We ended up with Oska due to a number of reasons.

It starts with Bernie




She was our 1st cat as a couple (both had our own cats before her one we still have), she was a rescue cat.

she was such a character climbed up door frames, sat on the top of cupboards in the kitchen, slept in the Christmas tree and where ever you were she was.

So when she disappeared when she was about 3years I was mortified, everywhere reminded me of her (I work from home) so after 3 weeks my husband got me a surprise



Charlie also was a rescue cat (she came with cat flue,fleas and earmites!)

2weeks later Bernie comes back, not terrible impressed there's a kitten in the house but she gets used to Charlie

She then disappears again this time for good.

But by this time we had got used to having 3 cats around so decide to get another one

Samba


Samba (a rescue cat ) proved to be a handful and the older 2 cats were not impressed, so we got him a playmate

Chester (maine coon)



Who like Bernie was a real character, so when he got run over at Christmas I knew I needed a distraction.

Harvey (maine coon)


Whilst waiting for Harvey (13 weeks is a long time!) we went to a cat show to get some toys etc and it is there that Alex got talking to some Bengal breeders, we had heard of them before but had read nothing good about the breed so had been put off, but after the show we changed our minds.

and instead of 1 cat that's a firm favourite I have 2




Naomi

A couple of years ago I got 2 moggies, a male (Toby, 6 mos old) and a female (Zara,4 mos old), from a shelter. They get along famously but Toby plays rough and Zara is very gentle. Last year I decided to see if I could find a more appropriate playmate for Toby. I had read before about bengals and thought it would be cool to have one but I only adopt cats from shelters, I don't buy from breeders. I heard that the shelter where I got T&Z had some bengals that had been rescued from an irresponsible breeder and decided to go have a look. I had no intention of adopting one that day, I was "just going to look". Coco, 10 mos old at the time, was in her cage trembling with fear. I stroked her for a bit then picked her up and sat with her in my lap. After about 10 mins of stroking, she stopped trembling, let out a big sigh and laid her head down on my arm. I was hooked.

Toby and Coco aren't the great playmates I hoped they would be but all 3 of them get along fine.

Medora

I jokingly said I wanted a kitten to my boyfriend. The Christmas before I wanted a puppy and he got me Nintendogs

But the more I thought about it the more serious it became.

So Aran started looking in the local paper to find me a moggie and spotted Bengal. He got me to Google them and there was no going back. 3 weeks later I had bought lots of kitten stuff after seeing an advert for Bengal kittens online. The next day I went to see him and Indy came home with me.

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~Trisha~

I love your 'picture story' oscar - although i'm sad to hear you've lost a couple along the way. Great pics x

How we ended up with a Bengal..
My partner and i moved in together 6 years ago - he had two cats, a Blue persian and a good old DSH, a tabby/tortoiseshell.

The persian, Barney, sadly died of a heart attack in 2002, aged 14.


The DSH, Tabby, lived til the ripe age of 18, until old age got the better of her body in 2006 and we had to have her put to sleep.


After they'd both gone, the house felt extremely empty, so we waited a couple of months before we figured it was time to get some more feline companions.

Originally we were looking for a Siamese and a Silver tabby, but with one thing and another, nothing came of it.
By chance, my partner was reading the paper at work one evening and he happened to spy an advert for two bengal cats, at a reasonable price.
The owner needed a good home for them to go to as she was moving abroad to teach for 5 years.

So - we went to see, we fell in love and we got - Saffy and Horus the Snow bengals.
And we haven't looked back since. Oh, and we want some more...but space just won't allow!!

I think I found out about bengals when doing random searches for ocicats online about... wow, 8 or 9 years ago? A bengal showed up in the search, and I was absolutely hooked!

I read about them, researched them, and even visited a local breeder. We almost bought one from them, but my boyfriend and I barely had money to feed ourselves, much less buy an expensive cat. (he was still in college)

Fast foward to a little over three years ago. We had moved to California and were doing very well financially. We had unfortunately lost two cats to FIP and Leukemia. (the vet thinks they had it as kittens but wasn't caught, and our move cross country stressed them to the point to bring it out? Both had been tested for luek before and had their shots, and FIP isn't something you can really test for, of course. We did wait many months before getting a new cat to be safe.)

Sooo... I started poking around bengal forums to get more information on breeders. A breeder (calcatta.com) contacted me letting me know she had two darling silver spotted (and glittered!!) boys for sale, so we nabbed one!

He ended up having a tarnished coat, but I didn't mind since we aren't interested in breeding and wanted a pet only. I absolutely adore my boy, and hope to have him for many, many, MANY years to come. I think I'm always going to need a bengal in my life. I love their unique personalities (they ARE very unique!), and I can forgive the naughtiness.

_________________
- Dawn

http://www.nutkitty.com

_________________
~Trisha~

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All the Best
Elaine Lomax
www.wildside-bengals.com

Mucho smelly though, I have been told.

Hi Trisha

Penny looks lovely, has Stella warmed to her yet?