Hello,

I have read that no hybrid cats are allowed into the state of Hawaii, thus meaning the Bengal cat is not allowed there. Does anyone have any insider knowledge or experience either successful or unsuccessful with this? Thanks!

Welcome to the forum. All the information on lawscan be found at http://www.hybridlaw.com.

The information on Hawaii is:

Prohibited Animals: The regulation of animal breeds and species that are permitted to enter Hawaii is under Plant Quarantine Branch jurisdiction and administrative rules. Non-domestic dogs and cats and hybrids such as wolf, wolf cross, Dingo, Bengal, Savannah, etc are prohibited under Plant Quarantine (PQ) law. Refer to Plant Quarantine’s animal guidelines for importation.

I also checked the State of Hawaii website, which states the same information. There are not many states or municipal jurisdictions that prohibit the bengal, period. Most will allow bengals that are F4 and higher.

Hawaii is a US state, however, animals must go through inspection, thus any bengal would be discovered and confiscated and probably euthanized. While Hawaii is a beautiful state, they are not beautiful toward hybrid dogs or cats.

Thank you for the reply Sherry. However, I, too, have done my homework on the net regarding this Hybrid Law. My question actually is intended for anyone with EXPERIENCE, thus meaning PERSONAL experience or know someone personally who has either a successful or unsuccessful experience with bringing in a Bengal into Hawaii. I don’t need any replies regurgitating what is already on the internet or what one guesses. I appreciate anyone who can provide any such info that I have explained above. Thank you.

Geez, bring it down a notch. It's a law for a reason. Hawaii is quite restrictive on importing animals, so there is little chance you'd make it through quarantine.

Again, thank you 7 Deadly Sins, but please refer to my past 2 posts on replying if you have had or know anyone who has had experience in bringing a Bengal to Hawaii. I assure you that my tone of voice isn’t meant to sound how you are implying, so I apologize if it sounds that way,

Well, I currently have my Bengal as a result of friends who moved to Hawaii who very badly wanted to take Oberon with them when they moved. They researched it very thoroughly before determining that taking Oberon with them was not an option. And I mean they researched it thoroughly.

They lived on a farm in the mountains outside of Denver. I rented an attic room from them and was helpful getting Oberon to eat after they acquired him from a local shelter last May. He wouldn't touch the kibble and I didn't realize they didn't even try wet cat food. I got him some beef heart because I had some experience with show cats. As a result they bequeathed him to me him at the time they needed to find him a new home.

They now live in Hawaii, on the Big Island. Fortunately they live north of all the volcanic activity on the Big Island.

They did not attempt to bring Oberon to Hawaii because of what they learned.

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Thank you ColoVega for sharing your insightful experience of having acquired a Bengal due to your roommates move. You certainly got the sweet end of the deal!

I suppose I’d like to throw this question out there to anyone: How can the Agriculture Dept. Know beyond certainty that a cat is a Bengal? Certainly if the Bengal is like an I.e. F15, etc. couldn’t the cat possibly be an ocicat?

OHKermie

I would bet my bottom dollar that the quarantine gateholders at the Agriculture department would love an excuse to throw their weight around if they saw an animal that looked the least bit suspicious. I wouldn't be surprised if they required a DNA test (at the owner's expense) to prove that the cat were an Ocicat or ordinary Domestic Short Hair while they held the cat in quarantine.

I don't believe they have any incentive to just wave you on by. I would expect them to jump on the opportunity to prove that they are doing their job with both feet. I suspect there is a low volume of incoming traffic to Hawaii at this point in time, and they will be even more eager to enforce the laws.

If I had a suspicious looking cat, I might be inclined to have DNA testing at hand to prove that it meets their requirements.

Sherry, you seem familiar with DNA testing for Bengals. Exactly what information does the testing provide?

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Well what makes you bet your bottom dollar, though? Please explain; I am curious. The dept. had requested a DNA test, actually and I have done so. You are correct on that. How is a Bengal cat different than any other regular ordinary house cat? Couldn’t they then treat any cat that tries to enter Hawaii? Do they count the spots on the cat to determine it’s breed? What’s the procedure? You can have an opinion all you want, but I am more interested in real experiences.

If you're going to dis on anyone who replies, why don't you phone or contact the Hawaii authority directly and ask them yourself.

I’m not dissing anyone. Please, again, only if you had an experience bringing a Bengal or hybrid into Hawaii for responses. Thank you.

While we may have over a thousand members, very few post on here regularly. You may be better off posting on multiple forums. Members here are very helpful. My suggestion is take your bengal with you and try your luck. Who knows if these inspectors are trained to discern between a bengal or an ocicat-- they probably are or at least they have a "book" with pictures. You got a good reply from ColoVega that she has her bengal due to the owners moving to Hawaii. A simple phone call to Hawaii should clear up any questions you have and if you block your Caller ID, they will never know it's you calling.

I have yet to find an F15 for my database. The highest I get is F13 and that's usually with an F12 parent and the other parent's F generation unknown. And an F15 isn't going to look any different than an F4.

Members here have done DNA tests on their cats. What comes back are percentages basically. This one particular test did not show any bengal. I'm not scientific enough to understand it all. But, registration papers are basically the proof that a cat is purebred.

You might want to soften your attitude just a little if you're going to try and get your bengal through an inspection on Hawaiian soil (or lava).

Thank you, Sherrie for taking the time to respond. Very helpful. I am contacting the company that processed my cat's DNA for more information. There wasn't a percentage that showed up, though. Also, what is the DNA websites that other members have used?

When you say "F" do I count backwards from the very first bengal in my cat's lineage? It's kind of a confusing process...or maybe not?

Vega was kind enough to reply to my post and I thanked her, and I am fascinated with her experience. I was hoping from the story for more specifics though: in what ways did this couple search thoroughly? And disappointing part is that at the end of the story the couple didn't even try to get the kitty to Hawaii; they gave up before trying. That is what the story sounded like to me anyways, and I completely respect and understand someone's decision to do what they did.

Anyways, I am really sorry if I come across as having an attitude. I can ease off the petal. :-/

I don't take offense and respect Ohkermie's request for facts and first hand experiences.

That said, I will express another opinion. I think most people love their cats so much that they would simply not want to risk putting their furbabies through the stress of flying, quarantine and the very real risk that a determination on the other end will result in having to fly the cat back to the continent in the BEST CASE, euthanasia in the worst. It is a Solomon's baby thing.

I have a bias against security guards, TSA agents and others whose livelyhood and egos revolve around having POWER over the fate of others. Whose sense of self-worth is determined by "doing their job" and proving to others that they are doing their job.

I think given what is at stake, you are unlikely to find anyone that has actually put a Bengal on a plane to Hawaii.

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I know you want to keep your kitty with you. Are you sure it's Hawaii you need to travel to?

As for the F generations, it is the shortest link back to the Asian Leopard Cat. Bengals have multiple ALCs in their pedigrees. One needs a pedigree to determine the F generation. I started my database because I was doing F generations for people and I was having to go back over the same cats over and over again. Who can remember the F generations for the hundreds of cats in a pedigree? It can take three weeks to go all the way back. Now, with my database, if I have the parents in there, then getting the offspring's F generation is easy. I currently have 73,002 records as I've been adding registration numbers, birthdates as well as the parents and their F generations. This project was started over two years ago and I work on it at least 6 hours a day, every day. It will NEVER be finished, but I hope most of it will be done by the end of this year.

If anyone wants to know the F generation of their bengal and you have their pedigree, registration papers or know the parents, feel free to PM me or post and I will be happy to see if I can help.