Charles, I don't agree with anyone who calls you a jerk or any other nasty
name. Most of us on this list are overworked and have constant shortages of
funds. We tend to get impatient with people who are trying, for whatever
reason, to bring more cats into the world. We rescue these FeLv+ cats because
they are unwanted and usually killed at so-called shelters, which usually
shelter no one. Can you imagine a children's shelter that killed the children
if they couldn't be adopted? Can you imagine breeding children for skin color,
eye color or other characteristics that were popular at any given time?
Usually breeding is done for certain characteristics - fur length, the "pug
nose" look, no fur, curly fur and any number of characteristics that create
"designer type" cats but have nothing to do with improving the health or
happiness of the cats brought into the world by breeding.
I know that you weren't spending $300 to get a breeding female so that you
could have more Bengal cat pets. You would eventually have sold the offspring,
possibly not neutered or spayed to other people who want to breed Bengal cats
to sell etc.. Please be honest with yourself. You did write in one of your
first posts that you didn't want a pet cat in your house. Allowing the female
FeLv+ cat to be outside invites any roaming tom cat to impregnate her. So if
you think that it's unfortunate to have purchased a FeLv+ cat, just think about
a pregnant FeLv+ cat full of mixed breed kittens. Not a good plan. I
understand why you have the male cat outside in a cage. Before they are
neutered, male cats stink. I have had a few in my house waiting for a neuter
appointment and it wasn't pleasant. After they are neutered, however, the
marking scent disappears and they are wonderful pets again. You can actually
sell your male Bengal after he's
neutered and recoup some of your $300 loss. You can't sell the FeLv+ cat but
do get her spayed before you have the additional misery of a pregnant cat who
mated with some roaming outside male.
One more bit of information Charles, we don't buy cats from shelters and we
don't "sell" cats that we rescue. By the time we get the cats ready for
adoption we have sometimes spent hundreds of dollars on getting them "fixed",
getting their shots, feeding and housing them until they are adopted. Food,
litter and time spent in their care cost way over the adoption price of $50 to
$80 per cat. The adopter gets a good pet that they can enjoy and love "right
out of the carrier". They don't have to first start to haul the cat to the vet
to get him/her fixed and vaccinated. You probably didn't know this. Anyway,
I'm glad you joined this list. I hope you have learned some facts about
breeding and cats in general. I won't be posting on this topic any more so
good luck to you and I hope you will do the right thing by your lovely cats.
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