Requirements for our kitten/cat buyers
We realize that most people who look for a purebred cat want to find the best cat to add to the family or breeding program. The cat will be a life long part of your family. It is important that you choose the most healthy and well socialized animal as possible. It is therefore most important to find a good, reputable breeder to fill that need. As good breeders, we make sure our breeder cats have the best life possible. We keep most of our queens (females) in the house with us as pets as well as breeders. For the toms, because they spray, we have to keep them in separate living quarters but they have lots of room. They have a private house of their own and have secure runs where they can enjoy the fresh air and sunlight. They also have the luxury of having lots of company by female cats. The kittens are handled and socialized from the moment they are born. We stay with our queens during labor and birth and many times help with the birthing process. We spend countless hours socializing and playing with the kittens. Because of all of this, we become emotionally attached to our kittens, therefore, we will only let our kittens go to homes that we feel will care for them throughout their lives. We have expectations for our buyer to meet before we will let any kitten leave our home.
The following is what we expect from our kitten or cat buyers in order to qualify to become a owner of a Pocket Leopards Bengal:
1.)EXCELLENT CARE:
We expect anyone who buys our kittens or cats to provide the best possible care for them throughout their lives. To feed the highest quality of cat food. We prefer to place our bengals in homes that agree to feed them a raw meat diet, however since not everyone is in the position for that we will place our cats in homes that feed commercial food. If you choose to feed commercial food, we require that you feed food that has high quality ingredients, free of animal by products, meat meals and with little fillers like grain.
We expect anyone who purchases one of our bengals to have sufficient funds to be able to pay for vet care should the need arise. Health care coverage is a good idea if you have a pet cat. (Most health care policies do not cover breeding animals).
We expect buyers to have a pet evacuation /safety/emergency plan in place before the new animal goes home.
We expect the buyer to have people who will take the animal and keep it as a loved pet in case the owner should die.
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2.) INDOORS ONLY
Cat that go outdoors are exposed to all sorts of dangers such as feline diseases (fiv, felv, FIP, etc.). They also become statistics because of cars and dogs. Most bengal cats don't last long outside because of theft as well. In fact, studies show that the average lifespan of an outdoor cat is only 3 years! My own experiences have shown this to be true as well.
We require that all Pocket Leopards Bengals be indoor only cats. We will not sell our cats to anyone who plans on having an indoor/outdoor or outdoor cat.
The only way our cats are allowed outside is if they are in a secure area where they cannot get out and no other animal (cats,dogs, etc.) can get in. There are special fence toppers you can buy to put on top of your existing fence to keep them in and other animals out. For extra protection to keep animals out you can put an electric wire around the top of your fence. There are many commercial cat runs on the market that use mesh so you can let your cats outside but they cannot get into trouble. Here is a link to one type of outdoor cat enclosure .
You could make a cat run to let your cat out into, or use a chain link dog kennel. Another option is to train your cat to walk on a harness and leash and you can take them outside (but never leave a cat on a harness/leash unattended as cats have been known to strangle to death on these when left unattended).
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3.)SAVE A PAW, DON"T DECLAW!
Cats have the natural desire to scratch. Bengals are smart cats though, and can be trained to scratch appropriate areas such as a scratching post or cat tree. Be sure to purchase plenty of posts with different scratching surfaces so your cat will have a choice at what he/she likes to use. If your cat decides to scratch in an inappropriate place, clap your hands loudly and say NO! NO! and show them the appropriate place to scratch. Praise them when they scratch the right place. Keep nails trimmed (very easy, we can show you how when you come to pick up your kitty). There are commercial nail covers on the market called soft paws in case you have a hard time training your cat.
Declawing is a form of amputation and is very painful to the cat. Many declawed cats become biters because they try to protect themselves and don't have claws to do it with. Never play rough with your kitten so they do not think that rough play and scratching you is an ok behavior!
To find some good scratching posts click here |
4.) NEUTER AND SPAY - IT'S THE KINDEST WAY!
Unspayed cats tend to spray when they go into heat and unnutered tom's do as well. Cat spray smells really bad and it is very difficult to get the odor out of your house and furnishings! Unspayed cats tend to also pee on your belongings including beds, clothes and sofas. They will also call loudly and drive you mad when they are in heat. Worse of all, unspayed cats can get uterine infections which can make then very sick and could kill them. Unnutered tom's fight violently with each other and will find a way to escape your home to go breed, putting then at risk for transmittable, deadly diseases.
Please don't make the mistake of thinking you can buy a bengal cat as a pet, let her or him have just one litter and then alter them. By the time the cat reaches breeding age these behaviors will probably be ingrained in them and difficult to stop. Many whole cats need a lot of time after being altered for behavior to change. Sometimes the behavior never changes. In addition, breeding take an enormous amount of time, money and commitment. Do you have the money to take your cat to the vet if it needs a c-section because of delivery problems? Around here, it averages about $1500.00 for that alone! Do you have the money to vaccinate a whole litter of kittens? Do you have the money to spay and neuter the offspring? Do you have the money to pay for any vet care for every kitten in case they should come down with a URI? Do you have the time to bottle feed the kittens in case the queen should have a problem with milk production? What about socializing the kittens, finding good homes for them? Besides all of this, you will be doing the breed a huge disservice. Good breeders breed to improve upon the breed traits. If you breed a pet quality cat, you'll never get anything but pet quality kittens,at best. You're helping the breed to take steps backwards instead of forward. Many times, breeders will place beautiful cats in pet homes with an alter agreement because the blood lines are too close in the animal. Maybe the cat carries but is not affected by genetic defects that the breeder knows about and doesn't want passed on to other bengals!
Pocket Leopards Bengals requires by contract that any cat bought as a pet only be spayed or neutered by 6 months of age. The buyer must send proof of this before the cat turns 7 months old. If the buyer does not send proof, they do not get the registration papers for the cat. In addition, Pocket Leopards will pursue compensation in a court of law of not less then $2500.00. If it is found that a cat sold as pet only is used for breeding, Pocket Leopards will pursue compensation of $2500.00 in a court of law PLUS repossession of the cat. We take this very seriously! If you plan on breeding a cat sold to you as a pet only, please do not purchase a cat from us!
We only sell breeder cats to qualified breeders. A qualified breeder would be a breeder with experience in breeding cats and that is registerd with a major cat registration association (like TICA or CFA). If the breeder is just starting out (we all have to start somewhere), the breeder MUST demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the breed, breed standard, and good breeding practices AND have either a knowledgeable mentor or agree to be mentored by us at Pocket Leopards. |
5.) YOUR CAT BECOMES A FAMILY MEMBER FOR LIFE
We spend a tremendous amount of time and energy trying to place our kittens in the best homes possible. If you purchase a bengal from us, you will be under contract to never give away, sell, or loan out your cat. You also may never place your cat in a research facility, pet shop, shelter, or pound. If you for some unforeseen reason you cannot keep your cat, you must contact Pocket Leopards Bengals to help you rehome your cat into a good, caring home. |
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