Magic We are so impressed with Magic's gold undertones and his beautiful face. Magic loves water. I took a bath last night and he was thrilled that the water was on. He jumped up on the bath tub and had both paws in the water up to his elbows. He is so friendly! He is jumping up in my lap and helping me type this message. He and Noah (her son, who was 21 months old when this was written) love each other already. This morning he followed Noah into his playroom and stayed with him all morning. Noah is thrilled that Magic doesn't run from him and lets Noah pet him. And more good news regarding Magic---he and Valentine [their dog] are doing great! Tim [the father of this family] loves the fact that Magic takes naps with him. I can't believe how Magic can climb. We have vaulted ceilings between our kitchen and den. My kitchen cabinets come about 2 feet from the ceiling and has track lighting between the two room just above the two rooms. Tim looked up last night and guess who was up on top of the cabinets balancing on the wall between the two rooms. I couldn't get the camera in time. This cat is something else. We have no idea how he got up there. I hope that we are not overwhelming you with updates but we are just so impressed. Everything has worked out soooooo much better than we expected. We are excited that Magic is fitting in so well with us. I am really impressed with the Bengal's personality. The Bengal is most certainly not your usual breed of cat. Written a year after the previous messages: Magic is part of our family now. We don't know what we'd do without him. We may look to get another bengal in the future. Tim & Amy B. Wise, VA

Yoda He has learned to stay & come. As soon as I tell him to stay he gets this questionable look on his face and sits down. I am using the treat method as reward. We are so happy that he is a part of our family. We can't imagine not having him around.....how did we ever get along without him? Linda & Paul S. Loudon, TN [Comment: Yoda is an example of a show-quality marble. Note his profile, long body, intricate horizontal pattern, rich color, and clear, short, silken, tight coat. And his personality is EXCEPTIONAL.]

Brooklyn Originally, I was determined to adopt my 1st cat from a local shelter until curiosity got the better of me (thanks to a certain person who shall remain nameless!) and I did a little net research on purebreds. I accidentally stumbled across Bengals while looking at a VA-based Egyptian Mau site, but there is no mistake that Brooklyn was meant to come home with me. Brooklyn (baby-name "Bright Lights") was one of three available kittens on Nancy's site the first time I visited. I knew very little about Bengals -- had never considered having a cat before -- but Nancy's site was extremely thorough and presented a good mix of factual information combined with a warm enthusiasm toward ANY one interested in the breed. Brooklyn attracted me for various reasons but his personality seemed exactly what I was looking for: smart as a whip, purrs when you pick him up, etc. When I emailed Nancy to ask initial questions about Bengals, she replied with even more info and commented that a kitten Brooklyn's age might be what I was looking for. We arranged a visit that week and I was signing a check within an hour of the visit! Brooklyn is growing fast and getting smarter and more exotic by the day! Within a week of being home his shyness disappeared; he is now very social with anyone who comes over. He gives strong head butts and rolls onto his back for belly rubs when he sees me or anyone familiar coming. His constant purring kept me up the 1st night as he insisted on sprawling next to me from then on, but now it's just part of the nightly routine. He has also dubbed himself the official "Computer Lap Mascot." Playtime is a blast (a cat tree IS a must for sheer entertainment alone), and his athletic grace is developing alarmingly. I can't believe the ways he figures out how to get where he wants to go! And with little training he has learned to have his claws calmly clipped, NOT to beg, and to fetch (the chase part anyway!). People routinely threaten to kidnap him because of how gorgeous and sweet he is; the vet actually asked me to bring him in for monthly weigh-ins so the staff doesn't have to wait until his annual checkup to play with him. I'm sure Nancy has at least a dozen other adoptive parents who email her on a regular basis but she always responds to my questions or anecdotes as if they were the only ones! I can guarantee that when the situation allows I'll be getting another kitten from her! Julie P. Knoxville, TN (Julie has kindly provided some amazing pictures of Brooklyn "flying" and also some video clips of Brooklyn at play. Enjoy them!)

