Hi Everyone, I am new here! I reserved a gorgeous female Bengal kitten from a reputable and GCCF registered breeder approx. 1 month ago. I have been to visit her once since the initial viewing and am due to take her home around the end of September.

I'd be interested to hear how often current owners met with their kitten before he/she was old enough to come home? Ideally I'd like to visit again, or at least receive a photo from the breeder to see how she is growing, but I don't want to pester the breeder!

Thoughts welcome!

Lucy

I never saw my kitten or visited the breeder prior to picking up Quasar. The location of the breeder was prohibitive. I did, however, speak several times with the breeder on the telephone as we were waiting for him to be born. After his birth, I talked to her a couple of times on the phone and she sent several photo updates of him.

Many would not have done this but I was very lucky, I suppose. My breeder is very rigorous with her program and I ended up with a beautiful, well-socialized, healthy boy.

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~ Kyenta

No breeder would want daily visits from a perspective owner, but I do think one more visit prior to bringing your baby home would be fine! Breeders are good about furnishing pictures or videos. It's great you visited the breeder to select your kitty. I don't think one more visit before picking your baby up would be a problem with most breeders. Contact your breeder and ask if you can do another short visit. I'm sure they will say it's fine. Just understand that breeding is your breeder's profession and it's time consuming and she has other owners she's dealing with. A simple email or phone call to ask is all it takes. The worst she can say is "nope, sorry." Sounds like you're just super excited and can't wait to hold your little one. Hopefully, the next month will go by quickly. Breeders usually have no problem with sending weekly pictures of the kitty, so just ask. Congratulations!

I visited 3 times in a month before getting Ada and Babbage - the breeder was very accomodating. I thought it a good idea to get them used to me as much as possible before they were taken away from their mum and litter mates.

Serafina and Gaga were local, so I visited the breeder 3 times over the course of 5 or 6 weeks I think. Each time we made a specific appointment on a specific time and day. I couldn't just show up willy-nilly. They didn't send any photo or video updates or anything like that. For Neytiri, who was in another state, I did not visit, but the breeder sent I think 3 sets of picture updates over the course of a 5 or 6 weeks.

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The little monsters 3

Thanks everyone. I think I'll ask her to send a photo.

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@elsa_bengal Instagram

Lucy, if you really want to visit your kitten, by all means ask! I'm sure your breeder expects visits! I know you're super excited and want to see your baby. You have another month before you can actually get the kitten. If it's not too far to travel, I'd be there in a heartbeat. But, if a picture will suffice, then there should be no problem emailing you a photo of your kitty.

Breeders are good about furnishing pictures or videos. It's great you visited the breeder to select your kitty.

Lucy,

I don't know what the distance is between you and the breeder ( in my case it was an hour's drive ) but if you can get to see the kittens a number of times before they come to you it should help them settle in that much better.

A good book that I read explained that whilst the day that the kitten comes to you is one of great joy for the humans involved, it is the most traumatic day in the young life of the kitten - all that they know is taken away from them and they find themselves in a strange house with strange smells and strange humans clomping around. If you can ease that transition by going to see the kitten a few times and getting them used to your smell, voice, mannerisms etc. and give them cuddles/play with them it really is worth it.*

Obviously if you are a number of hours away from the breeder then you can't arrange to pop round every weekend to visit.




* Oh, and a house full of bengal kittens is one of the funniest and most entertainingly craziest things you'll experience.

Valid points, Cranberry! And perhaps your paragraph about the first day being so traumatic for a new kitten should be a sticky on the forum. How many times do we have new members come on and post that their new kitty hasn't taken to them quite the way they thought -- or they put the kitten down in front of a large cat or dog and wonder why there's chaos and the pets are just not getting along.

Lucy, I hope you go visit your kitty at least one more time! The bonding process starts immediately and in much less stressful environment for the kitty.

Thanks, that's really helpful. I'll certainly go and visit her at least once more before I bring her home. I want to try and get her used to my scent, voice etc and I've even taken a few blankets and toys with me on previous visits in the hope they will retain some familiar smells for her.
We don't have any other pets or children and I know from having a kitten previous how scary it can be for them so I've cleared the diary to make sure we aren't busy and the house is quiet and she can just slowly get used to us in her own time.

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@elsa_bengal Instagram

That sounds excellent. With Ada and Babbage I was able to take time off and work from home allowing me to be around every day for the first 2 weeks as they pointed out the bits of the apartment that might have been cat-proofed, but weren't quite bengal proof.

Do you have any photos you can share with us ?

Yes I've got a few photos, I'll post them below. The breeder also sent me a video yesterday which was fantastic, she has been really great

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@elsa_bengal Instagram

A couple more photos :-)

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@elsa_bengal Instagram

She looks gorgeous!