I'm soon to be a new mom to a beautiful little bengal girl & I'm more than thrilled for this time to come.

I'm just curious on what I should be recieving. I've heard of many different things, which papers exactly should I be getting when picking her up?

You might be given an ancestry sheet printed out of some nice paper... this is complimentary really and interesting as it may be it is proof of nothing at all... I could print you one out right now (or email you a copy).
Ive seen these faked by bad breeders too.

What you want to see is the parents pedigree papers... these will be from either TICA or GCCF and for now you must rely on the breeders word that the kitten has been registered... this is usually done for entire litters.
If the breeder tells you the litter hasnt been registered for any reason whatsoever this should set LOUD alarm bells ringing I would recommend just walking away with your money right there and then.

With the kitten registered the breeder can provide you with the paperwork (perhaps not ready yet the day you pickup) that they must sign (and complete their section) to be sent off to TICA/GCCF who will send you the same type of pedigree paper (depend what you pay for) that you saw for the parents.
I have a bone of contention with this issue myself because my girl's advertisement and breeder website clearly stated that ''all kittens come with 5 generation pedigree papers'' and it did not say I would have to pay for that on top of everything else... it was supposed to be included in her purchase price.
My breeder passed this cost along to me after making me wait for a long (worried) period of time for the signed form.... in the end I was just relived that I hadnt been scammed and accepted that I would have to fork out the fee for her pedigree papers ... I made no fuss.

You could ask in advance if pedigree papers (and cost involved) are included in the purchase price of your kitten.

BengalDaddy.
Thank you so much for this information. I now know what I should be expecting & what is and isn't right.

In some ways this should have been discussed when you decided to get this kitten especially if you have paid a deposit.

Most bengals are registered with TICA and their set up/ways are different to GCCF.

I believe TICA the registration and pedigree can be acquired after sales by the new owner by paying TICA the appropriate fee... Although the kitten must be eligible for registration or already be registered as part of a litter. I believe in these cases you can choose a pedigree name. You should be shown the registrations of the parents to prove that they are allowed to be bred from.

In the GCCF kittens must leave the breeder with a 4 generation pedigree signed by the breeder. The new owner should be given their registration papers unless a contract has been signed to say they will be forwarded when proof of neutering is provided. If the latter is stated then it is essential to see the registration papers of both parents and or the mating certificate. This is your proof that the parents are registered and that the kitten is registerable.

Registration is actually very cheap. So any breeder claiming it would cost a lot more is lying and should be avoided.

I breed and my kittens leave me at 14 weeks. They are vaccinated, wormed, microchipped and neutered. They leave with a pedigree, their registration papers, their vets record (immunisation card), microchip info, kitten care sheeted kitten pack.

Hope that helps.

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Lollo

I think the really important things that you should leave the breeders with:

1. Health Guarantee. There should be at least a short period of time for you that have your kitten checked out by a vet to see if there is some horrible illness, and an opportunity to return the kitten if this is the case. That should be spelled out clearly.

2. Vaccination record. During your first visit to the vet, your vet is going to ask you for vaccination history. It's a sign of a good, well organized breeder if they can provide you with such a document, so the vet knows what has been done and what the next steps are.

3. Policy regarding registration papers. Some breeders will provide you with registration papers right off the bat. Others will tell you that they will send them to you when you have spayed/neutered your cat and provided proof that you have done that. Either way, it should be clearly spelled out by the breeder what their policy is.

4. Pet Insurance (nice to have): Some breeders offer a short period of pet insurance. That's awesome when they do. Otherwise it's something to seriously consider (and now is the time to do it).

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The little monsters 3

I actually forgot about my contract/agreement and the 4 week insurance that mine leave with as well as what I stated... Thanks Brian for the reminder.

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Lollo

I agree with all of the above, just wanted to note that for both of my bengals (who came from two separate breeders) there was a clause in their contract that said i will not receive my registration papers until after they are neutered at 6 months so i think that is very common practice. So don't be too alarmed if you are told you won't get the registration papers until after you have confirmation of this from your vet.

I also thought it was worth mentioning that while it is not paperwork that strictly comes with your kitten, if you have chosen a kitten from a breeder that claims to have HCM screened breeding cats, you should ask to see the screening results when you pick up your kitten.

Thanks everyone for all the information. She has told me i will receive all this with my bengal. We haven't talked about vet records so i will be sure to ask for that next time we speak.