bredding feline siblings.

Question
Hi.  I have 2 12 week old Bengal kittens.  One snowy male and one marbled female.  I would like to breed them but i am not sure if it is ok to do so?!  They are extremely beautiful and healthy and would really love to get a litter of kittens from them.  Could you please tell me if this would be ok?  If so what are the pros and cons?  Thank you.

Answer
Jennie-Louise,

I would not breed brother and sister unless you really understood the pedigrees very, very well.  It is dicey at the best of times and can be catastrophic depending on the genetics.  Even if they are oucrosses, bad things can happen with brother/sister matings.  I would tend to shy away from such tight breedings.

Such breedings are done by very, very experienced breedes who really know what they are doing to see what faults may be in their lines.  For the novice breeder, this is a particularly bad idea.

It might be better just to have them fixed and enjoy them as very beautiful pets.

Best regards... Norm.