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Best Wishes,
Karen <UK>
http://www.suntouchedbengals.com
http://www.bengalbreedersunited.co.uk

That link is really good Thank you It is a nice eye opener. (I can't say its put me off) But i do need to do A LOT more research!

Both her parents and Bella are PK Deficiency negative. Bella hasn't been heart screened. So that is something I need to do! Do I talk to my vet about this?

I will upload some pictures of her when I get home

Thank you again!

Hi, Sounds like you are really looking into everything which is great.

You can look on the FAB list for here http://www.fabcats.org/hcm/ for an approved cardiologist in your area and dont need to go via your vet - the only thing you give to them is a copy of the screening once its been done - its carbon copy 3 tier - one copy to you, one to fab and one to your vet

It would be really lovely to see a photo too....

[img][img]http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii548/BellaBeeBengals/304880_10150338420259586_513514585_7986856_1615457408_n1.jpg[/img]


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[img][img]http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii548/BellaBeeBengals/394643_10150491919339586_513514585_8598882_257016415_n1.jpg[/img]

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wow, she looks stunning! I love silver bengals! to my untrained eye, she looks gorgeous and I don't see the tinges of brown at all!

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Thank you very much! I'm so proud of her

I have been in contact with my local HCM screening centre. They have told me they would like me to wait until she is over a year old before I get her screened so i will be booking her in in a few months They have 60% rate of Bengals that aren't sedated. I'm really not sure Bella would saty still that long!! Hopefully she will because I would rather she isn't sedated. Thank you for the information!

There is No Charcoal gene found at present.
Charcoal is a colouration that will be investigated soon by researchers but there is no real evidence that one specific gene causes it.

I presume the gene tested for is the A or Agouti gene. So your cat is Aa, which many charcoals seem to be, but there are many, many cats that test Aa that have not anything to do with charcoal. The "a" gene is the solid gene, it is the gene that if homozygous produces smokes and melanistics which are both non-approved colours in the breed. My feeling is that the charcoal is a polygenetic trait and that your cat either has the capacity to produce charcoal or it doesn't, it is not a simple recessive. This "carrying the charcoal gene" is IMO merely a marketing ploy carried on by breeders, as a way of increasing prices and expectations as to what a particular cat could produce. All because charcoals are popular at present
If you are going to breed successfully and ethically then you need to see cats in a non- biased way, it is no good "she is beautiful to me", if she doesn't tick the boxes for the breed. There are so many kittens produced in this country, very many end up in rescue or being pts, that I feel that as breeders it is a moral responsibility to produce only kittens that are going to benefit the breed and not just produce kittens because you can.

See http://www.bengals.dk/ticaseminar.pdf which will give you an idea of what is good and what is poor conformation.

Well the breeder did lie to me then and you are right the paperwork is the Agouti.

I understand what you are saying. I have put that I am concerned she isn't a good enough example to breed her.

One of the reasons I would really like to breed Bella is her temprement. She loves people! She is very friendly with everyone. She has so far got on really well with any cats she has been around (and she has been around quite a few.) She is full of confidence and really cuddly. She uses a human toilet, walks on her leash perfectly, plays fetch and many other tricks. I understand that pretty much all Bengals can do this but she does pick up everything extremely fast.

I thought that I would be benefitting the breed because hopefully her temprement would pass down. I have read so many things about people with Bengals who are very nervous, very badly behaved, don't like being touched etc so I guess I thought it might be good for the breed.

So I guess she really doesn't look good enough then? I am only still in the research stage of breeding anyway. Sorry.

Also I already have family members lined up for her first litter. I definitely wouldn't breed her if I didn't already have homes for the kittens. I would not allow them to go to a rescue or pts. I would want the customer to bring the cat back to me if they didnt want it anymore!!