About Us

Kristina Crowell-Davis gets a kiss from Leopardy. We are a small, home cattery located in East Tennessee. We are committed to breeding quality, loving cats rather than a large quantity of cats. We strive for long muscular bodies, wild expressions, cloud-soft glittering pelts, sweet temperaments, and brightly colored markings. There is more information about the priorities of our breeding program here.

We are a TICA-registered bengal cattery. We produce only registered, pedigreed bengals.

We are a FeLV- and FIV- negative cattery. We maintain a parasite-free environment. We are testing our breeding cats for HCM. We practice preventative health care, including appropriate immunizations. You can learn more about our approach to health care here.


Goals

Many breeds of cats have achieved pretty much universal recognition in the United States. Members of the general public, upon seeing a Siamese or a Persian cat, instantly recognize it as a Siamese or Persian. One of our fondest goals is to make the Bengal breed so distinctive and beautiful, and inform the public so thoroughly about Bengals, that our breed too is just---if not more---widely recognized and admired.

We breed to the TICA Bengal Standard (this is a PDF file and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to read it). However, like all breeders, there are certain aspects of the standard that we particularly emphasize in our breeding program. In general, our specific breeding priorities in two areas, Physical and Personality Characteristics, are:

Physical Characteristics
  • Health (both genetic and response to environmental factors)
  • Body Type and Movement (including athleticism)
  • Coat Quality
  • Coat Color, Contrast, and Glitter
  • Head, Ear, and Tail Type
  • Pattern/Markings
Personality Characteristics
  • Companionability
  • Stability
  • Intelligence
  • Playfulness


Philosophy

We are responsible for the life and well-being of every kitten that we cause to be brought into this world. We therefore do everything possible to ensure that:

Principle This is why...
  • Every one of our cats goes to a caring home where he or she is treasured, loved, and well-cared for...for the rest of his or her life.
  • We carefully screen prospective pet owners and try to match each owner and their home situation with the best individual bengal for them.
  • We have a temperment guarantee.
  • We provide support to those who purchase pets from us, with no time limit. We are here to answer questions or advise on problems, no matter how long it has been since they got their cat.
  • Every one of our cats is healthy.
  • We are meticulous about vaccinations and health records.
  • We maintain a close relationship with our veterinarian.
  • None of our cats ends up lost, in a shelter, or euthanized because it is unwanted or through misfortune.
  • We microchip our kittens before we place them as pets.
  • All of our breeding cats are microchipped, and some are also tattooed.
  • None of our cats produces unwanted, unplanned, or unnecessary offspring.
  • We sell pets only with a mandatory spay/neuter clause in the contract, OR we spay/neuter our cats before we place them as pets. (See our views on the safety and benefits of early spay/neuter.)
  • We are responsible for good business practices, and for dealing truthfully and ethically with those who obtain cats from us.
  • We are committed to bettering the Bengal breed.
  • We won't breed cats that we think (or know!) can pass on undesireable traits.
  • We breed to the TICA Bengal Standard.
  • We typically do not breed the same queen/stud pair over and over and over again; instead, we seek to improve the quality of bengals that we produce with each breeding.
  • We participated in the 2004 Bengal Breed Project.
  • We are active in TIBCS. In fact, the owner of PrinceRoyal Bengals is a past officer and Executive Board member of TIBCS (2004). In(2005 she was co-chairperson of the TIBCS Education Committee, which works on projects to teach and educate about the Bengal Breed. The members of the TIBCSMEMBERS list voted her Volunteer of the Year (1994-1995) in the TIBCSMEMBERS Choice Awards. This year (2006) she is chairperson of a TIBCS working group that is producing guidelines for breeders on Best Animal Husbandry Practices in the Home Cattery. She is continuing her role as moderator of the TIBCSMEMBERS Yahoo group. She also continues to provide and maintain the Member Information Site for members of TIBCS.
  • We help publicize and make donations to Bengal Rescue activites. We donate items for raffles and auctions held by TIBCS to benefit bengals in distressed circumstances.
  • We are committed to increasing public awareness and appreciation of these beautiful cats.
  • We take our Bengals to shows and out among the public. (You can read about our Show Philosophy here).
  • We participate in community events, educational events, and other community outreach activities. (You can read about some of them).
  • We regularly provide photographs and write articles for publication in the TIBCS Bengal Bulletin. You can see them here.
  • We recently had an article about how to prevent overcrowding in catteries published in thr TICA Trend (December 2005/January 2006 issue).
  • We participate in the Human-Animal Bond in Tennessee progran, in which we take bengals to visit residential facilities for the elderly and for sick children.
  • We create and make available a number of attractive, quality Bengal-themed items that bengal lovers can purchase and then use to display their love of the breed.
  • We are committed to the overall welfare of domestic and feral cats.
  • We support our local Animal Shelter.
  • We assist Dr. Sharon Crowell-Davis in her feline behavior projects.
  • We keep up with the latest developments and findings in cat behavior research, and we apply those findings to our own cats as appropriate.
  • We support the cat agility movement and ICAT.


