The Incipiency of a Possible Third Cat

[jbwoodford]

A few weeks ago, the neighbors across the street had a stray cat walk into their garage while a couple of them were outside. It was quite friendly, approaching them and generally acting well-socialized, so they took it in and fed it. It was quite hungry. Very interesting markings, though--tawny gold base coat, with black stripes on its legs and rosetted spots on its body. Son A. went over to see it, followed by spouse, who reported that it was a female, probably less than a year old. Very much the attention piglet. Based on the markings, she looked to be a Bengal cat...a breed sufficiently popular that the lowest price daughter J. could find online for fertile females was $US 650, and the prices ranged up to four times that. So we're thinking she's got a tracking chip, because who's going to get a cat like that without taking measures to find her if she strays? Humane Society checks her. Nope, no chip. And btw, she's intact, and the folks at the HS were pretty sure she's a purebred. So they recommended finding someone with a fertile male Bengal and breeding her once before having her spayed. If the neighbors do this, they'll give us first crack at a kitten. We're considering it, although Bengals are apparently a dangerous combination of intelligence, curiosity, and high energy. We'll see.

Comments

[bibliofile.livejournal.com]

Most things I know about Bengals I learned from Fabulous Lorraine's blog. She talked a lot about what living with Bengals involved; do check it out. I know a couple of cats who are part Bengal, and they're pretty cool cats.

It's also quite likely that the cat got away on its own and its owners are actively looking for it. OTOH, fostering poor hungry lovestarved kitties is usually a mitzvah, even if it's not a permanent arrangement.

[tandw.livejournal.com]

It's also quite likely that the cat got away on its own and its owners are actively looking for it.

That's what I was expecting; the lack of a chip was kind of a surprise. Since the neighbors have already talked to the local humane society, I'm hoping that their internal lines of communication will suffice if the owners show up there asking about found Bengals.

OTOH, I took a look at Fabulous Lorraine's blog (and thank you much for pointing me there). She talks about the Great Lakes Bengal Rescue and why it exists, and I could see someone who doesn't know about organizations like that deciding that the creature that's tearing up their house would be best off outside.