Ellie is nearing the date for her spay on contract. My breeder recently contacted me and offered me breeding rights to her, saying she would like to mate her with an upcoming stud. All things considered, I don't know how I feel about this. I have no doubt she will be a great mentor and teach me well, but I love my little Ellie how she is. Would breeding her greatly change her personality? How high are the risks of complication during pregnancy and birth? I know it's a great opportunity, I just love my little family how it is! Please give me your thoughts.

Don't let your breeder pressurise you into breeding from your little girl.
If you have no aspirations to breed, then don't. Entire girls can spray, they can poo inappropriately when calling and she will become noisy too. Pregnancy and caring for kittens is a big responsibility to take on and does carry a reasonable risk for your girl. Caesarians are not that uncommon and whilst she is entire, there is also the risk of pyometra.
Breeding should not be undertaken lightly, and anyone who breeds will be aware of the risks to their girls.
It appears your breeder just wants an extra queen to put to her stud and probably wants one of your kittens, if you do breed from your girl.

If you see Ellie as a pet and are, as you say happy in your little family, then just spay her.
You own Ellie now, the breeder lost any rights to her the moment she gave her to you.

I wouldn't risk it just because the breeder thinks it would be nice - There is too much risk involved if you purchased her to be a family (member) pet. The breeder would support you to a point, but what if it all went wrong.....? Could you cope with losing your girl?

I really wouldnt - I can see you have other cats and it could and most likely would change the whole dynamics between your cats.
I've two girls that were best friends before one had kittens and its taken a long time for them to tolerate each other again - but they no longer curl up together.

Leave the breeding to the breeders, and let your girl remain as a lovely wonderful pet x

I definitely agree with what others are saying, it would be very risky. Unsterilized cats do crazy things because of their hormones, lol.. I have seen just how drastically the dynamics in a household can change between the cats, from my experience with the Bengal breeder I work for. If you are happy with how your cats get along and how your little family is now, I would say the worst thing you could do is let your girl stay intact. Every time we've added someone to our family I always start to panic a bit around the 4-5 month mark, I'm always so worried that things will change for the worse if I don't hurry and get them spayed/neutered.

Personally I would not want to breed her just because you have the chance to. Breeding cats IMO is something that should be carefully planned out and researched for months if not a year or more! There are so many things that can go wrong with not only the relationships in your home now,but the health of Ellie! If she is a pet and that is how you see her that is how she sould be. I think the fact that you are even second guessing breeding her is a sign that you already know what is best for her. This is something that I have faced in the past as well. I was going to start breeding but the more I looked into it and the more I saw what could happen the more I backed away from the idea. It is really scary,especially when you when you consider not only the health of the kittens and the responsibilty of caring and raising them but the health of your girl!

Just for an example, I am getting a retired stud this weekend. The breeder I am getting him from was orginally wanting to place him in another breeding program and even had a standing offer on him that was WELL OVER what I paid for him. The breeder said that he would rather him go to a pet home and "BE HAPPY" then have to live as a stud. I am not by any means saying that a cat that is being bred can not bed a happy pet,they certainly can if taken care of properly, but the truth is and most breeders will say that the cats are happier in pet homes.

I am not trying to be harsh or push you in one way or the other, just trying to share my point of view!

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If your breeder is trying to get you to let her have a litter before she is done, then im shocked at this breeder. Surley out of anyone they should understand the current Bengal breeding financial problems? Thank god you dont just have $$$ in your eyes and some people and have actually decided to think about this decision

Thank you all for your input. I still have no idea what to do. If I bred Ellie I really think I could only handle a one and done type of thing- but I am still scared to risk it. Issy and Ellie and great friends and I would hate that to change. Desmond is a new addition to our family, and I don't want her heats to deter him from her. I don't think I can risk her dying! I would LOVE to see her babies, but I don't really know if the risk is worth it. I could put up with spraying, calling, etc before her first an only litter. But I'm terrified of complications in birth!

No, no and no again. Keep your beautiful girl as a pet. I've seen this scenario happen a thousand times and it always ends up in tears. Your 'breeder' wants nothing more than a free kitten for her program whilst you do all of the hard work and spend the money. The breeder is being extremely irresponsible in offering you 'breeding rights' in the first place, but sadly a lot of breeders are out for a quick 'freebie' kitten to add to their growing stream of breeding cats.


Your girl could potentially change overnight if she were mated, and she may never regain her original character after she has produced kittens. I have ex breeding girls myself, and although they get along now, it has taken years for them to 're-bond' with each other, and it has been very HARD work and taken a LOT of patience. Bengal pets should stay just as that - beautiful pets

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Best Wishes,
Maddy

Agree with what everyone has wrote! what type of contract will be written up? who pays the vet bills? does she live with her when she has the kittens? if she wants them in her name they prob will have to, so wont see her for 5 months or more!

Who pays incase of a c-section? good £800-1000 worth of money there! Say there is only 1 or 2 kittens in the litter? Will she get one or both? will she pay you for a kitten? after 3 months of rasing them you are going to be seriously out of pocket!

then why? Shes a pet and leaving her call will change the house relationship, I wish I had neutered my homebred girl earlier, I have had to re-home her now and that could be a possiblty if your girl changes :(