Hi all,

I have been in contact with a breeder for a few months in preparation to bring my first bengal kitten home. She has been very cooperative, and sends photos often.

My kitten is about ready to come home now, I pick him up in a week's time. I am unbelievably excited but I have a few concerns.

The most recent pictures show a bit of a messy background that the others didn't show. The kittens are kept in-home, and they appeared to be happy and healthy. But after seeing a yucky looking background, I looked really closely at the photos of the kittens. It seems that their faces are a bit dirty. There is a small bit of gunk between the nose and eyes and above the nose. Also, the ears look like there is a small bit of dirt or something in them.

I have been doing a bit of research to prepare for a good long vet's visit when I pick him up, and everything seems to be pretty low-key. (But I will have a vet take a close look to be positive). I was given a health guarantee, so I think things will be fine overall.

My biggest concern is the potential that there may be fleas. I've never experienced them, and I would definitely NOT want to ever. How can I make sure that he doesn't have fleas before I bring him home. What do I do if I bring him home and he does have fleas - I do not want to have to live with them in my home and I am aware of how painful they are to get rid of!!!!

I feel like if you can't trust your breeder enough to believe them if they say they don't have fleas or not, you should look for another breeder maybe.

I am realizing that this breeder is not the best, and that I should have gone elsewhere. I have already placed my deposit, and there is very little left to pay because she is giving me a generous discount for driving pretty far to pick him up.

At this point, I feel like the kitten will have great care with me. If I tell her that I don't want him now, I fear that she will quickly find a home for him without making sure it is a good one. Long story short, she seems more and more like a BYB. I am going to demand that she pays for all of the health concerns that I have, and I would be paying for next to nothing. So really, this has become more of a kitten rescue than a kitten purchase.

I want to give him the best home that I can, but I'd like to maintain a flea-free environment. If I bathe him before I bring him to my home, would that be helpful? I will be taking him to the vet ASAP, but is that enough to keep the fleas from infesting my household?

There are worse things than fleas. Stop by the vets prior to picking up your kitten and they can hook you up with some prescription strength flea and tick medication. You basically just need to put a small amount of it on the neck area of your kitten. Alot of vets want you to apply that stuff every few months going forward.

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The little monsters 3

Okay, we will do that.

My OH was really worried about it. I guess his childhood dog had fleas, and they had to bomb the house several times, and the yard and it was a really big issue for him. He is very afraid of having a flea infestation in our home.

I am more concerned about the kitten. I want to have the discharge from his eyes/nose looked at, and the dirty ears. I want him to be in the best of health as soon as possible, trying to do everything that I can to help. Thank you for your advice!

I do not have any other pets.

I have a safe room set up for him to acclimate to my home and gain confidence. I have been reading through this forum about how to properly bring a kitten into the home, and all of your advice has helped me to prepare wonderfully!

Yes, he is vaccinated and dewormed. He also comes with a health contract, TICA registration after neuter, blanket from mom, (I've requested a baggie of used litter to put in his new litter box in my home), etc.

Just curious where you are located?? Sounds a lot like the breeder I got mine from....... Are you from the States? Mine had really bad ear mites when I got her that I didn't know about until she started scratching them really bad. Then the breeder sent me vet records because they were not ready for me when I picked up and they were for another cat :( When I confronted, I found out mine was never vaccinated. She sent me a vet check paper after also and it says right on it that they had ear mites and fleas. I was very frustrated. I had to sign a contract for the cat but it had said it would be up to date on vaccines and parasite free! She still owes me vet bills that she was going to refund me. I would say be careful and go with your gut feeling.

I am from the states, you can PM me the name of your breeder and I will confirm if it is the one that I am currently dealing with.

After I had noticed it in the photos, the breeder did tell me (without any suggestions from me) that he has ear mites. At least she is being honest about it, that does make me feel better. Although, it has been obvious that he's had mites since the first photo she sent me (at about 4 weeks) as well as all of the other cats having them, and she hasn't said anything to me about it until just now.

Just a big bag of mixed emotions.... excited to pick him up, but worried about his health!

If you're really that worried about it and feel that unsure about it, take a loss on the deposit, save up while looking for a breeder your confident and go with them...it will be worth it in the end for you.

It seems to me like you're jumping to a lot of conclusions...If they have TICA papers and a health guarantee I doubt they're that irresponsible of a breeder. You shouldn't just assume that they will come with fleas because the house looks dirty..

Good luck either way, can't wait to see some pics of whichever route you go

http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y35 ... f87b1c.jpg

Here is a photo where you can see his dirty ears and a bit of the discharge from his eyes and above his nose.

What do you guys think?

I really hope that I am jumping to conclusions and things aren't a big deal. I would just rather be prepared than naiive with a sick kitten!

He looks OK, he doesn't look ill.
He doesn't have an eye discharge and his nose looks OK. He may have been scratched there, or just some dried in food.
He has some ear mites though, but nothing too bad.
He looks very cute though. :)

They look pretty healthy. If she takes care of the ear mites for you I'm sure he'll be ok. My vet did a 1 time treatment with my cat and she did excellent. Then I bought revolution monthly treatments that prevent ear mites and fleas and have done that monthly since just to be on the safe side.

So I was probably just over-reacting?

I hope his mites clear up quickly and he can spend his time worrying about which toy to pounce on instead! Thank you all for your reassuring comments. Of course I think he is extremely handsome, but I am quite biased!

Lily gets eye "gunk" and I was worried about it. Vet said it is simply sleep and nothing to worry about at all. Most days I get it out of her eyes for her with no hassle.

I do think you should listen to Sc0tt about going with another breeder you're more confident with. This is a lot of money and more importantly a responsibility you will have for a very long time. You have to be comfortable and 100% sure your decision is the right one before making it. Maybe express your concerns to the breeder and see if this can be rectified.