Welcome to Butterfly Bengals
Butterfly Bengals is a TICA registered, in home family run cattery, started from our first Bengal, Leo in 2015.
We are based in Old Windsor Berkshire, easily accessible from the M25/M4. All our cats and kittens are fully socialised, are raised with children and our family dog Amy. We have kittens travel all over the country and are able to offer trusted courier recommendations if you are unable to collect in person.
Our two main focuses with the Bengal breed is to produce happy and well socialised Kittens from beautiful health tested Queens and Kings with the most loving & confident personalities. Our other important focus is ethical breeding. All of our Bengals are at least a year old before being health tested & HCM screened prior to mating. We do not breed from every Bengal we have kept or brought into our cattery. If they don’t grow to be confident adults, they aren’t going to produce confident and happy kittens.
Our Bengals are primarily our pets with the bonus of kittens. They enjoy meeting new people, going out & exploring along with the excitement of shows. Our Bengals really enjoy the interactions and the company of people.
Our Bengals live in our family home with a dedicated temperature controlled cosy nursery for the mums and babies to be born, to have some time away from the rest of the busy household until they are ready to show off their beautiful kittens. Our cats and kittens are fully socialised and are handled daily from birth. They are used to being handled by children and adults alike with no stress from mum. Our Bengals are fully comfortable with living with our dog, Amy who has nanny duties while they take a break.
Butterfly Bengals is a TICA registered cattery. The International Cat Association, or TICA, is the world's largest genetic registry of pedigreed cats. Founded in 1979, they promote comprehensive standards for domesticated cats and provide information and resources about breeding and care.
All Butterfly Bengals kittens come with:
- Butterfly Bengals goodie bag of Bengal approved favourite toys
- 5 generations pedigree
- TICA ownership paperwork
- Health card
- 1st & 2nd vaccinations
- Neutered and Post op check
- Microchipped
- Wormed
- 4 weeks insurance
- A full vet check before leaving for their new homes
- A month supply of their current food
- A blanket smelling of mum
- Harness trained if desired
- Lifetime of ongoing support
We love to show all our cats and are lucky enough to have some of our girls earn Champion & Grand Champion titles at TICA shows over the years.
All our adult cats are tested/clear for:
- PKD - Progressive inherited condition which causes cysts on kidneys & ultimately kidney failure
- PKDef - Genetic mutation causing pyruvate kinase deficiency (life threatening anaemia)
- PRA-b - Which causes autosomal recessive blindness in Bengal Cats at approximately 12 months of age
All adults are HCM scanned every year; this is a progressive illness & needs to be checked for annually for all breeding cats.
None of our girls are mated before being at least 12 months old & being HCM screened as clear.
All kittens are neutered before leaving to their new homes from 12 weeks of age.
We have been using a waitlist system as we prefer knowing our kittens already have the very best homes waiting for them. We are only a small cattery and don’t produce a huge number of kittens so I’m able to dedicate a lot of time to them. We update weekly with photos of each kitten progress & are always available to answer any questions after our kittens leave us.
Vickie 🐾
The Bengal Cat Breed
From Wikipedia:
The Bengal cat is a domesticated cat breed created from a hybrid of the Asian leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis), with domestic cats, especially the spotted Egyptian Mau. It is then usually bred with a breed that demonstrates a friendlier personality, because after breeding a domesticated cat with a wildcat, its friendly personality may not manifest in the kitten. The breed's name derives from the leopard cat's taxonomic name.
Bengals have a wild appearance; their golden shimmer comes from their leopard cat ancestry, and their coats may show spots, rosettes, arrowhead markings, or marbling. They are an energetic breed that needs much exercise and play.
TICA Registration
TICA, a Global Leader in the Cat Fancy.
TICA is the world's largest genetic registry of pedigreed cats, and the world's largest registry of household pets. TICA is also the only registry in the cat fancy and dog fancy that continues to have steady growth in our number of registrations around the world, and we continue to grow in the number of members, clients and catteries on every continent. We recognize more new breeds than other cat fancy Association, and our household pets compete for the same titles and awards as pedigreed cats.
At Butterfly Bengals, we have been registered on TICA since our first litter in 2018.
Ethical Breeder
The principles of responsible breeding are:
Respects the intrinsic value of cats:
- Demonstrates a genuine concern for the welfare of cats and their future generations. Avoids breeding from banned breeds and their hybrids, animals that are closely related, or with inherited disorders, or exaggerated features that compromise welfare. Avoids breeding cats with temperaments that may produce kittens that will be unsuitable pets (e.g. reactive, fearful, or aggressive towards people or other animals).
Conscientiously matches kittens with new owners :
- Ensures they can find compatible and suitable homes with responsible owners before breeding. Optimises cat welfare by providing high standards of housing, husbandry and care that meet the physical and behavioural needs of individual cats and kittens.
- Houses and cares for all cats and kittens in a way that protects and promotes their welfare, and ensures they experience a good quality of life.
- Ensures that the early experiences of kittens are positive and extensive and shapes their development to be suitable pets for responsible owners.
- Takes responsibility for the lifetime care and welfare of cats they no longer breed from, neutering them, and keeping them as pets or finding them suitable new homes for their retirement.
Demonstrates genuine concern for the welfare of the cats and kittens:
- Through their continued learning, knowledge, and actions, ensure the highest standards of care are provided for their cats and kittens.
Must not sell kittens that they have not bred on their premises:
- Recognises the vulnerability of kittens and does not sell or transfer kittens before they are 12 weeks old.
- Does not act as a third party or use a third party for sale or transfer of kittens because it is detrimental to kitten welfare. Kittens sold via a third party are more likely to experience poorer welfare conditions such as early separation from the queen, additional journeys, and exposure to new environments, which increases the risk of development of behaviour problems and disease.
Is open and transparent:
- Keeps accurate records and can provide a complete lifetime history of the cat or kitten under their care.
- Shares the results of clinical examinations and genetic tests of parents.
Provides the new owner with information and support:
- Ensures the new owner is compatible with the individual animal and knowledgeable about the welfare needs of their new pet.
- Provides up-to-date appropriate information and support to the new owner (even after sale) to help promote kittens’ and cats’ quality of life.
Provides a warranty:
- Accepts a returned or unwanted animal within a specified time period, for reasons including problems with health, behaviour, compatibility or inability of the owner to provide suitable care.
- Proactively helps to find a more suitable new home for the returned cat.
- Protects the statutory rights of the new owner; whether the animal was sold or given away for free.
- When applicable - registers cats and kittens sold or transferred without a fee as pedigrees according to the requirements and codes of practice of governing breed associations and provides new owners with accurate and official breed certificates.
Complies with animal welfare standards:
- Exceeds the minimum standards by following best practice, even if that practice is not common in that country.
- Permanently identifies each kitten using a microchip and registering the kitten in the official or recognised database.
At Butterfly Bengals, we adhere to the above and are part of the TICA voluntary responsible breeder programme.
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We are also running the largest Facebook Bengal group in the UK: Bengal Owners UK