RainForest Bengals
We met our first Bengal in 1993, watching in amazement as she flushed the toilet just to watch the water swirl down. Completely captivated by that first experience, we read every thing available about the breed at the time…. which wasn’t much. Luckily we found and joined TIBCS, The International Bengal Cat Society which publishes the quarterly Bengal Bulletin. Since then the breed has grown in astronomical proportions.
From the beginning, we were drawn to the wilder looking, early generation Bengal cats with highly contrasted, pelt-like coats. In living with two second generation Bengals, we discovered they were much smarter than regular cats. So as we began our breeding program, we wanted to retain not only that wild looking face, but also the keen intelligence of the wild ancestor in the domestic Bengals we produced.
Until you have met a Bengal that resembles the Asian Leopard Cat, you may think the coat pattern is the most important feature. But once one sees a cat that really has the wild structure in both its face and body, it makes an impression that you cannot forget. The memory haunts you.
And when you choose to live with such a cat…and it turns its deeply intuitive love in your direction, you feel blessed with a gift that makes you feel in that moment, that anything is possible…..
Today, RainForest Bengals is a small cattery focused on breeding very high quality Bengals. Our selection over the years has begun to consistently produce a wild looking head and wild looking body structure with a dynamic flowing pattern accentuated by black markings.
Our cats have won top awards at the annual world-famous cat show gathering of Bengal cats and their admirers, “ON SAFARI.” For 5 years, from 2006 to 2010, our cats or kittens have been voted “WILDEST LOOKING” by fellow breeders. (see our Show News Page). We feel very grateful to have all our hard work acknowledged.
I strongly believe that in order to improve any breed, one must go beyond just breeding and trying to produce better Bengals. Building an organization to protect the breed’s future is equally important. TIBCS is the oldest and largest Bengal organization. Over the years, I became more active in TIBCS and have served on its Executive Board in 2004-2005 and 2007-2012 as Treasurer and as President. I have written for and helped put out its quarterly magazine, The Bengal Bulletin. I helped initiate health related programs in TIBCS, including the Lightning Fund for Heart Related Research and its Heritage Conservation Fund to preserve the Asian Leopard Cat in its natural environs.
Each litter of kittens is raised in the bedroom with lots of attention and games to stimulate their mental development. They have open, loving hearts, but may grow up into one-person or one-family cats due to the concentration of wild genes. When I was a child, Labrador Retrievers were one-person dogs; today they will hop into anyone’s car. That kind of change in temperament comes from years of selective breeding.
A Bengal’s intelligence and unique temperament is as important to us as their remarkable beauty. We work very hard to select and socialize for confident personalities. Yet a few of our cats tend to not be bomb proof enough for the noise and excitement of young kids. But if you are an adult looking for a deep intuitive relationship that may well become the best animal relationship of your life, one of these special RainForest Bengals may be exactly the cat for you. We do our very best to match our kittens or cats with their forever home.
Healthy cats and kittens are our top priority. We regularly screen our breeding cats for hereditary and acquired conditions and diseases. Because of its rapid growth in popularity, Bengals have been hit hard by HCM, a fatal hereditary heart disease, due to many breeders not testing their adults.. Our kittens are sold with a written health guarantee and their initial vaccinations, plus pet kittens come guaranteed against HCM for 6 years, because we believe we have cleared most all of our descents of HCM. Additionally, most pet kittens come to their new home already spayed or neutered, so new owners do not have to interrupt their bonding with an veterinary operation that is very scary for the kitten….and the kitten gets to recover here with its familiar siblings and mother.
Rainforest Bengals 