Bengal
cats for
sale - Contents:
Introduction

|
Ravi,
a Brown Spotted Bengal
male...looks to be very close to his Asian Leopard Cat ancestor -
Helmi's description
|
Bengal
cats
for sale had taken on a new meaning in the
UK in early 2007, when they were being targeted by criminal gangs,
stolen
and sold back to their owners for £1,000 to
£100,000. At any
one time, apparently, there were 120 missing.
In
the USA they are kept in far more frequently than in the UK and I would
think that the UK is gradually moving towards the USA method. Thefts
are one good reason.
Things though have
changed over the years. In
1998, a Foundation Bengal was sold in England for over
$40,000.00 (USD), then a world record for a cat's value apparently.
In January
2005, four F1 kittens went on sale at £80,000 (GPD) each
- astonishing. Lord Gay was the seller/breeder. As I said times have
changed. The Bengal is now no less rare than most purebred cats. In
fact much more common based on my research into rare
cat breeds.
The prices at mid
2007 for a nice show quality cat
would have been about $2,500 - $5,000+. Bengal cats for sale as pets
run to about $650
-$1,250. You
get what you pay for. For healthy, well bred and socialized Bengal
cat, the price should be around $1,000. slide show
Prices
As this very popular cat has become less rare, less unusual over the
past 15 years or so, what effect has that had on prices? Pricing is
based on a number of factors but these are general guidelines:
In the UK
prices for pet quality Bengal cats for sale are around £300 -
£500 (as
at 2008)
and for show cats and breeding cats you'll need to pay between
£800 and a few thousand pounds.
In the USA prices
are $300 -
$1200 and
upwards for pet
quality Bengal cats for sale . I
would expect thousands for breeding cats (sold breeder to breeder).
Bengal cat Prices
This is a link to a lot more on the pricing of Bengal cats. I have
focused on USA and UK. As I said pricing is dependent on quality (in
relation to the breed standard - usually TICA - and generation and
whether the cat is a show cat or not. If not she will have "faults"
when compared to the breed standard but be just as lovely. Character
and personality is independent of appearance lets not
forget.
Bengal cats for
sale - Bengal
cat photo ©Helmi Flick
Breeders
| Bengal cats for
sale -
these details correct at 6-2008 |
Bengaland
Bengals |
Click
on the link above
to go the cattery website and click on the
link to
read about a well
known cattery run by
Peggy and Hugh Price and see
some pictures too. Located in Carlisle,
Pennsylvania, USA and
Philadelphia (unless I'm mistaken) |
Zendada
Bengals |
Click
on the link to have a
look at the work of a renown breeder Julie
Gracie Moseley who runs ZenDada
Bengals. You'll see some
great pics and information about marbled Bengals. Located Austin
Texas area (see more Texas
breeders below). |
Bengalcattery
von Satara |
This
is a cattery featured on this page. Click
on the
link to read and see more.
Located in Feldkirch,
Austria. |
| Bengal Breeders in Florida |
This
link
takes you to a list of the best Bengal cats for sale in
Florida. |
Bengal cat Breeders in
Texas |
If
America is the home of the Bengal cat, Texas
at least for me, is
classic America and there are some really fine quality breeders in this
sunny State. Most (all?) are situated around Dallas and south of Dallas
from Houston to Corpus Christi. There is a list on this page plus a
Helmi picture of a fine Bengal cat. |
| TICA |
A
good resource to find Bengal cats for sale is
to
visit TICA
(The International Cat
Association)
website and check out their list of breeders. In contrast to the CFA
they register Bengal cats. I haven't provided a link to the breeder
listings page because the URLs change from time to time.
|
| Clubs |
You
can visit the website of the International
Bengal Cat Society's
website by clicking
here .
For
the UK click
here
to
visit the The Bengal Cat
Club for information and
links etc. about
Bengal cats for sale. |
| Rescue |
Bengal
Cat Rescue - a detailed
appraisal of the best alternative to
looking for Bengal Cats for sale |
| Canada |
Bengal
cat Canada - some
Canadian Breeders .
I was
impresssed with these websites and
the catteries look great. They have plenty of space in Canada and it
shows. |
| Some
UK breeders |
Llandar
Based in Berkshire, UK. Not sure which town as not clear. This link is
broken so I have taken it out.
Zawadi
Bengals
Located somewhere in the Swindon
area .
Once
again this is going
west on the M4 from Heathrow
for about an hour.
Glitterglam
Bengals
Located about 80 miles north of London.
|

