• Deciding to breed Bengal Cats was not something we've done on a whim nor something we take lightly. Having done cat rescue while we lived in Seattle, Washington, we know that every life we bring into this world is precious and always our responsibility long after they leave our home.

This is our story, our beginning if you will.....

• We were plunged head long into the life changing world of Bengal Cats in April of 1998 when our four year old daughter came running into the room yelling "Mom! There's a baby kitten sleeping in the litter box!" Stopping her from blasting headlong into me, I asked, "In the litter box? In the  closet?"

• I was really puzzled by how a kitten had gotten into our house and imagined my "animal crazy" daughter picking up a neighbor's pet, tucking it into her jacket and bringing it home. "No, Mom!" She stated, quite exasperated with my obvious lack of knowledge. "It's in the EMPTY litter box under the grill! And it looks sick!" You need to understand, she was nearly five, quite serious in nature, and very articulate. She just didn't understand why I did not "get" her sense of urgency.

• "Alright, I'll get Daddy, and we'll see about this kitten." Placated for the moment, she ran off to make sure the kitten was still "safe". "Great," I thought, "probably a feral or a stray. Just what we need..." This coming from the woman who, as a child, brought every stray that crossed my path home to my Mom or Dad with endless pleas of "Really, I'll do ALLLLL the work to take care of it!!"

• I called for Gus, my husband, we grabbed gloves and a carrier and out to the patio we went. The kitten was sound asleep, curled up under the propane grill in the empty litter box, just as my daughter had promised. Gus donned the gloves while I held the carrier and he reached for the kitten. WELL, the kitten had other ideas! Scared out of its mind and wild as a march hare, it leapt onto Gus, over his head, and was starting down his back when I thrust the carrier out and none too gently scooped the kitten into it.

• "Oh, wonderful!!" Gus bellowed, surveying the tears in his shirt and the scratches on his arms. "It's a feral! What do we do now?!"  Trying not to show my half-smirk, I said I'd take the kitten into our bathroom, give it some food and water, and run for my life when I let it out. (I really had no desire to be climbed like a human tree, though I was still trying not to laugh at the memory of his face as the kitten used him as one!)

• I urged my husband to clean up and go take care of his scratches. Meanwhile I took the carrier, which was shaking with the fury of the tornado spinning inside it, and placed it on top of the toilet. (Why?!) Well, I had a blonde moment! (I can say that, I AM blonde!)

• I rushed out to get food and water only to hear a GIGANTIC crash coming from the bathroom. As it turns out, the tornado had managed to knock the carrier off the toilet and wedge it upside down between the wall and the cabinets. "Beautiful!" I reproached myself, "Traumatized the poor thing more than it already is and it's liable to whirl right through you like the Tasmanian Devil when you let it out!!"

• (Now, before you Bengal lovers get your dander up, remember, we were viewing this terrified kitten as a feral cat, had no idea what it was, and WE had scared the dickens out of it. Anyone in their right mind NOT cautious around a "wild" or "semi-wild" animal is bonkers. We scared it, we caged it, and I let it turn itself upside down in the carrier. It was dealing with so much that I wouldn't have blamed it for trying to rip me to shreds when I let it out. However, I was going to try to see to it that that scenario didn't play out.)

• I righted the carrier, placed it in the tub and went to get the food and water. Fielding off chimes of "I told you it was out there!" from my very excited daughter and painfully explaining to her WHY she couldn't see the kitty yet, I put the dishes of food and water into the tub. I then cautiously opened the carrier. I backed quickly up against the door in case I needed to make a hasty retreat. Curiosity over-rode common sense as I wanted to get a better look at this kitten.

• The kitten came hurtling out of the carrier and stopped dead in its tracks at the site of food. Suddenly the most painful yowl, proceeded by a yurm!, yurm!, yurm! noise, filled the bathroom. The poor thing was starving. It was an approximately six-month-old male kitten, all skin and bones. He had little black spots on a golden coat and was unlike anything I had ever seen before.

• By this time, I had sat down on the floor so I didn't appear so scary to him. He looked up at me, got an indescribable look on his face, and leapt out of the tub and right into my lap. I was prepared to be ripped to shreds and was getting ready to heave him off of my lap when he broke out in a loud, rumbling PURRRRR! He kneaded, and he rubbed, and he kissed my arms and face, as if to say "THANK YOU!!" What can I say? I melted!

• This little "TAZ" in leopard's clothing was no more wild than my daughter's stuffed teddy bear! His whiskers were broke off, he was dehydrated, starving and malnourished, but "WILD" or "FERAL"? Not a chance! We began the search for his owners and found out that he was an F-3 Bengal who had been abandoned by some neighbors when they moved. (He "talked" too much and drove them crazy...)

• Well, their loss was our gain. We started researching Bengals, meanwhile falling head-over-heals in love with this amazing kitten. We named him "Cougar" because of his wild head, and he has been the "head" of our household every day since. He yowled and yodeled for three months every time I was out of his sight, he pounced on everything that moved, "killed" a few stuffed animals and more than his fair share of red roses, and has managed to charm everyone he meets.

• We purchased two lovely pet Bengal boys for my brother-in-law, and a silver F-1 Bengal as a pet boy for ourselves. THEN, we purchased a show alter boy and an F-2 boy and the rest is history! We did cat rescue, early spay and neuter and fostered homeless mothers and their kittens for two summers.

• When we moved to Montana in 2001, we decided to devote our time to raising and showing the best Bengals possible. We found a wonderful mentor in Pam Knowles of Cheetahsden Bengals, who graciously shares her knowledge and her time with us.

• We then partnered with some dear friends to create our now very successful Marble Bengal Program.

It's been nearly ten years since we rescued Cougar and  we now live in sunny South Florida. We stay busy with the family, cats and a new non-profit miniature horse therapy program for sick children. We continue to breed Bengals on a smaller hobby scale still striving for the ULTIMATE Bengal cat.

Thanks for visiting!!!

Cougar and his savior!

 Still the top cat!

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