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PoesPoes Mai... Savannah Studs Savannah Kittens Bengal Studs Bengal queens Bengal Kittens F1 F2 info page Early gen sav breeding living with Harry Harry servals Savannah queens Bengal Studs red alert Bengal Studs puddlejumper F2 bengal queen anne Bengal Studs prophet henna keedo kits puddle echo kits
living with HarryLiving with Harry Queens Kittens Bengal Home Page PoesPoes Main Page Harry arrived as a ball of spotted fluff with his eyes already open and chirping for attention and food. He took to the bottle quickly and this started the bonding process. As we already were expecting several other Asian leopard cats form over seas we had our DWA (dangerous wild animals licence) in place and thought to ourselves one more wont hurt! What a special little cat Harry is. Harry was hand reared from a very young age and as a result has become an incredibly tame cat bursting with personality. At the time Harry came to us I has suffered a back injury just before he came. I was off work for just over 6 months and was restricted to the house for over 4 months. This was an ideal opportunity to keep me busy and to help me focus on something other than the pain I was in. As time went on Harry grew and his guard hairs fell out, his back ground colour lightened turning a stunning burnt orange and his once dull rosettes burst open and remained outlined in dark browns and black. Harry turned from a gentle and some would describe shy kitten to a loud mouthed bag of energy almost over night. People often wondered what it was like living with Harry and in all honestly I wouldn’t changed it for the world and in the same breath I would never recommend anyone getting a Asian leopard cat either. I was chatting to our friend Jacky of Purebliss Bengals one day and I asked her what on earth I had done agreeing to hand rear Harry. He has caused a great deal of damage in our home. running into the thousands rather than hundreds. Whenever I wanted to sleep he would keep me awake wanting to play, it seemed he never sleeps! Even now! The only way I could describe him was a very excited playful Bengal kitten but times by ten. Every thing Harry did was ten times harder, ten times quicker and for ten times as long! This included eating. The 2 hourly bottles turned to 3 and 4 hourly and as he weaned he started eating his more natural raw diet. Diet can not be stressed enough and one of the most vital roles in managing one of these small cats in captivity. A varied raw meat (whole prey) diet is the only thing these little cats should be fed to ensure they get the nutrients and vitamins they need for health growth and developments. Mice, chicks, rats, rabbits, quail, pheasant, chicken, eggs are to name but a few items on the shopping list to feed Harry. It ends up costing a fortune if keeping such a special animal properly. The dangerous wild animals licence, public liability insurance and suitable enclosure is another fortune easily spent and this still doesn’t include time. As Harry matured it soon became apparent he had chosen me as his friend above all others, jealousy set in and now Harry tolerates very few people at all. Including my partner and family that helped raise and socialise him. As an adult Harry demands my attention daily. For cuddles reassurance and playtimes. Holidays have gone out of the window as have weekends away. Although I wouldn’t change a thing for the world and love Harry dearly, we are always responsible for the animals we own and even more so in the case of specialised animals such as Harry. The choice I made to rear him has resulted in consequences for the next 15 years or so. Harry is not my pet but rather a life style choice. A lot of my life is now orientated around Harry (and our other animals) and his needs and we give him the best possible captive life as possible. Studs Harry's page Very soon the time came when Harry had to be housed outside in his licensed enclosure. Totally heart breaking but as Harry had weaned from his bottle it was time. Asian leopard cats need their own space to call their own. We had already built Harry a large enclosure that has natural planting, log climbing frames and shelves in. We felt strongly that if a wild cat is to be in captivity they should be given as much space and enrichment as possible. Nothing can replace a life in the wild but as keepers of these animals we can do our best to replicate it. One View from inside his enclosure (prior to being finished is pictured right) Harry was shy at first and now loves his out door house, sleeping most of the day on a summer evening when we are still sitting in the garden he can be seen lazing on his log shelves or bouncing through the bamboos. He looks even more beautiful in a more natural setting and above all else Harry now has some better like minded company than me! Meet Connie. Connie is our female leopard cat. This very special girl was born in a European zoo and some of her babies in the captive zoo populations are carrying her genetics. What an addition to the PoesPoes menagerie! We hope for leopard cat babies from this pair, and only time will tell, so far the pair seem to be getting on just fine! If they bred or not the pair have eachother as company. CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO BENGAL STUDS PAGE This website was created using MAGIX Website Maker. You will need the current version of Adobe Flash Player to view it. Further information can be found at magix.info - the Multimedia Knowledge Community by MAGIX, the market leader for music, photo, and video software. |