The above are fine breeders to the best of my knowledge but some (a
few) aren't
so good.....
F1 Bengal declawed and
imprisoned
Don't misunderstand me. The vast majority of breeders are just fine.
But they are in the "business" of breeding, which must by the nature of
the business mean sometimes treating cats in a way that can seem a
little hard or lets say commercial to people like me.
Bengal cat Adoption
For what they are worth these are my thoughts on adopting a Bengal cat.
There is really much more to it than asking yourself, "do I want a cat?"
A communication from
Jennifer
Miller
Jennifer runs the
Katznjamr
cattery. Here are her thoughts in a communication to other breeders
about HCM and breeding generally.
Stud
Pants
Cat breeders need these sometimes, why and what?
Bengal
cats for sale - Bengal
cat
photo ©Helmi Flick
Jean
Mill

|
Asian
Leopard cat (ALC)
|
Jean Mill
in the USA founded
the breed in 1975 by crossing an
Asian
Leopard cat, a small shy forest
dwelling leopard cat weighing
around 8 to 10lbs (some say 10-15 lbs, check out the link to see how
the
discrepancy may have come about) with beautiful markings, to a domestic
cat. You can read more about these interesting beginning years of
Jean
Mill's development of this breed
and
my
criticism of her work
(yes, I know I'll be in trouble). The
objective was to create a sociable domestic cat with the appearance of
the leopard. Jean Mill, as I understand it is now retired. Were these
the first formal attempts at crossing wild with domestic cat
or
were
wild cat hybrids around 100 years earlier
?
You can read about the
development of the
Bengal cat and some tips on
buying.
Apart from their beautiful appearance which is so
finely captured in
Helmi
Flick's photographs on
this page three things immediately come
to mind that stand out about this rare and much desired cat.
Legal
stuff UK
Firstly, and this
may surprise some readers, the
Bengal cat is still legally (at a technical level) considered to be a
wild animal in the UK under The Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 (as at
2008). As a
result it requires a license in the UK. You can read about this anomaly
by
clicking on this link. The UK's
Defra (Department
for Environment Food and Rural Affairs) have, as understand it updated
the statute so it is in line with modern thinking about the Bengal cat.
Although F1-F4
Bengal cats are CITES regulated
still.
The
growth of exotic cat breeding in the USA
The home of exotic cats, America, may be drifting towards a situation
where more regulation that is currently in place is imposed on breeders
and keepers of exotic cats (in this instance I mean wildcat hybrids).
Some 70 years ago, in the US, it was proposed that all cats be
registered due to the feral cat population. The feral cat population
problem
is more pressing in 2008 so legislation for cat keepers is not out of
the question.
Behavior
Secondly, and this
is my opinion having played
with a Bengal cat, they have a level of inquisitiveness and athleticism
that is noticeably above the level of a typical domestic
cat. This
is to be expected and admired. It is a characteristic that "goes with
the territory" of a hybrid cat of this type and which makes them
"Bengal cats for sale". However, lets remember that the Bengal cat is a
domestic cat at SBT level. It might be fair to say that some people
still preceive this cat to be some sort of semi-wild leopard cat - it
is not. There are some interesting traits, though, that come through.
The Asian Leopard
defecates in water
and this sometimes carries
through to SBT in term of toilet behavior
(Stud Book
Tradition - at least 4 generations
from ALC of Bengal to Bengal breeding) Bengals, who may prefer to go to
the toilet in the sink, toilet or showers.
You get the w
onderful
coat, the character and
behavior; but with these characteristics comes an added
responsibility
for the human. To use legal language, a higher duty of care is demanded
of the human in caring for a Bengal cat (that's purely my opinion).
Thirdly, the Cat
Fanciers Association (CFA), the
premier and largest registry of pure bred breeds in the world and based
in the USA, do not agree to register the Bengal cat.
| Bengal
Cat Rescue - a detailed
appraisal of the best alternative to
looking for Bengal Cats for sale |

