Hello,
I am looking for advice. I recently purchased my first intended Bengal queen, having owned a non registered Bengal for the last 8 years. I normally do extensive research but in this instance did the classic mistake of falling for a kitten online! However the kitten I was due to see the next day in fact was sold before I could see her. The breeder offered me the other girl in the litter which was said to be of better quality and a better starter queen.
The breeder was a hobby breeder and not experienced at all but had a mentor who was an established breeder of 15 years who was taking a percentage of the kittens and providing advice.
The first red flag was receiving the colour test and the name and sex were different, explained away as an error. I had requested the test for charcoal and sudden to was told this was too expensive so would not be carried out. As the kitten is being sold at £1,650. I would have expected this to be included.
The next was collecting the kitten when I had paid and signed a contract, I noticed when feeling her over that she had a kink in her tail. Both breeders were aware of this but did not contact me prior to travelling 3 hours to get her. The mentor is on the phone telling me it is nongenetic, yet it has not been checked by a vet and it is based on her gut feel. As a former vet nurse I cannot see a way of knowing this by touch.
Probably stupidly, I agreed to take the kitten as I had already built up a connection. However now I have the risk of a genetic fault. I was expecting there to be some kind of redress if her kittens were born with a tail fault and this was suggested to me on the phone. However it has since been retracted and I have been offered a goodwill gesture of £100! And told two kittens will pay my initial investment back and I shouldn’t worry! I feel pretty conned. The kitten came with no kitten pack, no registration or pedigree. I was told the paperwork would come later. I now don’t know how to proceed. I am angry with myself but also the behaviour of the breeders, who were not upfront.
I am now questioning other aspects of the kitten, as she looks to have a ticked coat :( but I am now attached!!
I would really love some advice

Welcome to our forum. First of all, breathe and relax. Don't beat yourself up for this. Research is everything when it comes to purchasing a queen if you are going to start breeding. First, you need a mentor and obviously this breeder and her mentor are simply not who you need.

When purchasing a queen, the registration paperwork should be provided to you immediately. Breeders register the litter, so the registration papers for the kittens when they are old enough to leave, are available.

Note, quality breeding queens go for over $3,000 here in the US. Your conversion comes to just over $2,100. Things may be different over there. Know there are so many GREAT breeders in the UK. I don't know if this breeder has a cattery name, but if you post it or PM me the name, I will do some research in my database to see if I have any of her cats in there.

Breeders should always have vet records on their queens and studs. They should have test results for HCM, PK, PRA, etc. They may not go into genetic testing. Color testing should tell you whether there is any charcoal in the cat. And they should be able to show you pedigrees on both the stud and queen of the kittens.

It appears to me that you simply chose the wrong breeder. What's done is done. Breeding cats is a full-time job and it's more than just mating a queen and stud and waiting for a delivery of kittens. And if all you're seeing is $$$, you may be hard pressed when the queen delivers ONE kitten. Breeders need birthing areas, then kitten areas. One must know emergency procedures and have a vet on call when the kittens are due. You may have to assist in delivering the kittens. Then if the mother refuses to nurse, you need to have special formula on hand to feed the kittens or even to supplement. If a queen has more than 6 or 7 kittens, they usually are not going to get enough milk from the mom.

I know I've gone off track here and I am NOT a breeder, but a lot of it is common sense. Finanne Bengals just lost not only five new kittens, but the queen died yesterday as well. Things can go wrong. Most of the time, things go right.

Your "breeder" is not going to refund all your money and you feel you have been sold a potentially defective queen. You can do one of two things. Breed her or return her to the breeder and be out the money and try a better breeder.

You have not mentioned a stud for your queen. Are you planning on purchasing one or getting stud service? The latter requires your queen be extensively tested for everything. And, does the stud come to you or you send your queen to the stud? Millwood Autumn Of Bengal Basket died from an infection she caught while being bred to a stud at LeopardFuzz.

With all of this negative information I'm posting, why would anybody want to breed animals? Because some just love the breed and want to develop the best quality, sweet temperamental cats. I'm sure this was your reason because the money is just not there. Hobby breeders have it easier, but the large breeders build climate controlled out houses with individual cat runs. They have special birthing rooms for the moms. Then kitten playrooms. Plus, I know breeders who provide just about everything with their new kittens. Litter, boxes, blankets, food, pet insurance. This costs tens of thousands of dollars and one of the reasons they can charge $2,800 for a PET quality bengal.

I don't know if this has helped you any. But, I'll be happy to spend time researching this breeder if you will provide me with her or her cattery name.

In my way of looking at these things, there are two separate parts to this: the purchase transaction and the kitten. You bungled the purchase transaction. Most of that is on you, and you've learned from it (although, to be honest, I don't think you've yet learned as much yet as you *should* have from it, based on what you posted here...). The odd thing to me about this is that there is a certain amount of due diligence that prospective pet parents do just when buying a purebred cat to be a pet. And you failed at that on that level. But when breeding is the goal, there is a ton more due diligence expected because people that get cats from you are going to expect that of *you* and it seems like you are still clueless about that part of it. There is no way that something like this should have happened. I really think you should go to more shows, talk to more breeders, do way more research and consider getting yourself a (legit) mentor. Otherwise, you are destined to become the kind of breeder that you just did business with. Just let it go!

But the second, and unrelated, part to this is the kitten. To me, taking home a kitten, whether it be from a breeder, a shelter, or any other way is a serious commitment, and it shouldn't be tainted by her past or how the transaction went down. Why is she becoming the victim in this? You are talking about her like she is a pound of cheese or something. Ugh!

_________________
The little monsters 3

That sad part of this entire story is that the kitten is blameless in this. The kitty needs and deserves a wonderful home with no resentment. The breeder may be bad, the the little one had nothing to do with this.