Hi,
I have just got a two year old male Bengal. Introducing him to our one year old female. Is it possible to have a male Bengal Cats and a female in the same house without him marking his territory? Neither are fixed as we are planning on breeding them in the next week or so. Just wondering if anyone has two bengals (male and female) with the make not marking his territory.

Thank you ahead of time

Why are you planning on breeding him?

My understanding is that an unfixed male is very likely to mark their territory and spray etc. Even a fixed male will do this sometimes - but they are much less likely to, hence why in general it is a good idea to get them fixed asap. My two were fixed at about 12 weeks old. They've never sprayed indoors but I have seen them spraying and marking in the garden.

Jagger has wee'd inappropriately a few times, but that has always been stress related. Even his wee stinks and urine of an unfixed male will smell even worse!

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

Here where we live we don't have many bengals. They are searched for alot by people interested in buying kittens. We will have a contract with the future owners to have their kitten fixed and have proof sent to us. They will be microchipped and vaccinated as well before they go to their forever homes. And will alao be sent with a starter kit. Like I have stated before I am not on here to be judged. We are aware of the costs ect... We aren't in it doe the money. After ae have one litter we will see if it is for us or not. If we decide it isn't we will be getting both cats fixed. Thank you for the information.

Hey cleo,

Have you looked into genetic diseases that are inherited by bengals through the parents? I did a bit of research on this before I bought my own bengal and was looking for breeders, and I can tell you that it made my life 10x easier finding a breeder who could give me peace of mind that the babies wouldn't have predisposed genetical diseases that would cost me a lot at the vet and not be fun for the cat. My breeder also provided a 5 generation pedigree, which I'm not sure if you will be able to do. But at the very least, you could check them for these genetic diseases so nothing gets passed on to the babies.

As far as I know (and I am extremely new to this bengal world), I believe there are three big diseases that most *responsible* breeders will check for. These are: PKdef, PRA and HCM.

PKdef stands for pyruvate kinase deficiency, which is a disease where a cat will be missing a certain enzyme (pyruvate kinase). This enzyme is needed for creating energy to give to red blood cells, and without it, it causes anaemia. This has been noted as a cause of death in bengal cats. (Read: viewtopic.php?t=11963)

PRA stands for Progressive Retinal Atrophy and causes blindness in bengals. (Read: https://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/cat/BengalPRA.php)

HCM stands for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy is a a heart disease that (from my understanding) contains abnormal genes in the heart that start with certain things in the heart not working properly, or working harder than usual, and then eventually there will be "thickening" of muscles which will in turn cause blockages in the heart (which obviously will lead to death). (Read: http://www.bengalbreedersukunited.co.uk ... ssues.html)

Hopefully you understand genetics a little to get this next part:
PKdef is a recessive gene. This means that you need 2 carriers (mom AND dad) for the baby to have PKdef.
PRA is also a recessive gene, so you will need 2 carriers as well.
HCM however is a DOMINANT trait, meaning that any carriers will automatically transfer this disease to its babies.

This means that if your female or your male are carriers of any of those diseases, you would probably want to know about it or you would risk having babies with predisposed health problems. This following diagram shows the outcomes of what can happen when the mom and dad are carriers of PKdef or PRA. So any box that is red means they have the disease, yellow means carrier, and green means free of that disease. A "+" sign means they are a carrier for that disease, and a "-" sign means they are free of disease.



For HCM, I believe it works like this: (dominant gene). Let's say "R" stands for a cat that is a carrier of HCM and "r" stands for a healthy, non-carrier. This diagram shows that R paired with R will obviously give you a kitten with HCM. If you pair an "R" with an "r", your cat will still have HCM because the gene is dominant and you only need one gene to be affected. The only pairing that is healthy in this scenario is "r" with "r".



Here is a website that will give you swabs to test your dame and sire for PKdef and PRA. They are a little pricy but worth it if you care about the kittens and your prospective buyers. https://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/cat/index.php

And I believe HCM is only able to be checked through an echocardiogram of the heart by a qualified veterinary cardiologist, and this test is supposed to be done on all breeders at least once a year.

Hope I do not come off as judgemental, that is not my intention at all. Just wanted to give you a friendly reminder about those three diseases. I am by no means an expert at this subject so if any of the more knowledgeable members of the forum want to chyme in, feel free! If you have fully committed to this breeding idea, then nobody can stop you. But I advise you to not rush into it and do as much of your own research as possible. Finding out whether a non-neutered male will spray is pretty basic information- and if you are trying to breed them, you might want to delve a bit further into the knowledge pool before doing so. ;) If you already knew about all this stuff, then dont mind me. Just trying to help. Good luck!

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Matt

I know I asked in a previous post if you had pedigrees on these cats. If you do not, you cannot sell them as bengals.

As for marking. There is no way to prevent this. Know that even though you may eventually neuter your male, he will STILL mark! The ones who do not seem to have problems are owners whose bengals were neutered before 12 weeks and are never allowed outside. My bengal was an outdoor cat for six years. He was neutered before 12 weeks and he marks. Inside but mostly outside. He has an enclosure on our deck and has a couple of areas he uses. He also marks shrubs, cars, trees, on our daily walks. It is going to happen with your male so you might as well get a gallon of Natures Miracle to have on hand. Know, too, that females can spray! And yours may just end up doing that if your male is spraying. Marking is not simply a male thing.

Thank you all for the information.

Good luck, Cleo. Hope it all works out for the best for you and the kitties.

I had one of my cats tested for PKdef and PRA at UC Davis. It was pricy but I was deciding about health insurance and wanted to know if they carry those diseases. I only sprung for one cat and hope the results would be the same for her sibling. HCM is tested by an ultrasound I believe and since there are no visible issues I chose to skip testing for that. My cats are both spayed but I got them from a rescue organization and wanted to know what might happen down the road.

Will let you all know how it goes. So far so good.