Expert: Marcia Owen - 12/8/2010

Question
QUESTION: I bought a marbled Bengal kitten in July from a breeder, I
saw the mother before I took her, but he didn't give me any
papers - he told me he hadn't registered the kitten as it
wasn't worth it as there was only 1 kitten in the litter. Do
you know how I go about getting her registered so I could
potentially breed of her? Hope you can help

ANSWER: Dear Nicola

Firstly you will need to know if the Mum and/or Dad are registered with either TICA or the GCCF.  If the Mum is registered with GCCF and has been transferred into the breeder's name if they did not breed her themselves, then they must provide to you a 4 generation pedigree showing registration numbers of the parents and grand parents, and a mating certificate from the stud owner, if this is someone else.  You should find this page will have the information you are looking for http://www.gccfcats.org/registration.html

If the parent is TICA registered then do come back to me and I will find out the process for TICA as I have not had reason to investigate it in that orgnisation.

Regards

Marcia.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks Marcia - is there no other way around this as I don't
really want to get back in touch with the breeder, when I
brought the kitten home she was quite poorly & he wasn't
very helpful - he used the excuse that he hadn't registered
her that he was stopping breeding - the mother had been
neutered - I know this as I saw the wound where she'd had
the op. I just presumed that breeders must start somewhere &
thought I could start a new "line"???? If the only way is to
re-contact him I'll just probably breed off her without the
papers. Thanks again, Nicola

Answer
Sadly there probably isn't any alternative as even if you contact the GCCF they will refer you back to the breeder in the first instance.  You need a pedigree to even start through them.

I must warn you that if you want to breed with no papers etc. you will probably not find a reputable stud owner to take her in.  Of course there may be an odd one who cares nothing for her stud, your cat or anything else but the money and you could be letting yourself in for more heartache if she comes back unwell.

My advice would be to cut your losses and have her neutered and then look for a reputable breeder who does everything right and be mentored by them so that you rear strong healthy litters that you can register and save others from suffering the same as you are now.

Regards

Marcia