Some news on the Bengal Kittens

Here is part of a email from the breeder.
What do you think about Lightning Bug?
http://www.fractalfelines.com/page2.html
I plan on showing in TICA in Oct,Nov,Jan and maybe Feb.
How long does it take Bengals to final?
I know every cat is differant.
I alo have never been to a TICA show before.
I have bad news about the boy kitten I thought would be a good show cat for you; he is cross-eyed %
It makes him quite adorable, but not show-able. It's a bummer because he is otherwise turning out quite nicely.

In terms of my current litters, the only other one I might recommend to you is the mink girl, "Lightning Bug".

I have a friend in NC that just had a litter of nice "snows" born.
I

I like Lightening Bug (still like Neela better but apparently they are keeping her).

Your sister wants a show quality. Depends on how well of a show potential the breeder feels about LB - but from what she has available, she has the best contrast.

See what Nial has to say.

I like Neela the best too I think last time she was 'under evaluation' and now they are keeping her.

I do like Lightening Bug, but you may need more updated pictures to see how she's looking now. Couldn't hurt to check out the other breeder with the new litter.

Nial I trust the most for advice.
Marie did not say who the other breeder is in NC.
Neela my sister likes but looks like she is keeping her.

Marie sent pictures of Mena today.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bengal.../50525182/view

My heart just did a little skip and I think I called out Neela when I saw Neela...OMG she is devine!

I'll give my opinion. (note that is only MY opinion, every breeder knows their own kittens potential best)

Mena has a rib bar on both sides. In addition I'm not convinced her rosetting is good enough to win in the very tough competition amongst bengals in the show hall.

If your sister wants a show cat that can compete for the top 3 best of breed slots, then she needs to consider carefully and also expect to pay top dollar.

I would say roughly $2,000 for a top quality show caliber pet. The bengal class is very very tough to compete in right now with so many top notch bengals on the show circuit.

All that said, I think Neela would do well, and that is no doubt why Marie is hanging on to her. Perhaps suggesting the exposure her cattery would get on the west coast with her kitten in shows would help sway her decision.

Here is a newer email from the breeder.
Fractal available mink spotted female
I will send you the photos of all the available kittens. The mink is being considered by a breeder right now but if she decides not to take her, you are next in line.

I think the mink is probably your best bet of my current kittens. But I will send you photos of all of them.

Best
Marie
The newer pictures are on her site.
http://www.fractalfelines.com/page2.html
My sister can try suggesting that to her.
I wonder if any of her kittens/cats are shown on the west coast?
These kittens will be ready in time for the October TICA show.

After Nial's comments I'm looking at them different. I do like LB, but IMO her ears are too pointed. Bengals are supposed to have rounded ears on the top. The ears on LB look more like the pointed ears of an Ocicat.

Looking at rib bars - LB doesn't have any (am I right Nial?) - but I'd be curious as to how much the ears (round/pointed) would be against her in the ring?

Nial which kitten is the best if Marie keeps Neela?
One other kitten might be cross eyed also but Marie is not sure yet.
My sister is not worried about the price.

Yeah, both Lightning Bug and Love Bug have pointy ears in the pictures. But keep in mind that kittens at this age change weekly. However, the ears are of concern and judges that are looking for type to decide between 14 bengal kittens at a show will count against the ears, or anything else to make a choice.

Love bug looks like he might be cross-eyed. Never seen that EVER before in the breed. I guess it does occur.

Lightning Bug gets my vote for best kitten overall aside from Neela. Nice random pattern to her spots and rosettes with really good contrast. Nice pattern down her back legs with minimal stripes.

I will impart some further info at this point..........

When showing bengals for titles, the strikes against you are as follows:

Showing a female
Showing a color other than brown
Showing a non-rosetted brown

For the best chance of winning, show a male rosetted brown cat.

Having said that, we have supremed a silver male, and granded a seal mink male. All others have been browns and all have been male, aside from one female brown champion.

The girls get the short end of the stick.

Nial is there a way to find out how many Bengal and Sphynx were entered in the past Lodi TICA shows?
I get the past results.
Should my sister go for Lightening Bug if she can not get Neela?

It's so hard to decide what to do. I just want a kitty that's going to do well.

I would get whatever colour/sex you really like. There are no guarantees your cat will win, or even enjoy being a show cat.

If you are unsure, no harm in waiting for another litter or a kitten that really strikes you.

That is true.
I will be showing the kitten anyway.
I might be showing 3 cats at the TICA shows.
It all depends if I find a good show quality sphynx by then.
There is alo a Rex Congress at the TICA show.
If my sister has the Bengal by then it will be so strange having a Bengal mixed in.
Everyone in the congress has to bench together.
I can not bench wit Mary at the TICA show.

Here is the most recent email from Marie...what do you guys think?

Hi Frances
I am out of the country for work. When I get home, wopk load should be more bearable. Looks like mink girl is available.

She has a lovely temperament for showing, wonderful color and contrast, silky soft pelt and glitter. Her type is good too, though she may be on the smaller side.

My only caution for you is that I have never shown a female in the alter class and I think with Bengals in general the females may take a little longer to accumulate points. Having said that, a nice female can also really catch the judges attention, but there may be some judges that just won't put up a female. But you are always going to have soke frustration showing. Not all judges will like your cat, no matter how good it is.

She is good enough to keep as a show cat, unaltered. Or I wouldn't offer her to you.

Let me know your thoughts and we can get things moving if you think you want her. Or we can finally talk on the phone if you wan to before making a decision.

This is what I would do when it comes to showing.

While I trust breeders (since they are the ones breeding and should know their best cats), I do my own research on standards, winning cats, type, color, etc. You cannot predict which cats will LIKE showing - even if they are great examples.

The breeder is being honest - sometimes its tough to guess who might do well. In ACFA (I know you guys don't have ACFA shows in the area), the judges have finaled both male and female Bengals and really don't favor one sex over the other much. I'm not sure how TICA does, but the breeder has experience.

When I pick out a cat to show, I study the standard and look at winning cats and then I can also evaluate what I'm looking for in a good show cat. I learned from the quality of Charlie what to improve and could pick out a better show cat in Jack.

If I were you, I'd study more in the breed so you can evaluate and look for faults and then decide what you really want. Yes it will be an alter, so you don't have to have top quality (because those are the breeding cats) but you want close to top quality as you can get.

Neela is the one I'd pick out of all - the breeder is keeping her for obvious reasons (breeding) and so she would be the one that you could use to compare to other kittens and find one that is pretty close to what Neela looks like.

The one the breeder says is good, I'm not sure I'd really pick her if you like the style/type/color of Neela. Its your choice in the end. Keep in mind that some colors do tend to be picked more by judges (ACFA judges go for more of the browns) and if you have a color not common - you want a very very good example just to compete. IMO the mink one would be harder to show and win with then a brown.

Originally Posted by bad_kitty2001

It's so hard to decide what to do.

I just want a kitty that's going to do well.

Click to expand...

I have been breeding cats for 13 1/2 years and there is no guarantee a kitten will ever do well. I have a lovely cat who has the most stunning eye colour, coat texture and length, short cobby body with a show pony nature but there are MANY other top cats out there so it's a hard road. You win some and you lose some but you must remember that you've got to have fun and learn to enjoy it even when you don't win!!

I wil be hving fun showing the Bengal.
My sister will not be able to go most of the time.