What are Bengal Kittens?

The Asian Leopard Cat (also called ALC for short) is a SMALL leopard. It is usually quite timid. When people see the word leopard they usually think of a large leopard and wonder how it is we are able to breed these to our small bengals. The fact is , most ALC's are around 13-15lbs.

We take an ALC and breed it to a bengal. The kittens produced by this breeding are called F1's.

The F1 female is bred to a male bengal and the kittens produced are called F2's.

The F2 is bred to a bengal and the kittens produced are called F3's.

The F3 is bred to a bengal and the kittens are NOW CONSIDERED SBT (stud book tradition meaning at least 4 generations away from the leopard cat) BENGALS or F4's.

Most breeders do not label their kittens on their site as F5, F6, F7 ...... but instead just refer to them as Bengals. If you are ever interested in what generation a kitten you are looking at is, just ask the breeder, they should be able to give you this information.

Be carful when searching for an F1 kitten. There are other breeds like the Savannah that also call their first generation kittens F1's because they are 1 generation away from a different wild cat called the Serval. Make sure you are buying a "F1 Bengal"

What does EG mean? EG just means EARLY GENERATION, usually referring to F1, F2, and F3 kittens, but some also include the F4 and F5 kittens since they are quite close to the ALC as well.

What does SBT mean? SBT, or Stud Book Tradition simply means your kitten is at least an F4 and NOT a F1,F2 or F3.
SBT does not mean spotted brown tabby.

I HAVE READ A LOT OF INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET ABOUT F1, F2 AND F3 KITTENS. I HAVE READ THAT THEY ARE WILD. THEY WILL NEED SPECIAL FOOD. TRUTH VS MYTH.

Unfortunately, just like anything you look up on the internet, you will find different breeders giving you different ideas of what is right vs wrong etc....
It was confusing for me too. When I was expecting my first litter of F1 kittens I was told they "all are born hissing and spitting." I found this to be absolutely false. In speaking with many breeders who have bred EG kittens, I have come to this conclusion. If you breed a wild acting female to an ALC, don't be surprised if the kittens are born acting like their wild acting mother. I chose my two nicest females to be the mothers of my first litters of F1's and I belive that is why my F1 kittens are so friendly.

I was told by some breeders that you MUST take the kittens away from their mother at 18 days to 3wks of age and bottle feed them or they will not be friendly. Again, this is not true. My kittens were placed in my living room and had free run of the room. Their mother was in a 4.4 cage in the living room and every few hours I would let her out to feed her babies, they would eat and then I would put mom back in her cage. When the babies were 6wks old I weaned them completely from mom. What I found was this. From the time the kittens were 3-4wks old they would leave their mothers side and run to me when I entered the room. This is the same room my children watch TV in and my visitors sit in. The kittens NEVER acted afraid of strangers and would hop up on anyones lap. Although I do believe that a kitten that is destined to have a very wild temperament can be more social if it is ripped away from its mother and forced to except food from a human, I choose to breed friendly females to be the mothers of my F1's. I strongly believe that human holding, kissing, cuddling of F1 kittens from BIRTH (not from 3wks on by forced weaning) is the key to having wonderful, friendly F1 kittens.

Early weaning is done for different reasons. Sometimes it is done because the mother has no milk, or because the mothers milk has become sour. In this situation, early weaning is necessary for the kittens survival. When a breeder talks about early weaning you need to ask them what age they are talking about. I early wean my SBT kittens at around 6wks of age. I call this early weaning because mom would probably let them nurse for many more weeks. The reason I wean at 6wks is because the kittens receive antibodies from mom in the first 24hrs of nursing. These will protect the kitten for 5-7wks so nursing after that age can actually harm the kitten since the babies would not be protected from any virus's she may carry.
When breeders say they EARLY WEAN THEIR F1 KITTENS they are talking about an entirely different thing. F1 kittens that are "early weaned" are taken away from their mother at 18-21 days. I learned this when I was expecting my first litter of F1's and I called many breeders to learn how to do this. This is what I was told. The kittens are taken away from their mother. Bottle feeding is not even attempted for 12-24hrs (most told me 24hrs) This is to make the kittens so hungry that they will take the bottle. I was also told that some kittens may die from this process.
I did not find this acceptable and so I DO NOT EARLY WEAN MY F1 BABIES UNTIL THEY ARE 5WKS OLD. At this age they are drinking milk from a bowl and eating canned food.

