We will be bringing home our first Bengal kitten in a few weeks time. After visiting breeder, and seeing just how much love and care they gave to their cats and kittens, how adorable, playful and stunning beautiful and healthy they looked, lots of questions to the breeders, and research, the obvious pleasure the breeders got from breeding their cats, we decided on a female breeder :) I've read the article on here regarding breeding, and realise it's not going to be all fun, expensive, and could be heartache too.

I work part time from home carrying out admin duties for husbands business, so cat/kittens would not be left alone for long periods. More importantly looking after newborn kittens with mum would need me to be around 24/7

I'm prepared for hard work, dedication, and sleepless nights looking after Bengals, in return for fun, and hopefully love and affection from them.

We have got a very much loved DSH ginger neutered tom who we've had for 12 years since he was a kitten. We'll be keeping the new kitten in a separate part of house to begin with, and will try a very slow introduction and hope they eventually accept each other.

We did adopt an orphan DSH tabby kitten last year from RSPCA, who sadly got out one night and was killed. She was only 8 months old and we'd had her from 10 weeks old. Our older Tom accepted her to the extent that he would allow her to play fight with him each morning and each evening only. He would hiss at her any other time and she soon learnt to respect his wishes. When they did play together, they were so funny. She would lay hiding in wait ready to surprise and pounce on him. I have lots of videos of them together. She was a very, very playful kitten, and we were devastated when she died. After, our Tom cat continued to look for her each morning and evening, running madly up and down the stairs on his own. I swear it was her spirit that he was chasing :/

My husband had always liked the look and temperament of Bengals, so after lots of research, and YouTube videos we decided a Bengal was for us. Found a reputable breeder and now can't wait to bring our baby home.

As well as advice from breeders, I will be visiting this forum often too :)

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your upcoming arrival. You will be undertaking a huge responsibility in breeding. Take tips from the breeder you are getting your girl from. That's how a breeder should be! And that's the type of breeder you will want to be. Your will have happier owners in the long wrong, plus happy, healthy kittens.

Why do you want to breed them?

Your life will definitely change with a queen and kittens. A good breeder spares no expense to make sure the kittens are healthy. There are weekly weigh-ins to keep track of so you'll need a scale. It will definitely be an experience! Familiarize yourself with the laws as to where bengals are outlawed! Yes, there are some places where you cannot have a hybrid of any type! You don't want to ship to one of those areas -- if you even get into shipping at all. Prospective owners should visit the cattery -- just as you've been doing. At least you'll have some time to prepare after your little one gets home.

It all sounds good. But I do think you would be sensible to live with them first. They are fabulous animals, no doubt, but they are very different from a regular moggie. Like any kitten, they are very demanding, very high energy and often very naughty. But where a moggie will usually calm down after 12 months or so, a bengal will carry on like that for about 10 years. A lot of people seem to have a romantic idea of them and in many ways, they live up to it and more. But they can also be very challenging. A lot of people do seem to find them very hard to live with and as a result, a lot seem to end up in rescue or for re-homing. IMO I think the bengal particularly, is a breed you would be prudent to exercise a little caution with, maybe live with one for a while to see if the reality lives up to the ideal. Just my 2 penneth.

Great advice, Martyn. A bengal is definitely not like any other breed of cat. Mine is 8 years old and has so much energy that he wears ME out. I would never breed a queen in her first heat anyway .... so this would give more time to make sure breeding and caring for a few kittens is what you want to do. You'll have to familiarize yourself with TICA as well if you're wanting to register your litter.

We will be taking advice from our mentor on breeding and stud.

We won't be breeding her until after 12 months of age.

We've discussed TICA too. It's all in hand.

We have an outbuilding in our garden that has just been converted in to a garden room. But its now looking like this will be her cat house too. As well as living in our home. We realise how naughty they can be. We're prepared. We've researched them for awhile. Our last kitten was very naughty and playful, and she brought so much fun into our home.

Our older gorgeous much loved moggie sleeps all day with the odd time where he will come for a cuddle on our knee, but hasn't played since he was a kitten. Apart from when he would chase our last kitten up and down the stairs.

We await our whirlwind to come and take over our home.

Appreciate all your advice though. What you've all said is what our breeders have also told us :)

Can I ask if any of you breed? And if so, why you decided to breed?

There are a handful of breeders on here, however, most do not check in frequently. It sounds as if you've done your research and you're prepared to take on the responsibility.

Full time breeding is a business -- with a website and a Facebook page. For just one litter, it may be fine! Martyn is absolutely correct. You're getting this kitten to be a pet AND breed and, really, that's two different scenarios. It will be hard to blend the two. I admire you for wanting to take the responsibility on -- but I'm sure your breeder makes it look easy when it's really not. Hopefully, there are no complications with the queen -- that can get very costly, so I'd make sure to have a few $$$ set aside for things that come up with the mother and babies.