Hello, new here. From Canada.

Never been a cat owner but have had many dogs, including a very crazy and vocal Husky and a boisterous Beagle. I currently have no pets.

My daughter and I suffer from cat allergies, however our family spent over an hour with a local breeder and we did not react.

Which brings me to today: I am on a waiting list with a lovely breeder for a female brown rosetted kitten which will be ready late August. This kitten will be for my 5 year old daughter. We decided on female only because of size, we figured a smaller cat would be easier to manage than a larger male. We also decided on brown because those are the most common in terms of colour and we liked how they had the traditional wild leopard look.

The breeder contacted me to let me know a male snow mink had been taken off hold and if we were interested, we could go to meet him this week, and bring him home next week. The snows are gorgeous and I had always assumed they were out of my price range, however, because he is a last minute cancellation they are offering him at a slightly discounted price (a few hundred $ cheaper than original price). He is marbled.

My question is: being a newbie cat owner, and a newbie Bengal owner all at once, is there any difference in taking the male although we had imagined a female? Do snows have more health issues?

(Obviously if my daughter does not bond with the male, we will not proceed, and instead wait for the female to be ready in August.)

I do not know any other Bengal owners but all my cat friends have said males are nicer and cuddlier and have told me to take the male.

Thanks for your insight!

Welcome to the forum...

I'd like to first address the allergy issue here. My son has a very bad allergy from cats since he was a child. And although he loves cats, he adopted a Husky puppy few months ago. When I traveled with my cat to meet him earlier this month, his allergy would kick in when he spends a long time handling my cat. If he's in the same room with the cat, but not close he'd be alright. So please keep that in mind.

As for snow vs brown, this is very much a personal taste and subjective. No one can decide for you which one is better looking than the other. The fact that it's marbled is another thing too. Some don't prefer marbled, some do.

In terms of behavior, brown vs snow. It all goes down to character and personality along with the way you bond together. Snows have either Siamese or Burmese gene, but the Asian Leopard gene (in both Snows and Browns) is still wilder than both. I'm just guessing here.

As for health issues, there shouldn't be any difference between both. Just make sure the breeder is registered with TICA, your kitten has a certificate and got all vaccinations and clearance from any diseases.

Male vs female, personally I choose the pet of the opposite sex of the care giver. But that's no rule. Some reported females being more affectionate, while others reported males, regardless of the sex of the caregiver. And while both Bengal females and males tend to spray occasionally especially if not fixed on time, males report more spraying issues than females in general across all breeds.

I highly recommend you catify your house, regardless of the color or sex you get. And if you spend more time on this forum browsing previous threads, you'd learn more about Bengals as well.

PS I have a Brown Rosetted female and I'm getting a Snow Sepia Rosetted male. I love both colors, and can't say I favor one color over the other for each coat is unique and stunning to look at.

Good luck to you and your family with the new Bengal. Make sure to keep us updated how things develop as you decide and as the kitten settles in.

Great advice, Hassaan. The most important thing in getting a cat is the personality. Bengals tend to have sweet temperaments. However, understand that getting a kitten for your daughter is going to result in scratches and bites on her -- because that's what kittens do. They play. So, you are going to have to teach your daughter to use toys for the kitten. A five-year old should be able to handle a kitten, however, when the kitten has had enough or does not want to be held, the cat must be allowed to leave or more scratches and bites will occur.

All bengals are beautiful! The only thing is that a male or a female must be fixed early! Do not let the female go into heat and have the male fixed before he reaches sexual maturity. It will save on the cat spraying the walls in your home.

The rosetted and marble bengals started the breed. Select matings have created the snows and other colors. But it's what's "inside" the cat that really matters.

Every Bengal is unique; personalities are so different. Your breeder should be able to give you an idea of the personality of the male at least to some extent.

This is super general and can easily be different from cat to cat: Males are bigger and tend to be more affectionate.

The only thing I would be concerned about is whether the snow mink has more inbreeding than the rosetted does. Snow Minks are a recessive gene and with recessive genes there can be more inbreeding required to get to that. You can find out their parents and look them up in some of the bengal databases to see how much inbreeding there is.

I might ask the breeder why the kitten was taken off hold - were they rejected for some reason that you should be concerned about?

Also, generally marbles are cheaper than rosetted; they are typically less in demand (though I know a marbled breeder who has the most amazing marbled cats and they are expensive and well worth it)

Hi everyone and thanks for your replies. We did go and visit the kitten and my daughter does love him. He's very social and energetic and was not afraid of her squealing and laughing.

I will try to address everyone's comments:

@Hassaan:thanks for your concern regarding the allergies. I will definitely be on the lookout for early symptoms. As it stands now, we have spent a total of 2 hours (2 separate visits) with the breeder and my daughter did not react so I am taking that as a positive sign, although I recognize it is not a guarantee.

The breeder is absolutely registered with TICA. Kittens are health checked and de-wormed and we will be given their certificate once we can show proof he has been neutered. They also come with a 2-year congenital defect guarantee.

Catifying the house is something I will need to research more on but thank you for reminding me to get on it!
----
@Sherry: the breeder recommends neutering at/after 16 weeks of age. Most vets here in my city will not perform the procedure any earlier. Do you think that's ok? At what age will a male reach sexual maturity?
----
@Ontariobengals: Hi there, also Ontario here - Ottawa specifically. I have looked up the parents in the Bengal database and the breeder offers 5-generation pedigee information upon request as well.

I was told the kitten was taken off hold because a buyer was going to take 2 but changed their mind and only took one. I also noticed this kitten has a bullseye mark on his side, which I understand is undesirable to some (though, for us it will be a house pet and I am not concerned with a bullseye). The breeder has also told me that the kitten had a flutter in his heart when checked by the vet. the breeder and vet seem to think this will go away in a few months (???)

Many breeders have their kittens fixed before they leave for their permanent homes -- mine was neutered at 12 weeks. I believe it lessens the chance of the male spraying if it is done before sexual maturity -- which is different with every male, but can happen as early as 8 months.

What the vet heard as a heart flutter may be a heart murmur. It can, indeed, disappear as the cat grows, but bengals are also very prone to murmurs -- and mine has had one since birth. A low grade murmur is not as serious as a high grade murmur. I believe your breeder is trying to downplay the "flutter" however, bengals can live long lives with a Grade 1 to 3 heart murmur. It is something your vet will monitor over time.

Let me know if you need any additional health information on the parents of the kitten.

Thank you Sherry for responding. I have sent you a PM.

Hi just wanted to follow up. We will be getting the kitten. I spent yesterday calling vets and no one will neuter him until he has had his Rabies vaccine. No one will give him a Rabies vaccine until he has reached 17 weeks, so I'm kind of stuck in that aspect. But we collect him on Tuesday!

I feel it is important to follow the advice of your vet. They went to school many years to learn about our pets.

@Sherry, I agree with you! I will absolutely follow the advice of the vet. Rabies is taken very seriously here so I guess that's why our breeder doesn't include neutering in the purchase of the kitten. Because it can only be done after 17 weeks. And I'm ok with that.

Here's a picture of our little guy. Still nameless...
http://imgur.com/a/cKBEQ

Ohhhh, he's adorable. Have you narrowed down any name choices yet, or are you waiting for his personality to emerge?

What a cutie patootie. He is stunning!