Kittens should be fully weaned from their mother at 6 to 8 weeks of age. Early weaning and separation from littermates can result in problems such as slow learning and suspicious, cautious, or aggressive behavior. From 6 weeks to 6 or 9 months, your kitten should be fed a high quality diet of the growth or lactation type. The food should be highly digestible and calorically dense. If a poor quality kitten food with low digestibility is chosen, the nutritional needs will not be met. The kitten will then have a pot-bellied appearance, slow growth and skeletal development, poor resistance to infection, and, frequently, diarrhea. This info can be found at http://www.emersonanimalhospital.com/503374.html

Very early weaning can also lead to inappropriate suckling behaviors ie... sucking on its own tail, sucking on clothing or furniture.

Absolutely not, but each breeder will have their own ideas about what is best for kittens. You will find different ways of raising, feeding etc.... Although this is confusing for families, you just have to do your research and find a reputable breeder.

When you email me asking about prices for my kittens, please try to be as specific as possible. This will help me to help you to find exactly what you are looking for. Let me know if you are looking for a family pet or if you need a kitten for your bengal breeding program. No bengal kittens will be sold with breeding rights for the purpose of breeding mixed breed kittens.

Sometimes I will lower the price on a kitten if a deposit is placed and then the kitten doesn't develop the way I think it is going to, but I NEVER raise the price.

PLEASE ENQUIRE ABOUT BREEDING PRICES BECAUSE EACH KITTEN WILL BE EVALUATED INDIVIDUALLY. PET QUALITY KITTENS WILL NOT BE SOLD FOR BREEDING BUT BREED QUALITY KITTENS CAN BE FAMILY PETS.

F1 bengal kittens are not cheap but you definitely get what you pay for. These kittens are half Asian Leopard. They are the closest thing to owning a true Asian Leopard Cat and are legal in most states. I put a lot of love and time into my F1 kittens so that you will have the best experience being an F1 mom or dad!
F1 FEMALES- PET PRICE $2000 (Breed price will be determined on an individual basis)
F1 MALES- $2000 (all F1 males are sterile)

Please understand. F1 kittens have a SBT mother. They get pregnant easy and can have large litters of F1's. F1, F2, and F3 Moms are difficult to get pregnant and they have small litters so the F2 and F3 kittens should actually be priced higher because they are difficult to get. F2's and F3's also act a bit more domesticated and are less likely to "pick favorites" among family members.

PET PRICES ARE:
BROWN SPOTTED F2 FEMALES- $2000
BROWN SPOTTED F2 MALES- $2000
BLUE-EYED SPOTTED F2 FEMALES- $2500
BLUE-EYED SPOTTED F2 MALES- $2200
BREEDING PRICES ON ANY OF MY F2 KITTENS WILL BE DETERMINED WHEN THEY ARE BORN AND EVALUATED SO THEY MAY BE LESS THEN POSTED ABOVE.

Some breeders raw feed their kittens. Raw feeding is done in different ways but usually consists of raw meat or several different raw meats mixed with calcium and vitamins.
MY KITTENS ARE NOT FED RAW UNLESS A FAMILY REQUESTS THAT I DO. I feed a high quality dry cat food and mix a little bit of canned food in with it. I do not choose to raw feed all kittens because it is very difficult for families to switch a kitten from raw to hard kibble with canned. There are many breeders that swear by this and feel raw feeding is more natural but I believe that there are many high quality dry foods are just as good for my bengals. If you want to feed raw, I can help you to learn. It isn't very hard and takes about a couple hours a month to prepare.

I have found a wonderful kitten litter that the kittens really use well. It is called "Kitten Attract" and can be found at most pet food stores. It is also available in an adult form called "Cat Attract". I like the Cat Attract once the kittens reach 12wks because it is less fine and doesn't get kicked out of the litter box as easily.

When you bring your kitten home it is best to put the kitten in a room all by itself (no other animals , people are fine) with its own food, water and litter box. If this room has any carpet and the kitten fails to use the litter box, please move the kitten to a room with little to no carpet or a smaller room until it is using the litter box all the time. It is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that your kitten learn from a young age that there is only one place to potty!
Many families are not aware that there are breeders that potty train their kittens to water. This is more common with the F1, F2 and F3 kittens. Make sure you ask any breeder you are considering purchasing a kitten from about this. The idea behind this is that the kitten pees and poops in the water and then you would have to dump the water. The problem with this is the kitten also will drink from this dirty water and it can teach a kitten to use the bathtub as a toilet. I only train my kittens to litter.