HOW A TARMAC BENGAL IS RAISED

Our Bengals are raised to ensure they are confident, social, well adjusted happy cats that will fit into any situation with ease when older.  

BIRTH – 4 WEEKS OLD

We have a large quiet room that adjoins our bedroom where our queens give birth. We are present and assist with delivery. This room is kept at a pleasant temperature and lots of windows, so our girls and their babies get lots of fresh air and sunshine. From birth all Kittens are handled and weighed every day, obviously we photograph them and cuddle them to assess their coat pattern and quality. All of our girls are happy for some extra pampering at this time, and enjoy extra tummy rubs, extra tasty snacks and grooming every day. Our girls are usually very proud of their babies and enjoy showing them off. We welcome visitors into the kittening room as long as the kittens are at least a week old.

 4 – 8 WEEKS OLD
Mum and kittens move into the lounge room, so our queens have more room to move around and the kittens can get out and about and explore !! This is where they learn to be a part of the household, learn good litter manners, start eating milk and solids, they get used to the vacuum cleaner, TV, our wolfhound, Finn, our baby Matthew, and constant interaction with us. Our kittens also start on an internal parasite program at this time, and have their first Vet visit for their first F4 Vaccination.

 8 – 12 WEEKS OLD

Our kittens start to live like young adults now! They go downstairs to our purpose built kitten enclosure, where they have room to run around and play!! Here the kittens start getting into a routine and preparing for their new homes. The kittens have breakfast, then have playtime for a few hours. For those kittens that are going to indoor outdoor homes, they come for a walk with either myself or my mum, where they learn to stick with their human, and follow. For kittens that are going to indoor only homes, they get their toys changed and have more playtime. They then get put away through lunch time when they sleep and learn to be confined. In the afternoon the kittens get their dinner and have another good play, they come upstairs and interact with us, while we have dinner and watch some television, catch up on emails etc. At night they go back down to their kitten cages where they are confined again for the night. This routine makes life easier on them and their new owners as they are used to being locked up, and by themselves when their new owners are at work or put them in the bathroom or laundry at night. Everyone gets a turn coming to work at the Vet surgery with me, so they all get good at car travel, and socializing with new people! Towards 12 weeks old they begin to learn to walk on the harness and leash, maybe come to a show, and then get their desex operation, microchip and second vaccination.

 HEALTH

At all times our kittens are kept extremely clean, litter trays are changed twice a day, kitten cages and enclosures are scrubbed daily with veterinary grade disinfectants, bedding is changed daily. Our kittens are wormed regularly with Felex Paste, Milbemax and Popantel. As standard cattery practice we also treat our kittens for common protozoa and bacteria at regular intervals.

 All of this takes a lot of time and effort, but WE LOVE OUR BENGALS!! We take a huge amount of pride in our kittens, they are really well raised, healthy animals that have had a wonderful start in life and will be excellent companions for their new owners. We have put them on this Earth so I feel a strong responsibility to prepare them for their future lives as well as we can. We welcome cattery visits at any time, there is always someone home, my Mum, husband and I are always cleaning, grooming or playing with someone !!