I have to agree with Elaine and have long wondered why the downsides that she describes are not more publically available. Until last year we also bred Maine Coons and for a very short period bred Pixie Bobs and they were both entirely different to Bengals when entire. Bengal females can be more territorial than males and some can even be worse with regards to spraying and smell.
To breed Bengals is to take on a new way of life. Your ornaments and art work are this first things to go into storage! You have to look at the lifestyle you have now and wether you like it or not. If you do then I would reconsider breeding. We class it as a hobby but it is not a hobby we can pick up and leave at the weekend, that we can keep in a spare room to dip in and out of. The noise and smell are always there and every day will start with a battle to keep on top of it. It is a hobby that doesn't care if you are ill, if your mother just died or if you have an invitation to celebrate with friends and family. You do have control over when kittens will be born and can plan around them accordingly, but what happens when the queen requires a c-section, delivers early, the kittens need hand feeding. Is there help at hand to take over your daily chores while you give your days and nights (feeding every 3 hours) entirely to the newborns? Many of us end up training and employing friends, family or local people to step in when we cannot be around or are struggling in such times. This is a huge cost - and a huge stress, no matter how often they have cared for your animals you always worry. And what if something in their life requires immediate attention? They won't choose your animals over their own family. Twice we have cut a holiday short or left a cat show when the babysitter has had a personal emergency. Cutting the holiday short was a massive cost, leaving the cat show cost us our awards we had already won that morning.
We don't mean to and we often feel guilty about it but time with friends and family usually lessens. You don't have the same time you once did and they don't like constantly being around and/or hearing about cats. In the beginning they are supportive and interested but, naturally, it gets old rather quickly!
These are usually the reasons most breeders give up in the first 4-5 years. They imagined making a little extra income while having cute kittens around the home. Beautiful cats that added to the decor and personality of the home.
The rest of us continue on, finding ourselves quite happy living amid the chaos. We become oblivious to the noise and don't notice getting up and down 15 times during a film to remove a cat from the TV. We don't care that a cat or kitten has just grabbed food from our plate and run off not to eat it but to mush it into the floor for you to clean up later. We expect every day to start with a smell and our first job being to tackle it. We stay up till all hours with girls in labour - only for them to hang in there another few days. We fully expect to stink of pee after tackling the stud quarters. We get through the morning, sit down to lunch and there is always a cat who has held off going to the litter tray until you have food. Doors and windows become your natural enemy and you find yourself yelling at guests to "shut the door behind you!".
Non cat folk become boring and tedious. They have problems??? Try litter training that stubborn kitten who for no reason refuses to use the litter tray. Try living for a month when hand feeding. Try having a long lie. Try watching a film the whole way through without getting up to move cats, empty litter, restock a food bowl, refill a water dish, pick up something they have knocked off of the table.
I say all these things with affection and would rather be surrounded by cats than people. Breeders such as us often laugh these things off with each other. We often joke about how it came to this - how this lifestyle could have become 'normal' to us. If you, too, are such a person then welcome to the club. If, instead, you like your 'me' time, holidays, going out, having people around etc then consider an altered pet. Even the smallest hobby breeders (1-2 females and no stud) have to deal with noise and inappropriate spraying. I also also hear of more and more complaints from neighbours regarding noise from breeding cats and know breeders who are seriously having to consider relocating or stopping breeding because of it.
Also, why do you want to breed? If you have a passion for the breed, want to see it thrive and want to breed with health at the fore then you are sorely needed. If you want to produce pretty kittens (for extra income or not) and have little concern of the health aspect then you will actually be doing the breed you love a major disservice. Too many breeders think they can waive their responsibilities by claiming 'hobby' ... we all have an equal share of responsibility to the breed wether producing 5 or 50 kittens a year. Wether selling as pets or breeding animals.
Basically, join us if you're mad enough
. Don't if you can't give it your absolute all.
Steven
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