Last Updated December 20, 2022
Maggie Schlegel

Finding a Great Bengal Cat Breeder

There are many Bengal Cat Breeders in the world. Whether you are looking to import a Bengal, want a specific pattern, type, or color, or are focused on socialization or temperament for your new little Bengal buddy, the sky’s the limit for options on Bengal breeders… you just have to find them and avoid getting scammed in the process. Something that can be difficult in our current crazy society! Here is a sneak peek into our Bengal cattery and some of the things that we think are most important to us as we bring new little kittens into the world.

How we got started as a Bengal Cat Breeder

Before owning my first Bengal, I had no idea that the pedigree cat world existed. I stumbled into adopting him, from a breeder who was getting out of the breeding world. He was one of her last available kittens, and he was ready to come home right away. Which was the only requirement I had on my list of kitty necessities. I was going through a very difficult time in my life and was desperate to bring a buddy home immediately.

To make a long story short, Felix (who is featured in a lot of my photos throughout this website) was the definition of a difficult kitten to raise. He had been under socialized and I’m fairly confident that he had lived in a crate his whole life. For the first three weeks of my life with Felix, he refused to come out from under my dresser, and he spent all hours of the day and night caterwauling. I thought that I had made a serious mistake. The Bengal cat breeder, because she was finishing up and not breeding anymore, refused to offer any advice or help, gave me no insight into his background or history, and didn’t respond to any overture of communication that I made. It took me years of very intentional socialization to get him to a point where he was comfortable in his surroundings. He is still, to this day, by no means an adventure cat. Despite all this, I love him and he will always be my baby.

Fast forward a few years, and my husband and I decided we wanted to get another Bengal to add to the family. But we had the huge concern that we would stumble onto another Bengal cat breeder who didn’t make socialization a priority. Socialization becomes harder as a kitten ages. So if the foundation isn’t laid well, then the process of integrating a new kitten into the house becomes so much harder. Add to that, the fact that the parent cat’s temperaments also affect how a kitten interacts with humans and it can be tricky to find the right kitten.

Because we didn’t have the funds to travel all around the country and meet a lot of breeders and their cats. As well as the fact that a lot of Bengal cat Breeders keep closed catteries to keep disease out of their catteries, we were in a bit of a bind. Finally, after talking to numerous breeders, we decided that we wanted to create a positive impact in the pedigree cat world and that the best thing we could do would be to start breeding our Bengal kittens with a massive emphasis on socialization and temperament. We wound up finding two wonderful breeders who were able and willing to help us get started and mentor us as we learned the ins and outs of the cat world.

Our Goals as a Bengal Cat Breeder

Because of our prior history with Bengal cats temperament and socialization are one of our main concerns when we breed our kittens while preserving the type of the Bengal breed as outlined by The International Cat Association, which we are registered with. The initial goal of Jean Mills, who essentially founded the Bengal breed, was to create a small wild-looking cat that had the temperament of the house cat so they could integrate well into households across the world. We decided that Buckaroo Bengals would take inspiration from this.

We make sure that our breeding Bengals temperaments are a huge focus. We try to get our breeding Bengal prospects as kittens and raise them in our household to make sure that they have the perfect personalities for any household across America. We also have a strong socialization program for our kittens. We raise all our litters in our house. They are all used to the normal household activities, including other cats, and dogs, and soon we will have babies/kids to help with the socialization process.

Just as important is our emphasis on health. What good is a well-socialized kitten if it isn’t healthy? We test all our adults for genetic diseases including HCM either annually or biannually so that we are doing our part as much as we can to breed away from known genetic conditions that affect the life and length of life of your cats.

Finally, we get to the type, the goal of bringing a little Asian Leopard Cat look-alike into your home. To this end, we pick later-generation cats who will bring the best personalities that have strong features direct from the ALC. This is a huge task and our current focus and our focus moving forward directly, is large round eyes, puffy whisker pads, good body conformation, and athleticism with long back legs, shorter front legs, and strongly defined rosettes.

Ultimately…

We pour a huge amount of time and energy into our kittens, to give their future homes the best start at connection that they possibly can have. We want our kittens to be adored and to fit in with their new families. We strive to always be a resource for the families that our kittens go home to, both with our website and through individual communication. If you have a question about a kitten you have adopted from us or are considering adopting from us, don’t hesitate to reach out! We are always here to help with unexpected behaviors, questions about kittens, questions about our goals and our role as a Bengal Cat Breeder, and anything at all! The best way to be proactive about finding the right kitten to fit into your family is to determine what your goals are in your new little buddy and to determine what the goals are of the Bengal Cat Breeder you are working with.

Maggie Schlegel

A long time cat enthusiast and a passionate animal lover. Maggie spends her work days out on a ranch in Colorado, and every free moment goes towards playing with Bengal cats and Bengal kittens!