Bengal
cats for sale photo - ©copyright
Helmi
Flick
A first generation
cross is known as an F1. An F2
is the progeny of one F1 parent and one domestic parent (normally
another Bengal cat these days).

|
click here
|
Although the public
will usually adopt/buy an SBT
(at least 4 generations from wild), some people would prefer to adopt
an F2 as they are to them less like your average cat and more "special"
or outstanding. Lord Gray said F2s make good pets and have that wild
(desirable) look. By the fourth generation the cats are considered
domestic and can be called a Bengal cat. Apparently the most valuable
Bengals and the "Bengal cats for sale" are the F1s. A well known
breeder says that F1s are not vicious and wild. Although more work is
required to handle them and to get used to them. Sometimes they can
exhibit what some would consider strange behavior (see links) F1's are
not suitable for families. The point is that F1s will act more like a
wild cat,
which means more obvious signs of suurvival instincts if the cat feels
threatened for whatever reason. A litter of 4 was valued at
£60,000 to
£80,000 apparently! (but see above). Times have
changed because Bengal cats are no longer as rare as they
were.
Bengal cats for
sale have a wonderful temperament.
Bengals are affectionate, attentive, outgoing, playful, quick,
intelligent, confident, and inquisitive about everything. And they can
run very fast....They like to create games and are quick to make the
owner play the game of the moment with them. Bengals are extremely
curious about anything new brought home, whatever it is.
It is worth noting
that they are normally not afraid of
water (the majority like it, some have a bath with their
human
partner) and they like to play in it, sometimes. Bengal cats get along
wonderfully with
regular domestic cats and dogs.
In a study
published on or about September 2007 it
was
concluded that Bengal cats do not have more behavioral problems than
other breeds. Thereby de-bunking any misconceptions that Bengals
present problems to their owners. The study was carried out with the
assistance of Californian rescue centers. However, a Bengal cat does it
seems behave a little differently to your usual domestic cat. Here are
some links to posts on the behavior of this cat:
Health

|
The
litter of SGC Bengaland Cheetera and QCH
Medoz Candyman - Bengaland cattery - Bengal cats for sale
|
No breed specific health problems were reported until recently, when
the occurrence of
HCM
(a heart disease) has been reported.
When you buy or adopt, I would ask for the results of a veterinarian
test
certifying that the cat you are adopting is free of this disease. It is
a fatal disease.
All good breeders
will have this test done be they
Bengal cat breeders or breeders of other breeds. You can read more
about the scourge of this heart disease by clicking on this link
.
Here are
some more links to posts on this disease:
HCM
-
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
This is a disease that affects a number of cat breeds including this
one (and I thought it didn't). Read about this disease in general terms
here.
TIBS Lightning Fund
The International Bengal Society (TIBS) run this fund which has been
put in place to raise sufficient money to carry out research into HCM
in Bengal cats
HCM - an update
My knowledge through research of this disease in relation to the Bengal
progressed and the posts reflected this. This is one such post on this
serious disease that affects some purebred cats more than others.
Do Bengal cats need more
Taurine
?
Research may indicate that this breed needs more Taurine (an essential
ingredient in all domestic cat diets) than other domestic
cats. Some breeders think they need more and some don't it seems to me.
This spreadsheet provided by a breeder indicates more than normal is
need:
Taurine
supplement spreadsheet
.
Also
see
Homemade Cat Food
- some
thoughts and recipes from breeders.
I have also
recently discovered that another inherited disease may affect a Bengal
Cat - Progressive
retinal
atrophy (PRA). This disease, like HCM also affects people....
Progressive Retinal Atrophy
This is one of the inherited diseases that the Bengal cat can sometimes
suffer from. This is not the only breed. I discovered this on my
travels over the internet. Read about it here. This disease is not
a major health problem as far as I am aware but buyers are best
prepared.It
also affects Persians
and Abyssinians.
I don't know the frequency of occurrence.
Bengals
can Inherit Distal Neuropathy
This is a disease affecting the nevous system and is a "genetic
disease"
There is on intention in this section to criticise the Bengal cat or
breeders, but to simply report what I see and read. Breeders by and
large do a good job.
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