Hello my name is Jade, il try to cut a long story short...

weve been looking after an elderly man for a few months who owns a male brown rosetted bengal, and we fell in love with everything about him yes even his naughtiness.
due to religious reasons were unable to buy one for ourselves.
Anyway a few months down the road the elderly gentleman turns up at my door with a brand new female bengal for us as a gift!!!
As you can imagine i was shocked and overly excited it was a very kind act, this was 6 months ago.
Only downside is he is slightly loosing it mentally he is 74, and he didn't give me much information about her i did get given some papers but she wasn't registered i got round to doing this a few weeks ago with TICA.

After a few visits to the vets we got her in good condition she had ear mite infestation and a few other skin problems which have cleared up and slowly gotten her on to a raw diet which has helped loads.

she then started to act very strange, after googling it i realised she was in heat, full blown heat and GOING INSAIN, so i ran to the old man to ask for help as he has a few cats he might be able to tell me what to do he said he would let her mate with his male if we liked and this would calm her down...
i went home and spoke to my husband about it as to be honest we wanted to have loads of them we love everything that comes with them.
he had told us he had paid 1500 pounds for his male and he really is such a beautiful cat we couldn't really miss the opportunity at getting more bengals for free which bye the way we would be keeping im NOT A BREEDER I AM NOT SELLING!!

Anyway she did become pregnant after spending 24hrs with him and she delivered on Tuesday morning with me there she waited for me to get back from the school run( were very close) it was beautiful she did amazingly and had 5 kittens who all look like daddy, i didnt need my little emergency kit or anything, she just kept standing to kiss me as if to make sure i wouldn't leave!

call me crazy but we are keeping them all and mummy, as we wont ever get a chance like this again, i have done lots of reading up on the breed but i do have a few questions if anyone would be kind enough to answer.

maggie is my brown spotted bengal she is 1year old she isn't on the active list and wont be put on, she will be getting spayed soon as she stops nursing as i don't want another heat cycle again that was horrible. but she also wasn't sold as a pet only I've checked through TICA.
i think the original breeder of her wasn't very responsible.

so 5 babies all seem to be doing very well all nursing great big fat bellies slightly pink underneath which ive read is a good sign..
QUESTIONS..
1-can i weigh them? i ask this as im scared she will think im taking them away.
2-when should i check if we have boys or girls?
3-at what age do you introduce raw food? il be getting the premade packets that are blended twice like a paste.
4- do i HAVE to take them vets yet, again she wont be happy if i move her or them just yet i dont think lol.
5-they all have really beautiful rosettes so are they now classed as that or brown spotted like mum?
6-shall i upload a pic? hehe
7- they are now 60hrs old and mum went upstairs to kindly poop on my landing, then a few hours later she was sick on my landing which is something she has never done before, any clue?
8- mum also leaves the kittens for 5mins every now and then and seems like shes looking for something upstairs?

PLEASE DON'T TELL ME OFF IF I'VE DONE ANYTHING WRONG I AM TRYING MY BEST AND LOVE THEM ALL AND THEY WILL BE OUR PETS ALWAYS!!
WE HAVE THE SPACE AND LOTS OF KIDS WHO CAN GIVE THEM LOTS OF TIME WE'VE MADE THE DECISION OF NO HOLIDAYS ETC THEY WONT BE LEFT ALONE AND WERE GOING TO MAKE A BIG PLAY ROOM WITH THE TREES ON THE WALLS AND GET A BIG CAT WHEEL ETC.

THANK YOU JADE XXXXXX

Hi Jade. Welcome to the forum and congratulations on all the kitties. It's wonderful that you want to keep the five babies. And good for you in wanting to make sure the mommy is spayed as soon as the kittens are weaned. Know that the kittens need to be neutered and spayed as well -- and this can be done as early as your vet says it's okay. Do not allow any of the females to go into heat first! I would have them fixed before 4 months.

As for your other questions:

You can weigh the kittens, however, unless you have a special scale, you aren't going to get a reading since they weigh ounces at this point in time. The mom should allow you to pick them. I wouldn't be too quick to do this, however.

Determining the sex of the kittens is not a big deal at this point either. You will probably have to wait a few weeks and then look! It's easy to tell the difference. Upside down explanation point is a female. Colon is a male.

Introducing raw foods -- kittens usually begin to wean around four weeks. They may be curious about mom's food -- so that would be the place to start. Let them get curious with the raw food you're feeding their mom. If they show interest -- then it's time to start introducing them -- slowly -- as they will still be nursing some.

Take them to the vet after they are weaned. They need their first vaccinations and to be checked to make sure they are healthy! Find out when the vet would fix them. I know it will be expensive, but you don't need a houseful of kitties.

If your female is registered with TICA and the stud is registered with TICA, you can register the kittens as purebred bengals. You can request the paperwork from TICA. The kittens will more than likely be brown spotted.

As for the mommy getting sick -- this can be common after giving birth! Her body is trying to return to normal. Should this continue, she needs to be seen by the vet -- or if she starts acting differently in any way. Leaving the kittens is normal as she needs to eat, use the litter box (and not the landing) and get some exercise.

Giving the cats their own space is great! You will need multiple cat trees, a ton of litter boxes (one per cat, plus one extra), a slew of toys and lots of time to spend with these leopards. I wish you lots of love and happiness with these kitties.

I would not wait until the kittens are weaned before spaying your female. Queens can go into heat while nursing and there is always a chance she will get out during that time. Also, the nursing of the kittens can be comforting to her while she heals. You don't have to do a midline incision surgery. The flank surgery is less invasive and won't be worried by the kittens' nursing. Speak to your vet.

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~ Kyenta

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Thomas

Lily & Noha - Oct 7th 2015

Thank you for your replies!!
Yes all kittens and mum will be spayed ASAP thanks for letting me know when I can get this done and when I need to take them all to see the vet that's much appreciated.

I'm off to buy some thick mdf next week I'm building the trees onto my house walls lol found it to be the best space saving idea where they can be up high.

I will try to ask my neighbour if he can give me the fathers pedigree papers so I can register them with that information.

Both parents must be on the breeding registry in order to register kittens.

_________________
~ Kyenta

Ah ok no non of them are they are well actually the father was a stud and sold as a stud but my girl wasnt sold on active but wasn't neither sold as a pet only.
So I had the option of placing her on the active list but we're not breeders.
Do you think I should add her on active list just so in can register the kittens?
Does anyone know how I do this?
I'm registered on TICA and I registered mum I got a certificate for her once I did that.

TICA can probably answer some of your questions. If both parents are registered with TICA and have pedigrees, then the kittens can be registered as well. For the TICA registration, the parents pedigreed names and registration numbers must be on the blue paper. With my Raiden, the litter was registered by the breeder and then I registered Raiden and picked his pedigreed name.

I believe it is highly unlikely your cat will go into heat before the kittens are weaned. The problem I see with nursing kittens is if there are complications with the surgery and the mom needs to stay overnight, the kittens go hungry unless you take over and give them kitten formula. Personally, I would wait until the kittens are weaned. But do ask your vet for advice on that.

Thanks sherry, I just had to call the vet as mum has a large sore area in between her 2 back nipples he said it might be from kittens scratching her but if it doesn't heal in 2 days time to take her and them in which I'm dreading as she's been so protective and nervous she just starting to settle argh.

They also said kittens can be fixed at 4 months of age and they won't do mum until kittens are fully weaned because of the same reasons you just mentioned.

I have ago at speaking to TICA see what we can get done.