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Breeding Bengals can be a huge responsibility. Not only is the breeder in charge of many little bodies, they are also taking their and their mother’s health into concern. Giving birth is emotionally, psychologically, and physically taxing on the mother and a mess for the breeder to clean up. But just because there is a lot that goes into it, doesn’t mean it can’t be a moment for growth between a breeder and the Bengals involved. Let’s take a deeper look into the topic as such:
Becoming a breeder, especially a Bengal breeder, takes time, money, patience, and care. It isn’t done in a day. First thing to do would be associating with other breeders and buying a Bengal that is already neutered or spayed, also known as altered. Show them for a while, this shows to the breeder that the owner showing their cat is good with the breed and good for the breed.
Once another breeder is comfortable, they may sell either an unaltered female or both an unaltered male and female. If it is only the female, a male with a willing breeder can be contacted to set up a “date”.
Once the new breeder and the cat(s) are acquainted and comfortable with each other and they are checked over by a trusted vet, the breeding can begin the next time the female is in heat. Some breeders will only begin a litter when they are in contact with people wanting to buy a Bengal for themselves.
Of course, the importance of whether there will be breeding rights put to each kitten needs to be made. The giving of showing rights also needs to be determined with each litter as well. Sometimes this decision can be made by the current breeder, and sometimes it is made by the original breeder. For instance, the may have show rights on the new mother and/or her kittens.
Little Leopard Cats lists informative ways to identify a reputable breeder. This can be a helpful way to be presented as a breeder that owners would associate and communicate with.
There are a lot of intricacies to take into concern when considering becoming a Bengal breeder. As stated previously, breeding Bengals takes a lot of time, money, patience, and care.
Remembering that just because Bengal cats shed minimally, doesn’t mean that it will still seem like a minimal amount when there is a whole family of them. The next logical conclusion is that there will need to be increase in fur cleanup. A broom will probably get attacked by a horde of kittens, but a vacuum is another story.
Bengals are still cats and react to vacuums similarly. Check out this video to see a Bengal’s reaction to a vacuum hose.
Time and patience are one and same. A female may not become pregnant the first few times that she is bred. And even though the feline gestational period is shorter than that of a human, doesn’t make it seem like a short amount of time.
The “care” part of breeding is pretty obvious. The mother needs care as well as her new babies. Yes, the mother will likely instinctually know what to do during labor and with her new babies. That doesn’t mean she won’t need or want a helping hand sometimes.
There is a fun side to this however. The breeder can create a swimming Bengal by getting them acquainted with water early on can help to really bring out a fun quirk of this breed. Just imagine, letting a litter of kitten loose in a shallow pool.
Are you sure you want to clean up that increased amount of cat hair? What about the mess after the birth? There is a lot to take into concern when considering breeding any animal, let alone the strong willed Bengal.
A new breeder will need to be prepared for how many kittens to expect from a litter. There is a lot of consideration that goes into this especially because there is usually a range of how many kittens are in each litter. This is important beyond selling the kittens born, like if there are more or less kittens than owners lined up.
As we’ve discussed, breeding Bengals is a huge responsibility that takes the health of the mother and kittens into concern. It takes time, money, and so much more to become a breeder, be a reputable breeder, keep the cats happy and healthy, and selling the kittens.
So, what do you think about breeding Bengals? Has this interested you or turned you away from it? Comment below to let us know!
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