Boudrow He is such a cool cat..we love him so much. Suzanne C. Knoxville, TN

Minx Working with Nancy in adopting one of her kittens was a wonderful experience. Read the following and see for yourself... I adopted my first Bengal, Sassy, from a breeder in central Arkansas. About six months later, as so often happens when people get a Bengal kitten, I decided that I wanted another one. I contacted Sassy's breeder to inquire whether she would have any kittens in the next few months. She said that she was concentrating on getting her first litters of F-1 and F-2 Savannah kittens and would not have any Bengals until sometime next year. Having previously looked at many breeders' web sites using the International Bengal Cat Society (TIBCS) breeder directory, I knew it would be a good tool in helping locate breeders in the states surrounding Arkansas, since those would be the closest to me. I was thoroughly impressed with Nancy's web site as soon as I saw it. She includes factual information that prospective buyers need (genetics, appearance, etc.), but she also includes interesting information about all of her cats (how they got their names, their personalities, and LOTS of pictures). You can really tell that she loves her cats and what she does from the level of detail on her web site. I saw pictures of two kittens (one male, one female) that she had available from Spellbinder and Manji. I emailed Nancy to inquire about the price of the female kitten, whether she had a fairly clear coat with glitter, and about her personality. I was specifically interested in whether she liked to be held because Sassy does not like to be held unless it is her idea (and even then, it isn't for long periods of time). Nancy responded to my email immediately with all of the information requested and also sent some updated pictures of the kitten. Nancy was going out of town to a cat show over that weekend, so she said that if I decided to adopt her and was the first one to send a deposit via PayPal, she would let me know after she returned home. I decided that I HAD to have her and I sent the deposit that Friday afternoon. Nancy emailed me from the cat show to let me know that the kitten (now known as Minx) was mine. During the next two weeks, I must have emailed her 10 to 15 times with questions about food, shipping plans, etc. (I wasn't excited or anything…ha!). She wasn't feeling well during this time, but she always responded to my emails and provided all of the information I needed. She also made a special effort to work with Minx to make sure she enjoyed being handled since that was a major concern of mine. Minx is a very loveable kitten-when you hold and pet her, she immediately begins purring and turns over on her back so that you can rub her tummy. Now that's what I call a well-adjusted kitten! Since Minx arrived, I have sent pictures and updates to Nancy at least once (maybe twice) a week. Nancy says that she loves getting pictures and updates so that she can see how her "child" is progressing and adapting to her new home. The only regret I have about getting a kitten from Nancy is that her cattery wasn't close enough for me to drive to pick Minx up so that I could meet her in person and see all of her gorgeous cats. Becky W. Sherwood, AR

Ozzie Ozzie has taken to the boys beautifullly... He hates to be alone and spends the night going back and forth between the two boys' rooms and sleeping with them. Kevin B. Mountain City, TN

Kaymara Kaymara acts like she's lived here all her life. She hopped in the shower a couple times and always likes a sink faucet running. She most always sleeps on the bed with us (after her midnight romp at the foot of the bed with what ever she has brought up to play with!) She knows exactly what our two-year-old daughter is capable of and half the time skeedadles and half the time tries to get a back rub from her. We have a newborn baby boy and she doesn't pay him any attention at all. She is eating like a horse and plays like a jaguar! All in all Kaymara is doing very well and loves being here. David D. Cabot, AR

The Kitten and The Retiree---Spanky and Zel We have been fortunate to have acquired two very different Bengal cats from Nancy Prince. We adopted a retiree last October. Zel is an absolutely beautiful cat. To look at him is to love him. Zel did not immediately adjust to our robust household with one other Bengal, two crazy pugs, an Akita, and three males (my husband and two grown sons). Nancy has been absolutely wonderful in working with us to make Zel's adjustment easier on us and him. She really knows her stuff. All the advice she gave us was great. I never knew there was so much to know about cat behavior and what it all meant. She even offered at one point to take Zel back if need be. It was at that point that Zel seemed to straighten out and decide that it was OK to be with us. He is still very shy about who gets to pet him, and who doesn't, but he has adjusted. [Note: Zel was born and raised at another cattery, and came to PrinceRoyal as a stud cat.] We recently brought home our new kitten from Nancy's house and he is wonderful. He adjusted quite quickly to our household. I think this is because Nancy had gotten to know us through Zel and was able to advise us as to which kitten would fit with us. He never had a moment of adjustment. He came right in and took over the house and our hearts. [Note: Spanky is a kitten that was born and raised at PrinceRoyal.] The benefit we didn't see when we brought Spanky home was his influence on Zel. After an initial adjustment, Zel has fallen in love with Spanky. They play together, eat together, sleep together, and chase each other around the house. Zel has taught Spanky manners when it comes to biting too hard and being an irritating kitten. Zel has come out of his shell as a result of Spanky being here. Zel now allows us many more pets, which has made all the humans in the house much happier. The most impressive part of this experience has been Nancy's commitment to her cats and to those of us who acquire them from her. She has emailed me many times checking in on Zel and now Spanky. She always returns my emails very quickly. If she doesn't know the answer to a question, she finds out the answer and gets it back to me quickly. Along with a business relationship, we have developed a friendship with Nancy. She is wonderful to do business with and has true goals for improving the Bengal breed. Don't even get me started on how much we love Bengals in this household. Only Nancy could claim she loves them more. Amy M. Knoxville, TN