For those interested in placing a deposit on a kitten or joining our waiting list   The way the reservation process works is that once you decide that you wish to purchase a kitten from Zazen, you would put down a non-refundable $200 deposit which would place you on the waitlist for the type of kitten you are looking for.  You can also request a kitten from a particular breeding that has already occurred or will occur in the near future.  Once a deposit is accepted, you are placed on a waiting list in the order that the deposit/request is recieved.     From the time the kittens are born we keep them secluded in the nursery for two weeks and they are not allowed to have visitors.  This ensures that they remain healthy and are not subject to stress.  At 2 weeks, we begin to evaluate the kittens to determine sex, size, and to begin to determine quality.  It may be that actual price on a kitten is not determined until they are approximately 4 weeks old (this is when they grow large enough to make accurate projections of their conformation and coloration as adults)   We accept deposit payments in cash or through our paypal account ( rwindwalker@comcast.net )   We strongly encourage you to be sure to check out other breeders, check out our cattery, and make sure that you are committed to getting a kitten from us before you put down a deposit.  The deposit is non-refundable unless we cannot provide you with access to a male or female kitten of the color and in the price range you are requesting within one year of deposit.  We cannot guarantee the quality or price of a particular type of kitten ahead of time, so for example - if you offer at deposit for a silver female kitten you would be placed on the list and would be contacted when a female kitten of that type was offered for sale during the next year.  As kittens are born of different levels of quality, some may be show quality and others may be pet quality.  It is your choice as to whether you wish to accept a particular kitten at the offered price.    The price of the kitten includes de-worming, all age appropriate kitten shots (except rabies which cannot be given until they are at least 16 weeks old).  If the kitten is sold as a pet, it will also be spayed or neutered as a part of the kitten price.  Please note that often our vet will choose to delay spaying a kitten until she is 4-6 months old, as the spay surgery is a major surgery.  If it is a female kitten and that kitten cannot be spayed until they are older, the purchaser may take home the kitten prior to spay and once they provide proof of spay they will recieve the kitten's blue slip registration and a refund of $100 to cover the cost of the spay.   Regardless, kittens are not released until they are 12 weeks old - this ensures that they are healthy, vet checked and have all appropriate medical care and socialization to ensure you are getting a loving, healthy quality kitten.   So what is the difference in price?   All kittens are beautiful (in our minds); however, not all kittens meet the standards set for Bengal show cats.  Small differences which might cause a cat to lose points in the ring (a kinked tail, white spotting on the body, big ears, wrong paw pad color, differences in bone structure or white 'lockets') do not in any way detract from the kitten as a wonderful loving pet and companion.  Our pet kittens range from $750-$1200.   Kittens who have show potential, who exhibit qualities that are sought after in the top Bengal cats across the world are considered to be of show quality.  These kittens may be shown in the ring or merely kept at home as pets.  They are required to be spayed or neutered.  Show quality pet kittens range from $1200-$1800.  Though we cannot guarantee that a particular kitten will achieve status in a ring, these are kittens who have the qualities which are sought after in the show ring, and most of our kittens are descended from TICA Champion cats.   Kittens who have show potential, who exhibit qualities that are sought after in the Bengal standard and who may contribute to the evolution of the Bengal breed due to genetic contributions of color, contrast, conformation and personality may be sold for breeding purposes to qualified and approved catteries.  Kittens that will be sold intact for breeding and sold with registered breeding rights range from  $1800-$3000.   The cats in our breeding program come from champion lines and are usually champions themselves.  Most of the kittens we hope to offer will be of show quality.  All are registered with TICA as purebred SBT bengal kittens.  Copies of pedigrees of our breeders are available upon request.   Zazen Bengals reserves the right to ‘pick of each litter’ should they wish to keep a kitten for our breeding program.   We strongly believe in placing our kittens into loving, nurturing, stimulating life-long homes.  We also reserve the right to refuse to sell a kitten or cat to anyone whom we feel would not or could not provide a healthy, nurturing, loving environmeent for the life time of that cat or kitten. The deposit will be refunded in full should the cattery be unable to provide access to  kitten of the gender and type requested within one year or if for any reason the owners of Zazen determine that they no longer wish to have a kitten placed in the individuals home