Adoption Process
Coordinating with catteries and exhausting internet searches can seem overwhelming to those not familiar with the process when searching for their Bengal. We went through the same frustrations when we were searching for our Bengals so to help others in their search we have itemized our typical process below.
Note that we update our available kitten pictures about every 2 weeks, so picking the pattern that you desire is easier the longer you wait; however, the higher the risk of the kitten being reserved by someone else. See Pattern Progression below for a sample of how patterns and colors progress as the kitten ages. In general, pattern rosettes will open up and brown colors will develop. The best indicator of how kitten patterns and colors will develop is to look at pictures of both parents.
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Note that if you don't purchase breeding/showing rights, then the Breeder Slip will be provided with "Not For Breeding" and "Not For Showing" boxes checked. This means that any future kittens produced by your kitten can never be registered with TICA, which is no problem if you plan to spay/neuter your kitten anyway. This also means that your kitten can't compete in cat shows other than in the pet category. You can still register your kitten with TICA without breeding/showing rights as "Pet Only", guarantying your Bengal is purebred.
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1. Pick your available kitten in our Available Kittens page.
2. Email, text, or call us to verify the kitten is still available as the website isn't updated daily.
3. Request a ZOOM call by email, text, or phone if you want to discuss live as this helps weed out scammers.
4. Pay $300 non-refundable deposit by Cashapp, Venmo, or Zelle to reserve your kitten.
5. We will update our website to show your kitten reserved along with your city.
6. Wait until kitten is 10 weeks old, see our Available Kittens page for available date to pick up your kitten.
7. Decide if you want to purchase the additional breeding/showing rights for your kitten.
8. Come to our cattery to pick up your kitten and pay remaining balance with cash, Cashapp, Venmo, or Zelle.
9. Pick up Breeder Slip for your kitten showing Breeder Slip Number and Litter Number, needed for registration.
10. Help your kitten adjust to its new home, see Rehoming Tips below.
11. Schedule second round of vaccinations 2 weeks after pick up, cattery provides first round.
12. Register your kitten with TICA using the information on the Breeder Slip, if desired, cost is $12.
13. Order 3 generation ($25) or 5 generation ($50) pedigree (upstream family tree) from TICA, if desired.
Cattery Evaluation
1. Most Bengal catteries will have both a dedicated website page and a Facebook page and not just a free Facebook page. Search the internet for the name of the cattery. Beware of websites and Facebook pages that don't list their location as a common scammer technique is to find out your location first, then they will give their location a sufficient distance away so that picking up the kitten isn't practical and shipping comes into play. Bad grammar is almost always present with scammers.
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2. Most Bengal catteries will be registered with TICA (The International Cat Association) and have a TICA Cattery ID number listed in their website. If their website doesn't mention membership, then you can search the TICA website for registered catteries at tica.org/bengal-breeders. You can't register your Bengal kitten if the cattery isn't registered with TICA. Also make sure both parents are registered with TICA as you can't register your Bengal kitten unless both parents are registered with TICA.
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3. Most Bengal catteries will be a member of The Bengal Cat Club, a major international Bengal cat club. If their website doesn't mention membership, then you can search the Bengal Cat Club website for registered catteries at bengalcatclub.com/bengal-cat-breeders/. You can still register your Bengal kitten if the cattery isn't a member as long as they are a member of TICA.
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4. Some Bengal catteries will be a member of The International Bengal Cat Society (TIBCS). It is not as popular as The Bengal Cat Club. If their website doesn't mention membership, then you can search the International Bengal Cat Society website for registered catteries at tibcs.clubexpress.com/content.aspx?page_id=1270&club_id=902066. You can still register your Bengal kitten if the cattery isn't a member as long as they are a member of TICA.
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5. Most Bengal catteries will offer or accommodate a ZOOM call to help validate cattery and adopter.
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6. Most Bengal catteries will offer premium kittens with breeding/showing rights for an additional fee. Some catteries will limit the sale of breeding/showing rights to only out of state catteries to reduce local competition. You can register your kitten with TICA as a pet without breeding/showing rights; however, you can't register any litters produced by the kitten with TICA without the TICA-established breeding/showing rights issued at the time of adoption.
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7. Most Bengal catteries will provide the first round of vaccinations for your kitten at 8 weeks.
Bengal History
The Bengal breed was developed by crossing the Asian Leopard Cat with a domestic house cat. They are a medium to large cat renowned for their richly colored, highly contrasted coat of vivid rosettes, clouds, and marbling resembling the jungle cats like leopards, jaguars, and ocelots. The breed's name is a reference to the scientific name of the Asian Leopard Cat, Prionailurus Bengalensis, not from the Bengal Tiger. The breed was established in the 1980's, officially adopted by TICA as a new breed in 1986, and are now one of the most frequently exhibited breeds in TICA.
Asian Leopard Cat
Leopard
Jaguar
Ocelot
Clouded Leopard
Original crossings with Asian Leopard Cats produce F1 (Foundation 1st Generation) hybrid Bengals. The F1 males are sterile and can't reproduce; however, F1 females can be breed to produce F2 hybrid Bengals. The F2 males are sterile but the F2 females can be breed to produce F3 hybrid Bengals. F1, F2, and F3 hybrid Bengals are not considered the Bengal breed so they aren't eligible for TICA show. F3 female hybrid Bengals can be breed to produce F4 Bengals and are the first generation to be considered the Bengal breed. All TICA registered Bengals sold by catteries will be F4 or later generations.
