Hello everyone,

I am a new member to this group. I have been lurking on this forum for quite some time, learning everything I can before posting. I finally feel I have some questions I really do need answers to. This may be a long post, so I apologize.

I have a beautiful brown rosette queen who is right now on her 4th heat. She is a little over 1 year of age, full TICA rights, and is still a maiden queen. HCM, PK, HD, FIV and FeLV testing done and all results came back perfect. I admit I still need to DNA/coat test her. I attempted to have her bred on her 3rd heat, but it did not go well at all. My queen hated the stud! Absolutely hated him! She was a snarling, growling, hissing, clawing, nasty beast the entire time he was with her. She would not allow him anywhere near her for over a full week! I finally gave up trying and had him go home. She is usually a very sweet, loving, docile girl, so her behavior really took me by surprise. During that attempt, the two were kept completely separate unless supervised as I wanted to be able to witness any breeding to confirm the date and time for my own record keeping. I tried dozens and dozens of times while he was here to get the two to breed, but any attempt led to nothing but fighting.

This current cycle has been a long and miserable one. She started calling approximately 2 weeks ago, but finally started going into a lordosis position only last night. I am set to have a different stud brought over for a stay later today, but I am quite anxious about it. The stud is young (11 months of age) and has never before been bred, so I am not sure if he will even know what to do. Add to that, with my queen being so down right nasty to the last stud I am sure it will just happen again.

What on earth can I do to get this girl to be receptive to a stud? Bengals are INCREDIBLY rare and hard to come by in my area. I had to buy my queen from out of state and have her flown in. That is how hard they are to find. It took several months of searching just to find two studs that I have, and even then both are located over an hour away. I have now run out of stud options due to her pickiness. I do not want to frustrate or anger the stud owners with repeated failed attempts.

As she is now on Day One of truly showing a readiness to mate (by assuming a lordosis position when pet), how many approximate days of optiumum breeding does she still have this cycle? I read that once lordosis begins there are 4-7 days a queen will be receptive to a stud.

ANY helpful tips, pointers, suggestions and advice would be very welcome!

Thank you!

First of all, welcome to the forum! I don't know how many of our active members breed. I'm sure you've scanned the internet. I think one of the best resources is to talk with the breeder who sold you your queen. They should be able to answer your questions and should feel honored to mentor you. I don't know how common it is to have an aggressive queen toward the stud ... at least not until after the mating. I'm guessing you're quite anxious over this. I did read that a male should be about 18 months old and you're looking at getting a very young stud. I'm not a breeder, so I really can't answer your questions, but I hope someone else who is more familiar with breeding will come on here and help you out a little more.

Thank you for your reply!

Yes, I have scoured the internet looking for any information in regard to an aggressive queen or how to get an unwilling queen to accept a stud, but was unable to find much. I have also spoken to two other bengal breeders about the issue as well. They were even unsure as what to do, aside from try different studs!

However- it appears my concerns were unfounded! Despite some hissing and growling, I have officially witnessed one successful pairing! The scream afterwards was almost terrifying, my poor kitty! I think there may have been a 2nd pairing, but I was not present for that one. The stud made several more earnest attempts, but my queen kept flipping onto her back. She is teasing him really bad, with all of her flirty rolling and lordosis posturing- but then rolls onto her back when he mounts her. Sigh. Cats.

I will continue monitoring them when together so I can write down any confirmed mating dates. I will also occassionally leave the two together alone for an hour or two over the next few days until she is no longer receptive. Here's hoping for a healthy litter come June! It is going to be a very long 20ish days waiting to see if her nipples pink up!

It appears I may have spoken too soon. This morning my queen is literally begging to breed, but the stud is now showing absolutely zero interest in her. I highly doubt one coupling will be enough to result in pregnancy, so I really hope the stud snaps out of this could-care-less attitude.

Cross your fingers for us!

Oh boy. You've gone from one extreme to the other! Be patient is all I can say! And good luck!

Just a quick update- things have gone quite well since yesterday morning. I now have 7 witnessed breedings! My queen is still very receptive to him, and actually seeks him out every 2-3 hrs.

Hoping this continues until she is out of heat!

Can you give us an update?

This post is fascinating I am learning so much about the cat's sex life and how it all works. I am going to spend the next year getting to know my new arrival and to learn all that I can about breeding. Please let me know how this progresses i can't wait to hear if the mating has been successful.

I just posted a quick update in a new thread regarding this breeding!

Hello i am also new to this forum but have always wanted to join.
I also am breeding two bengals. I have a female whose brown with beautiful rosettes and a have beautiful snow male.
Currently my female is in her first heat at 7months. My male is nearly 6.
My queen is losing her mind with wanting to breed. Is it toearlier for her?
Also my male has tried mounting in maybe 3 times but cant get it in.
Now.he shows no sign of trying again amd actually thinks the queen is hurt or in pain but he doesnt want to breed.
So is he to young?
How many times can she go into heat with out being breed? I bought the pair pretty close together. If he cant mount her properly what should i do?

Thanks for all your valuable information.

I just responded to this same question a few minutes ago, but in case you can't find the topic, here is my reply:

The queen is really too young in her first heat! Most wait until the second heat and the cat is closer to a year old. Males get sexually mature as early as six months, but usually around 9 months. I think I responded to a topic on this yesterday.

If you are new to breeding, you need an experienced breeder as a mentor. This is not just mating cats and delivering kittens. There is so much more to this! And as an inexperienced breeder, you need to read up on complications from breeding and delivery and have all the necessary emergency kit available. Kittens deliver breech, queens require C-sections or help with delivery. Kittens who are delivered early and are too small may need immediate vet attention. A female who does not accept her kittens, the kittens need to be fed every two hours. So much can go right, but so much can go wrong.

Kittens need first vaccinations and all should be spayed and neutered before going to new homes.You need a contract between you and the buyer, you need to research all potential owners to make sure your kittens go to great homes. You need to be able to take back any cat that needs rehoming.

If you want to continue breeding and become a reputable breeder, you need to join the cat groups, cat organizations, TICA, etc. Register any litter so the kittens can be individually registered.

But first of all, separate the male and female. Males are usually kept in an enclosure outside due to the fact that they will spray once they become sexually mature and you do not want that in your home. Many breeders do not own studs for that reason and send their queens out to be impregnated.

I'm hoping you thought this out extensively and you know what you are getting into. It's not just about the $$$. This is hard work and most breeders find that they don't come out with much $$$ at the very end.

We only have one breeder who posts with any regularity -- Ontario Bengals. But, please reach out to the breeder of your cats for help. We are happy to offer opinions, but we don't breed and I certainly want you to have the best advice you can.

Sorry I've been away for a while. Please let me know if I can still be of assistance.