I drove 2+ hrs (in opposite directions) numerous times for my two girls and didn't really consider that a problem to get something so important right, I even considered a 7+ drive but that one fell through. I considered a couple of breeders very, very local but wasn't entirely happy with the responses I recieved. From what you have said and the pictures, I'd be planning a trip to Amantra ....

I would not get a kitten from a breeder who does not vaccinate Mine have a lest 2 sets before leaving me.

Me. I'd be having the charcoal AND the blue males from Gary Colby. A shorter drive, and beautiful kitties to boot! If you don't want them, I would even consider jumping on a plane.....except Merlin wouldn't let me have them!

Well, it's official - as of Sunday we will be proud new bengal parents!

I know some of you will be bummed to hear that we didn't drive to see Amantra, but I think we made the right decision. Last night Sid and I went to see Gary and Suzanne Colby of San Diego Bengals. Just gorgeous cats there (and can I mention that they allowed us to come over late, at 7:30, because my work schedule is hectic). First we saw the brown spotted and blue spotted litters - the little blue boy turned out to be a little blue girl. She was the most reserved of the bunch: quiet, shy, not too energetic, and at 7 weeks wouldn't be ready to go home for another month. Having decided we wanted a boy, we went to see the other two.

And I confess: I have been smitten with the charcoal kitten from the moment I saw his picture. I think charcoal coats are so stunning. I knew in advance that I would have a hard time not playing favorites, and also that he was the most expensive. Luckily, I spent most of the time talking to Gary while Sid played with the kittens (including the other brown spotted boy and his sister), which allowed him to make up his mind free of influence. The charcoal boy was also the most reserved and skittish of these three, which concerned me. He took a backseat to the others when it came to toys, observed from a distance and didn't like to be held. But we've always appreciated the stoic loner, and Colby suggested that because he was less eager to play with strangers, he would bond with us more strongly. Sid, sensing a challenge, took the kitten aside and gave him a little TLC, and by the time we left the two were all over each other.

Sid has named him 'Stash' because of his mustache, but I'll have to have the final word on that. We're picking him up Sunday so that I can be there during my three days off. Be on the lookout for lots of pictures in the introductions forum!

Now, a few questions before we bring the baby home:

I am interested in training him to use the toilet and would like to start as soon as possible. This would mean putting the litter box in the bathroom near our toilet. I know many people use the bathroom as a "safe" room for their new kitten because it is small and usually free of clutter, but we spend the majority of our time in the living room.

1. Is the living room too big an area for our kitten to feel safe in? It can be closed.

2. If we make the living room his "safe" room, I'm assuming we have to have his litter box in there, too, correct?

3. If his litter box is in the living room while he adjusts, will it be easy for him to find it when we eventually move it to the bathroom for toilet training?

Any other tips or advice is welcome. I can't wait! Thanks again for everyone's help. This is a wonderful community.

Congratulations!

Regarding the safe room... i am not a fan of bathrooms being used as them, bit of an alien concept coming from the UK where ours are small and cold/hard so not very comforting. I know US bathrooms are bigger. The living room should be okay unless it is really large, but you can kind of see how you go and go smaller if you think he is not coping too well.

Litter tray... i would let him settle for a few weeks before contemplating training him to use the toilet. You may also find, depending on how big your place is, that you will need more trays initially. Small kittens, especially bengals it seems, can be thrown by large areas and no litter tray. A small kitten is much like a baby in that they need to use the toilet NOW, they often cannot wait to go back to the room where their tray is etc... it is far easier to reduce the number of trays than to correct poor habits. I would place 1 in the bathroom and possibly 1 in your bedroom if he is to have access there. If you have more than 1 floor, i would have a tray on each floor initially as well. We have a fairly small UK house (small by US standards) and we have 3 trays upstairs and 3 trays downstairs.

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Lollo

The best advice will come from your breeder (they know the kittens better than anyone) assuming they are responsible and only rehome kittens at at least 12/13 weeks. Write down a list of all your questions when you go to collect the kittens.

When you say toilet I'm assuming you mean a human toilet? This must be the most crazy thing I have ever seen

Apart from it being totally unnatural you run the risk of your cat peeing and pooing all over your house and the headache of training them to use the litter tray again.

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The little monsters 3

The cat loo thing may work for some but it doesn't for others, there's a few reviews on Amazon Uk where it didn't work and if it goes wrong and they start doing the toilet round the house it's going to be hard work stopping it. Also it's important to be able to see your cats waste to make sure they don,t have health problems or dehydration.

It,s good you didn't take the kittens on impulse even if the breeder would of allowed it. Although there,s plenty of good advice on here your breeder knows the kittens inside out, our 1st kitten never had a safe room as such we just put his litter tray and his food and water in the living room for a few days and he wandered around the house from day one, again when we got our second kitten from the same breeder he delivered it and introduced it straight away to the other , he did stay for a good hour or two until he was happy they where OK together. Both of these situations go against everything I've read and I certainly would not advise they are correct for your kittens. Your breeder is the best source of info for your new kittens and I'm sure they will be happy to answer any questions before or after you purchase them.

Congrats on your decision to get the little charcoal boy! Glad you found a baby you guys connected with.

You are right that I mentioned how F1s sometimes learn to use the human toilet on their own. I know of a few people who have F1s/F2s that do. From what I understand, it has a lot to do with their desire to go to the bathroom in water (the ALC in them). I don't really believe this carries over to the later generations though, I think most SBT Bengals are like other cats in that they don't mind using litter. Likewise, I do know of some F1s who use a litter box too.

Personally I'm not a fan of teaching cats to use the human toilet. The time/effort it takes to toilet train a cat is not really appealing to me, not to mention the almost inevitable accidents they're going to have while trying to learn. However, because Linux is an F1 I'm going to make it easy for him to choose whether he wants to use the toilet or not by keeping the lid up and whatnot. If he does develop a desire to eliminate in water, I'd rather him have access to the toilets rather than to try and go in a sink or something. But as of yet, he's been using the litter boxes just fine.

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The little monsters 3

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Lollo