breeder in Charlotte, NC ( website: http://www.aristocatbengal.com/ ).

Anyone had any experience with these breeders ?

Please, don't troll, just help with advice if you have any experience...

Thanks.

I didn't dig too deep on either page but neither mentions testing for heart issues or pkdef. Check at the top of the health page for info on those. You want a healthy kitten and the breed does have some medical issues that good breeders will screen for.

Some of the answers I got from AristocatBengal.
She sounds amazing and very knoweldgable person about bengals.

Do you perform any testing on your cats ?

We do some genetic test on the parents, but not on the babies. If the parents are negative to issues, than the babies will be as well. The only test we do on babies is color point to see what colors they carry for.


Do you have a written health quarantee ?

Yes, we give a two year genetic guarantee on all of our cats. Plus a 30 day health guarantee on the kittens. If a Bengal gets sick the parents will call me and I usually send medicines to them. The only things any of our babies have had are vomiting and diarrhea. These are issues that occur if your Bengal swallows or eats something that he should not be eating. They will try to eat house plants and chew on your Christmas tree as well. These are the only times I have had sick babies. So I recommend no house plants around them. If you have plants, put them in a room where the Bengal does not have access. I cannot guarantee against things like this, all I can do is help treat them.

What happens if the kitten gets sick ?

If your cat gets sick you call me immediately! I am one of the leading authorities in the US on Bengals. I speak at Vet Schools to train Vets on how to treat them. I help people everyday that do not have my Bengals, but I care about all of them.


The only time my babies get sick is when given vaccines. I do not recommend vaccines for Bengals, and can provide you with documentation from Vets on this issue. This causes them to be very sick, and I had two Bengals die from vaccinations. I will NEVER give vaccines again. Plus Bengals get the viruses you are vaccinating them for. This is because Vets use a modified live virus in the vaccine. I also have heard of eight Bengals that got cancer from vaccines as well.

12. Do you offer refund or replacement, and if so, under what conditions ? Under what circumstances will you take kitten a kitten or cat back ?

I give you a 30 day money back guarantee. You can return the cat and get a full refund. If the Bengal has any issues after that, and they are due to our care or genetics, I replace the Bengal. Yet I have never had anything to happen to any of our Bengals, and we have sold over 300 Bengals.

Well, she is talking about US and you're in UK, right ?

Maybe because of that you didn't hear about her.

The Bengal breeding world is pretty connected, even across oceans, especially with the internet and all.
Regardless, you need to look for a breeder that will talk to you about hcm, be willing to show you proof that the parents are scanned yearly, and that they don't have pkdef. If you don't, you are supporting an unethical breeder and are taking the risk of having a very ill or worse pet. It appears as though the Q and A you posted above didn't address any of that specifically, which is a huge red flag to me.

Go read about HCM, it is not a great disease, it kills cats mainly at 3-6 years.
The cats look great, it is not a disease of poorly runts, big beautiful cats get HCM. It is called the silent killer.
It is genetic, one parent with the disease can give the gene to 50% of its offspring, so it is not a rare, "once in a blue moon" disease.
Scanning is the only means of diagnosis, vet checks do not uncover HCM, and there is no DNA test either for Bengal HCM.
Breeding unscanned cats is breeding blind and is doing a disservice to owners, who are buying, as one heart broken owner told me, cats that are born to die young.
A lot of Bengal families have multiple HCM cats in their pedigrees, there are no HCM free lines, the risk is ever present and for a breeder to ignore HCM is ridiculous.

I have a cat with HCM he is now 6 and is on 4 different medications daily which is costly, both financially and emotionally, and tying for me in that he needs an afternoon dose, but he is worth it

Anyone out there ever have problems with AristocatBengal@carolina.rr.com or Aristocat Bengals in Charlotte North Carolina?


This is my story: I Paid $2500 for a bengal kitten at Aristocat Bengals
When im ready to come pick the kitten up Deborah Tiganila tells me the kitten has a cold and that the mother cat had a cold recently also and i would need to wait a week longer to pick the kitten up. I remembered also seeing an adult cat at her house with puffy eyes with clear drainage or could have been medication in the cats eyes and she stated the cat had a cold also. I started to become concerned about this. I also remember her telling me that the kitten would probably have diarrhea from stress from moving to a new environment when i take her home but that she would medicate the cat before leaving the cattery for diarrhea and put antidiarrhea medication in the to go home bag. Just raised alot of red flags for me really. Thank God i got my money back last thing i need is to spend thousands on a kitten who is possibly going to need alot of vet care. I suspect for a kitten to be expected to have such diarrhea problems probably parasites that vets dont routinely check for and for the cats who have colds possible feline herpes which is contagious through litterboxes passed on to young kittens and througs any liquid coming out of the cats eyes nose mouth also. Cats will usually test negative for feline herpes unless in a feline herpes outbreak is what i have been reading.

Thank you for sharing your experience. A "cold" for a cat is an upper respiratory infection and they are common. Unfortunately, with a cattery, infectious diseases can run rampant if they are not quarantined. When you have mom and kittens, it is very probable the kittens will get the disease as well. It is treatable and cats almost always recover 100%. However, when one has paid a large sum of money for a kitten, you want that kitten to come to you healthy and without major issues. I would not blame the cattery for this. It just happens to the best of catteries. I have over 100 of AristoCat's bengals in my database. I don't have any first-hand knowledge of the breeder, but the fact you got your money back says something good about them. Breeders very rarely return money... they ask that you choose another of their kittens.

However, I hope that hasn't discouraged you from getting a bengal kitten.

Thank you for that information. I am not discouraged from buying a bengal kitten i hope to get one monday. She did not want to refund my money it was not a good thing i had to drive 5 hours down there and the police got involved and they got my money back. and this was her response that i have a copy of in my emails:
Email to me from Deborah Tiganila " I served in the Military and worked for the CIA for 21 years. I made lots of contacts, and if you say anything negative about our cattery, I will respond."

Actually, she did work for the CIA, but not sure how that is relevant or what she could do because of it. She's been out of the agency for years and was probably not in a high enough position to have any authority. This was just a threat. If anybody Googles her or the cattery, this thread will most likely come up in the search results.

What cattery are you getting your new baby from, if you don't mind my asking.

Just know that threats are also taken seriously by law enforcement. Retain her email forever.

Thank you yes i will keep it forever. I can let you know the name of the cattery as soon as i get the kitten.