Hello i'm new here and I would like you to give me some tips on choosing my first Bengal Kitten.

later this year my chosen breeder will have a litter of brown spotted rosette kittens, both mum and dad are brown rossetted. They are lovely looking cats, i've seen mum and dad on the breeders website.

This will be my first ever Bengal cat. My details are as follows:

I'm not sure on whether to have a male or female.

I work part time and will be away from home for up to 5 hours which includes my travel to and from work. I'm a school dinner lady and get all the kids day offs and holidays off too.

I also foster dogs and when kitten arrives then i will only be fostering cat friendly ones.

I have heard Bengals are ok with dogs so as I'll have a dog at home then the cat will have company when i'm at work.

I have three children, the kids are very good with animals. The oldest is 15, then the middle one is 14 and the youngest is 11 years old.

Can you give me some tips on what sort of personality I should look at when I choose my future kitten please?

The kitten will stay indoors because I live on a main road, I have a tall dog gate behind my front door so there won't be any escapes.

I have looked on the internet and will be getting some tall cat trees for around the house.


Thank you in advance

Kimberley
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Hi Kimberley and welcome to the board. I'm probably not the best person to give you advice on choosing a Bengal because I broke all the rules and got mine on a whim without proper preparation!! I've never regretted it for one moment though and I have two fantastic girls, Dolly and Daisy.

Personally I prefer female kittens, mainly because of a bad experience with a spraying male cat many years ago. You may want to consider getting two kittens (they don't both have to be Bengals) so that they have feline company. I know you have dogs but Bengal play isn't always appreciated by dogs (or humans ) and it may help reduce the chaos while you're out if you have 2 kitties.

You sound like you've already done quite a bit of research which is good and you've thought of many of the things you'll need to keep your Bengal safe. You'll probably find that when you see the litter, the right kitten will choose you

Good luck choosing - don't forget that we like piccies so when the litter arrives, let us see them.

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Thank you ginny for your reply

I don't think i'd be able to have two kittens as well as fostering dogs because my house is small. If I feel that the kitten is getting bored during the day whilst i'm at work then maybe i'll change my mind.

I hope the breeder lets me have a kitten knowing I work and live on a main road. She breeds them for a hobby and has the future kittens from another breeder Tedith breeders. This is her website and the mum and dad are Tedith Mac and Tedith Jemima.

http://www.wellspottedbengals.co.uk/

The main reason I chose this breeder is because she lives near me and because i don't drive I wouldn't be able to drive to one further out. I live in kent.

One thing i'm keen on getting is a cat run for the garden, but my garden is small with low neighbouring fences, about 5/6 feet high, so I would need something that is low but long. Any suggestions?

I have some mesh net for the windows for when I need them open, you just fix them on the window frame with velcro and the cats cannot get out, but I need something for when the back door to the garden is open so the cats cannot get out from the garden.

I'm not sure when the kittens will be conceived but i'm hoping pretty soon. Two months preggers, then 14 weeks until they can leave home, so i'm guessing around November grrr a long wait

It'll be worth the wait but time will probably seem to go really slowly for you! The stud and queen look as if they should produce some lovely kittens - fingers crossed they get it together as they're supposed to do

I think most breeders know that Bengal slaves often work and it sounds as if you're making all the right arrangements to keep your kitten safe. I live in the country and mine have free run outside so I've never needed to look into runs or protecting the windows. There are a few people on the board who have cat runs though so I'm sure they'll advise you (the board is often quite quiet at weekends so don't worry that people haven't posted yet). How good are your DIY skills?

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My DIY skills are good. I wouldn't know where to start, i will await replies from those who have built their own runs and possibly show photos of their work? I guess time does fly, it's only 5/6/7 months to wait, I suppose it will give me time to build a run.

I've already got a name if we pick a girl "Bindi" i'm stuck on boy names though. I have a feeling when I see the litter, I have first choice yay I'll have two, we will have to see but then I may want them all

Thank you ginny for your help.

I'd be a little concerned about the mesh for your windows... The velcro thing doesn't sound particularly stable.

We had fly screens on all of our windows - they had aluminium frames holding the mesh in place and were securely fastened to the windows. The cats climbed them and ripped out the mesh from the secure frames - velcro wouldn't stand a chance!!!

We've since replaced all of our fly screens with security screens that can't even be cut with a blade (let alone a cat claw!). They look like the mesh but are made of steel, and the frames are bolted to the windows from the inside. Having said that, much of the decision to go to that expense was because the house was broken into and a bunch of electronics gear was stolen and I was freaking out about people maybe stealing my beautiful baby bengal kitten (who was just on 3 months old at the time and had been living with us for a week!!) - so it's protection for the cats from both sides!

regarding the personality types you should look for. i agree with what ginny said.

the right kitten will choose you. im afraid my original interest in the bengal breed was largley based on the beautiful spotted coats but when we went to visit the litter i just couldnt take my eyes of this quirkly little melanistic monster.

besides. i can get a spotty monster next time!

go with your heart.

Before I got mine, I'd read that Bengals are all bigger than "ordinary" cats but it isn't true in the case of my pair and from talking to other Bengal owners it seems as if they vary in size just as other cats do. My two are both actually quite small (only 6.5lbs at just over a year old). Having said that, there are some people who have whopping sized Bengals. You'll get an idea from seeing the parents - if they're both big then it's a fair bet that the kittens will be too. If mum is small and dainty then some of the kittens probably will be.

I've used Frontline on mine without any problem. I've read conflicting views on whether to use Drontal worming tablets or Panacur. Mine are due for the booster vaccinations soon so I'll see what my vet offers.

In terms of the best age to pick - I bet you fall in love with them all the first time you see them!! I'm sure your breeder will tell you what age they generally get chosen by their new slaves. You don't want to wait too long and find someone else has reserved the one(s) you want.

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