Philosophy About Cat Shows

Judge Vickie Shields examines Leopardy at the On Safari 2000 Bengal Kitten Congress.  Click on photo to see photo credits.

We typically attend at least four shows a year, and we try to get to more of them. Our show attendance is mainly limited by the long distance we have to go to attend one---the closest shows are at least 4 hours away by car. And then, of course, we have to schedule around our cat's activities...their breeding cycles, their litter times, and so on!

We go to cat shows for three major reasons:

  • To see what other breeders are producing, to look out for lines that we want to add to our breeding program, to see if a cat's picture does him justice in person...in other words, to evaluate other bengals and to find out where the portion of the breed that is represented at shows is headed.

  • To meet and socialize with other breeders in order to keep up with important breed developments.

  • To educate the public, who are always coming by and asking questions about bengals.

Winning is not a major reason for us to attend a show, although we LOVE it when our cats win (see our winners page). Oh yes, we love bringing those rosettes home! A title is a major accomplishment that any breeder or owner should rightly be proud of.

However, there are two thoughts about cat shows to keep in mind:

  • Many factors, not just the quality of the individual cat, play a major part in determing if that cat will win. In other words, a cat that is a Surpeme Grand Champion is not *necessarily* a "better" cat than a cat with just a Champion title.

  • The cats at a cat show do not *necesarily* represent the best of the bengal breed. Some of the best, really cutting-edge cats are never shown and hence never win a title; their breeders may live even farther from shows than we do, they may not be able to afford to go, they may be kept close to home by family obligations, they may not want to expose their cats to the health risks that go with showing, and so on.

If you see us at a show, please come and say hi! We'll do our best to answer all your questions and we'll be delighted to show you our cats.


Our Views on Controversial Health Issues


Our two founding (but not Foundation) queens, Leopardy (left) at 4 months and Firenze (right) at 5 months.

History

We began our cattery back in early 2000 with two queens, one brown marble and one spotted. We grew slowly for the first year, adding a third brown spotted queen in late winter of 2003. It was difficult to obtain stud service, however---we did not live close to any other bengal breeders, and we didn't have much success taking our girls to other catteries for breeding because often the journey took them out of heat. So when we had an opportunity to raise and "prove" a stud that was to go to New Zealand, it was an excellent arrangement for us. That stud cat, Knight Templar, was then owned by and resided with our dear friend and mentor, Stephanie Boyd-Dunlop of Imprints (sadly, he crossed the Rainbow Bridge at the age of only three). After Templar went to New Zealand we got our own stud and all was well.

Since then we have come to owe debts of gratitude of varying size---but great sincerity---to many people, including on occasion Stephanie Boyd-Dunlop (of course), Jennie List, Martha Brady, Donna Syverson, Larry Thornton, Sydney Welch, Mark Bracy, and Chip Patnode. We learned different things from each of these individuals---some of it good, some of it bad, but all of it useful.


Cattery

Looking out our cattery
windows, our bengals see:

Click for Knoxville, Tennessee Forecast

Our home is our cattery. This allows us to give our cats a loving, social environment from the very beginning of their life. Our cats follow us from room to room, sleep with us, play with us... They are our family, just as our pet kittens will be part of your family.

We maintain a relatively small number of cats for several reasons, one being our responsibility to give them individual love and attention. Another reason that we maintain a small number of cats is that overcrowding---too many cats in too small an area---can cause both health and behavior problems.

We consider ourselves to be a "cageless" cattery, although we do in fact own one (indoor) cage, which is 4 feet wide by 6 feet long, and nearly 5 feet tall. Our cats are never caged unless it is necessary, for a specific, short period of time for health reasons. For instance, if a cat had an injured leg and was supposed to stay inactive, he would be confined to our one cage for a week or so, until he was well enough to resume his usual running, climbing, and jumping. When not in use (which is practically all the time) our cage is left open, and the cats often play in it just as they play in other parts of the house. We always keep some toys and a hammock in the cage for them in case they feel like romping in and out of it.

We feed our Bengals Innova EVO dry, IAMS and Eukanuba cat food, and of course they have water at all times.

When you purchase a pet kitten from us, you will recieve a starter supply of recommended kitten food as part of your Kitten Care Kit.

If you are interesed, you can read our specific feeding regimen.


Notes About this Web Site

  1. The pictures of the cats have NOT been digitally enhanced or tampered with. Sometimes the backgrounds have been retouched to remove distracting features and focus attention on the cats, but the cats themselves have not been altered or retouched.

  2. Links to other sites will open in a new browser window.

  3. This site is protected by copyright laws, and thieves and plagiarizers will be prosecuted.

  4. If you have any questions or comments about the website, please contact the owner.

 

Phone (USA) 865.483.5618 ~ ~ E-mail nlp@princeroyalbengals.com ~ ~ Ask for Nancy
This site copyright © PrinceRoyal Bengals, June 2000. All rights reserved.