Hi Everyone!
I bought a 10 week old bengal kitten July 5th 2014. He's my first bengal. I had realized that I never got papers with him. My breeder had me sign a contract and she also gave me a health guarantee but no papers. After I've been reading posts on this forum about how you should get papers from your breeder so I'm confused. I live in California and I payed USD $1,000. I'm not sure if thats a reasonable price or what. I also saw both of the parents and they both had great temperaments. She had a really nice set up going on for her cats and kittens. She was really open for any questions and also having me come to look at them. On her website it says that she's a TICA registered home based cattery. I just want to know if any of this seems fishy. I'm not sure if its to late to contact her and ask her about his papers.

Thank you all for your help.
-Brittany

Below are some pics of him.

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The little monsters 3

always good to meet mum and dad if possible, and see (hold in your hand) parents papers.

$1000 sounds like a pretty standard price in California. Like Brian said, most breeders keep the papers until you prove that you altered your cat. Your cat is gorgeous, by the way.

$1000 is a lot to pay for a cat with no papers, but saying that he does look good.
10 weeks is a bit early to get a fully registered kitten too.
By "no papers" do you mean not even a pedigree?
The usual practice is to give a paper pedigree, but withhold the registration papers until proof that the cat is neutered.

I would definitely contact her to clarify your position.

If she has a website, gave you a contract and has a nice set up, then she probably is a genuine breeder. Some genuine breeders are not that fussed about pet kittens and paperwork, because so many pet owners are not that fussed either.
However, some BYB are getting more and more aware of breeding practices and the only difference seen can be the fact BYBs tend to breed with "pet" Bengals, and the progeny cannot be registered.
BYB is about making money so kittens are sold early (reduced food and vaccine costs).
Some BYB will accept the going rate for full registered Bengals, but the paperwork never arrives, or bogus paperwork is handed out.
There is a premium to pay on buying Bengal breeding stock. Pet Bengals are cheaper and easier to purchase and are often what BYBs breed with, or with cross animals. Some will even just breed with domestic spotted tabbies and call them Bengals.
Bengals are sometimes sold as pets by genuine breeders, because they either have or will pass on genetic disease. They are considered unsuitable animals to breed from, hence a BYB breeding from those pet animals may be putting the lives of kittens at risk, either in the short or long term.

Of course there are registered breeders who act like BYBs, their aim is to make as much money as possible, so just because a breeder is registered with TICA it doesn't mean a lot.
Anyone can register a prefix, there are no hoops to jump through, just pay the fee.

Thank you everyone for your responses. I saw both of the parents and they both looked good and healthy. They didn't look like regular tabby cats or anything they looked like full bengals. I will ask her about the papers though. The papers are not like a must or anything I just wanted to make sure I didn't pay an outrageous price for him. I didn't even get a pedigree from my breeder for him at all. On the contract it did say "Pet Only" so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it.

Thank you for all of your time :)
-Brittany

Beautiful kitty! If the parents are TICA registered, there should be no problem registering your kitty. I got my bengal from a neighbor who had him for six years. I just wanted to give him a great home. The neighbor allowed the cat to run all over the neighborhood. One day, I ran into my neighbor and asked if he knew what F generation Raiden was. He said he didn't know but would check the papers. He came back with the papers and handed them to me. Raiden had never been registered, so I registered him, got a five-generation pedigree, added all the missing cats to a pedigree website and proceeded to spend three months taking Raiden all the way back to the Asian Leopard Cat(s). It was so interesting! I don't honestly care that he's registered, but for the $12 and the cost of the pedigree, it was well worth it. You'll probably find many champion show cats and you can even find pictures of these cats on the web. Just makes me feel as if I know Raiden a little bit better.

Many breeders spay and neuter the kittens before they leave for their new homes. There is no reason why you should not have access to registration papers. You paid a very fair price for this purebred cat. By all means talk with the breeder.