Bengals are best known for their exquisite coat patterns and colors. The most common patterns are rosetted, clouded, spotted, and marbled, see below for samples of each. The most common colors are brown, silver, and snow, see below for samples of each. Some Bengal coats feature an iridescent glitter sheen unique to the Bengal breed, see picture below. Snow colors come from crossing brown Bengals with Siamese breeds to produce tan or cream colors with the same Bengal patterns and blue eyes. Silver colors consist of grays, blacks, and whites. Bengal undersides are typically white in all colors and patterns. Bengal tails typically have alternating black and white rings.
Rosetted Pattern
Clouded Pattern
Marbled Pattern
Spotted Pattern
Brown Color
Silver Color
Snow Color
Glitter Coat
Bengals are intelligent, inquisitive, affectionate, and love climbing and elevation. They are very active and playful and prefer environments with lots of climbing options and places to explore. Bengals are also one of the more hypoallergenic cat breeds so they are commonly the choice for people with mild cat allergies. Glitter is typically visible with a magnifying glass or even to the naked eye; however, if you'd like to confirm that your cat or kitten has glitter, then you can purchase the Optimal Selection Feline test from Wisdom Panel.
Pattern Progression
To help you visualize how the patterns and colors of your new kitten will develop as they become an adult, we have provided photos for some of our kittens as they aged. Kittens are born with coats that are spotted, more similar to a cheetah than a leopard; however, later on the spots expand into the classic rosetted leopard pattern. These fuzzy coats also affect the kitten's color. As the kittens age, they will become darker and develop a more leopard-like color and contrast.
Athena 1 Month
Athena 4 Months
Poseidon 4 Months
Athena 2 Months
Athena 5 Months
Poseidon 5 Months
Athena 3 Months
Athena 6 Months
Poseidon 6 Months
Poseidon 7 Months
Iris 3 Months
Iris 6 Months
Poseidon 8 Months
Iris 4 Months
Iris 7 Months
Poseidon 9 Months
Iris 5 Months
Iris 8 Months
Rehoming Tips
Below are some tips and suggestions to help your new kitten adjust to their new home.
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1. When you pick up your kitten, we will include a package of toys, training aids, and food to help with their transition. Some of our favorite toys are fishing-pole styled toys with fish or feathers at the tip, stuffed animals, and collapsible tunnels. Two training tips we've discovered are laser lights and spray bottles. Laser lights are a great way to get your Bengal to do what you want them to do, while water spray bottles are a good way to get your Bengal to stop doing what you don't want them to do. A few days supply of Diamond Naturals Active Cat Food will help with their transition to your cat food of choice.
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2. If you choose a different cat food, then it is best to make the transition slowly. Try 25% new 75% old for a few days, then 50% new 50% old for a few days, then 75% new 25% old for a few days, and finally 100% new. You may experience a short period of loose stools while the kitten's digestive tract adjusts to the new food. Level off the top of your food bowl each day initially so that you can monitor if they are eating or not.
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3. Your kitten will be accustomed to being handled in our home; however, in their new environment they will initially be cautious and nervous. We recommend selecting a small room for the first few days dedicated to your kitten, maybe a bathroom, laundry room, or closet. Place their food, water, litter box, and toys in this room. Once they become adjusted to their new space, their natural curiosity will eventually lead them to explore your new home and expand their comfort territory. The amount of time the kitten takes to adjust to their new home typically takes 3-5 days.
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4. Your kitten will be litter box trained when you pick them up. We use both enclosed litter boxes (Litter Robot) and open litter boxes for training. We will inform you at pick up which type your kitten prefers. As soon as you get them home, place them in their new litter box. Keeping the litter box clean is important, at least initially until they get accustomed to using it. If you find your kitten not using your litter box, then move the litter box to their new spot and relocate their stool to the box and then make them bury their litter. If they start using their new litter box, then gradually move it a foot at a time each day to your desired location.
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5. We use a water fountain with an electric pump. The water fountain filters the water to keep it pure. The recirculating water also helps prevent bacteria growth. Finally the water trickling through the air cools the water a few degrees making it more refreshing to drink. Some Bengals are skittish and get startled by the trickling fountain, so make sure your cat is drinking from the fountain. If they are skittish of the fountain, then turn it off until they get accustomed. Use the laser light in the water to get them to approach and drink. We use a wall outlet manual timer to only run the fountain a few times a day as required. We use a large 2 gallon fountain so that we never have to worry about running out of water if we go on long trips; however, 1/2 and 1 gallon fountains are also adequate. Pay attention to the design of the water fountain as some fountains are designed to run constantly as they have a top divider tray that will quickly run out of water during a power failure. We use the PetSafe Drinkwell fountain as even without power they still have access to all of the water.
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6. Use the laser light to entertain and exercise your new kitten. The laser light can also be used to help the kitten climb towers, use scratching posts, climb stairs, enter new rooms, enter new litter boxes, try new water fountains, come out of inaccessible spaces, etc. Use the water spray bottle to train the kitten to stay off certain tables, stop scratching furniture, stay off certain furniture, etc as they don't like the water in their face but it doesn't harm them. They will learn to retreat even if you just reach for the spray bottle. We have found that scratching posts need to be at least 30" tall to allow proper stretching.
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7. When your kitten is initially getting accustomed to you and your family it is best to lie on the floor so that you don't seem so tall and intimidating to them. Don't forget to go around your home initially and remove any small objects that they could choke on and check for any holes or cracks that they could squeeze into and get stuck like dishwashers, washers, dryers, cabinet baseboards, plumbing access panels, etc.