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weaning question

post #1 of 8
2/27/10 at 5:36pm
Thread Starter 
I ran into this guy today who had a 15 month old 'Bengal' ... he said the boy is full blood. I said, oh, is he an F1? dude had no clue. He made up some numbers. The cat was gorgeous! but he looked like he was pointed with the Bengal-ish spots. almost nothing on his back except a creamy white.

I had my suspicions about him getting the cat from a BYB for two reasons (along with the not knowing what generation):

1. Dude is on Section 8 (very low income housing, basically welfare housing/projects). Only reason he mentioned that is because I told him about TCS and he said that Sec 8 figures that if you can afford internet, you can afford to pay more of your rent. I can guarantee he cannot afford a reputable breeder. I can't afford a reputable breeder (although, Nial, someday I DO want one of your cats).

2. the comment about when this 'breeder' lets go of weaned kittens. He says the guys puts them out at 8 weeks so they have "extra time to bond with the new human".... I was really tempted to get into a huge debate right on the street with him. (cat was harnessed and on his shoulders). I know from here on TCS that a kitten needs 12 weeks in order to learn how to behave... get lessons from momma and such... am I right in this?

The cat was so beautiful... huge blue eyes(part of what made me suspect Siamese in the mix) .... but this guy probably paid way too much for a 'Bengal' that isn't a Bengal.

Thoughts?

Amanda
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post #2 of 8
2/27/10 at 6:32pm
That does not sound like a Bengal at all.
I see Bengals at every show I got to and saw them today.
It does sound it could have simaese or something in it.
No good breeder lets a kitten go at 8 weeks.
That is BS.
BTW I will be showing Ramses the new Bengal when he comes and the days my sister can not show him
Nial does not breed anymore but his sister in law does.
You are right kittens must be at least 12 weeks old before they go.
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post #3 of 8
2/27/10 at 6:36pm
There are breeders who practice early weaning, for many different reasons mostly health related and some believe it does help them with bonding to humans. The litter stays together, but not with their mum.

Over here there are only regulations on when they can be rehomed (for my state it's 12 weeks, other states 10 weeks). No rules regarding when they can be weaned.

Bengals can have blue eyes, I think those are the snow Bengals though I'm sure someone will post the correct information

Also, anyone can afford a purebred cat. Even if they just put away $5 a week, they can save up over time.

I would imagine there are a ton of Bengal owners who don't know what generation their cat is. It only seems to matter in the early gens, once they reach full status it doesn't matter.
Ocicats stop counting once they reach full breed at gen4, you wouldn't keep counting after that.
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post #4 of 8
2/27/10 at 6:56pm
There are blue eyed Bengals.
My sister was going to get one before she got Ty.
I love the snow bengals.
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post #5 of 8
2/28/10 at 3:50am
There are Snow Bengals - they are a recessive pointed with white, so the body spots would be very pale. From the sounds of it, the cat is probably from a backyard breeder. Because they are popular, I've heard of a lot of byb getting into breeding poor quality and poor temperament cats - something that hurts the breed as a whole.

I know of a person that is accusing a so-called Bengal of being very vicious and going around the neighborhood killing cats, etc. including some of the person that wrote the question. I told her HOW do you even know its a Bengal? No Bengal that I've heard of is "vicious" and would kill like that - plus told her to keep her own cats on her property too. Apparently she didn't like the answers she got and deleted her question, but that just proves how far people will assume.
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post #6 of 8
2/28/10 at 5:34am
As was pointed out, yes blue eyed bengals exist. There is however only one color for the blue-eyes. That is seal lynx point. I've attached a picture of a seal lynx point we produced. She is a marble.

"Snow" is the generic term used to describe the color Seal in the bengal breed. There are 3 seperate Seal types.

Seal Mink : Aqua-green to green eyes

Seal Sepia: Gold to Copper eyes

Seal Lynx Point: Blue eyes

Seal Lynx Point bengals, typically have points and less contrast between the background color and the rosetting.

We've had kittens wean as early as 6 weeks, which just means they no longer nurse on the mom. We have also purposefully removed kittens from the mom as early as 7 weeks, because mom has gone back into heat and the milk changes. That change seems to make the kittens prone to vomiting and loose stools.
I have always been a firm believer that kittens need to stay with the breeder until they are at least 12 weeks old old. Whether that is as a family group or just the litter of kittens without mom.

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post #7 of 8
2/28/10 at 8:03am
Thread Starter 
Thank you everyone for your insight. From what I've seen of Snow Bengals and such... I mean, he had the spots, but almost nothing, if anything at all along his back and his sides. His spots were predominately on his face, legs and tail. they vanish as soon as you get to the body. He seemed like a fairly nice cat and all, used to some human interaction, but was not friendly as I would have expected.... He was 15 months, behaved enough to stay on his human's shoulders, but still...

He had definite markings, namely spots, on the points, like a Siamese...

If I ever see them again walking around downtown, I will make sure I have my camera.

Amanda
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post #8 of 8
2/28/10 at 12:11pm
Younger pointed cats would tend to have more contrast between the points and the body color. As some pointed cats get older, they develop darker body color. This is because the points are caused by a form of heat-restricted albinism. The warmer the body, the lighter the color.

I think any cat that can walk around downtown on their person's shoulders has an incredible temperament. I think the majority of house cats would be quite recalcitrant in that situation.
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