Greetings!

i just wanted to mention Bengal Rescue for those of you considering owning a Bengal Cat! There are many beautiful, loving, wonderful Bengal cats available for adoption thru rescue!
Please see the link below to find Bengal Rescue in your area.

<a href='http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Yard/4614/' target='_blank'>http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Yard/4614/</a>

I think Nicola's probably talking about some nutcases, who may be justified given their experience, whereas you're talking about just the really good people who run cat rescues and shelters.

I've volunteered in a shelter for the past two years and have some opinions on getting a cat or kitten from there. I would not recommend it for a first time cat owner, like myself, because you don't know what you're getting and the problems the little kitten or cat might have. The first 8 weeks are so important to the social development of a kitten, if a feral mom teaches their little kittens to be feral, that's a difficult habit to break. Obviously, some people are much better equipped to handle and care for cats that have been feral but are now indoor only, I wouldn't consider myself to be able to handle with common feral to house cat problems and the stress that those problems causes forces a lot of otherwise really well intentioned folks to bring the cat or kitten back to the shelter.

If I had small children (like kids under 12 but old enough to respect and understand the needs of a cat), I would also probably think twice about adopting a cat or kitten from a rescue. Cats and kittens regularly come into shelter with unnoticed diseases, everything from being carriers of salmonella (I was in the hospital 2 weeks ago for over 48hrs with salmonella that I probably got from a new kitten or cat at the shelter) to pinkeye. Salmonella sucked for me, 106 degree fever, "critical dehydration", as well as a lot more unpleasant things that I won't talk about; a younger child, or elderly person, could very well die from salmonella. The same goes for anyone with a compromised immune system, most of whom are undiagnosed.

I think there are situations where both options make sense and either way it's a challenge.

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"Never compromising with public taste."