He's a beautiful boy.
My personal opinion trust your breeder when it comes to feeding over your vet, bengals aren't normal domestic cats they do have some special dietary needs sometimes and your breeder has been caring for them and raising them a long time, they have probably seen everything that can go wrong and should always be your first port of call if you need help or advice about caring for your kitten.
As said above vets receive very minimal training in nutrition and usually it's from the pet food companies teaching them to Go sell a product, also they receive bonus' and kick backs depending on how much food they push some vet surgeries actually figure that sum into their profit margins. If your vet sells animal food they are the same as any other company trying to sell you a product to make money, it's a real issue with the veterinary world how pet food companies (often huge pharmaceutical companies or food companies like mars have a look up as to who makes Royal Canin or Hills Science diet) have infiltrated the surgeries it's similar to what's happened with pharmaceutical companies and doctors surgeries. Veterinary surgeries are businesses after all. Also many vets seem to have an issue with raw feeding I have no idea why unless cos it's harder to push their food on you after and probably because many who feed raw don't feed it properly (it's not just muscle meat it's a mix of muscle,organs and bone kinda like if they ate a whole animal so they have all the nutrients they need, you can buy premade raw food which has the 80/10/10 mix already done also the Facebook group Cat CRAP completely raw and proud are very useful if you want to feed raw) when I took my boy to the vet the other day the commented on how great he looked and that he's finally putting on weight again, when they asked how his tummy was I said solid since I switched him to raw feeding after that they kinda went quiet probably because they had been trying to push a prescription diet on me previously.
Bengals are renowned for what we nickname "Bengal tummy" a lot are very sensitive to grains and additives in foods and very prone to IBD (irritable bowl disease) which is why so many swear by raw feeding or at least grain free commercial feeding, my boy has allergies like crazy and my previous Bengal had IBD the only thing the vet would recommend was steroids and antibiotics to deal with it which isn't healthy in the long run I switched to raw feeding and then had solid tummies for the first time in months, putting on weight and healthier coats and generally just happier cats. If your cat will eat raw and you are ok feeding it it's the best thing for them,otherwise a good quality grain free food is a must, it will save you a lot of money in vets bills in the long run.
Have a look online there are literally 100's of studies proving that cats need a grain free diet and grains actually make them sick and cause issues with their gut as they can't digest them very well. Cats need protein it's what they eat in the wild and if you look at the protein content for much of the food vets sell it's minimal. I would love to see a vet argue that feeding corn to a lion or a tiger is beneficial over actual meat protein, cats may be domesticated but their guts haven't changed from wild cats and bengals especially who are a hybrid breed benefit from a high protein diet.
Sadly when it comes to vets unless it's surgery or a necessary procedure you have to think if they are trying to sell you something to make money over the benefits to your pet.
Btw about neutering usually 9/10 times it actually makes males soppier and more cuddly once they are done, it should also help prevent spraying and bad habits. Make sure you get him done prior to 6 months and I would say any time from 4 1/2 months as he's a big boy should be fine.
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- Sarah Arya 24/04/16 - Seal Lynx Point Rosetted Bengal Griffith 16/04/16 - Silver Seal Lynx Point Rosetted Bengal Mina (in my avatar)- 1999-2016 - Seal Mink Spotted Bengal (Snow) - run free at rainbow bridge
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