Bengals
The Bengal breed originated as a cross between the Asian Leopard cat (Prionailurus Bengalensis) and a Domestic cat. The first three generations of a domestic bengal X Leopard cat are called foundations (F1, F2, and F3). The fourth generation and any beyond that are called Bengals (also refered to as SBT). The Bengal cat is a domestic cat, yet has retained some of its wild characteristics. They are very athletic and enjoy climbing to high places. Bengals also have a fascination with water and will take any opportunity to play in it.
The Bengal cat has a very soft short to medium coat that is slightly longer in kittens. It is thick and luxurious and comes in various colors and patterns such as rosettes, spots and marbles. Some have glittered coats (as if gold dust were sprinkled over them) which is a very desirable quality. They have large alert eyes and they are very curious. The Bengal cat makes a great family pet. They get along great with their family as well with the family dog.
Coat Pattern
The spotted variety of the Bengal can take on many differences in patterns. A spotted Bengal can have a
solid spot of one color, or we can have a rosetted Bengal. A rosetted Bengal is
still spotted, but the spots have two colors to them. Usually there is a dark
spot of either brown or black, and then a kind of rust or orange shading inside
or around the spot, creating a rosette like you would see on a
wild cat like a jaguar.
Rosettes
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Arrowhead
Arrowhead rosette markings should be triangular in shape pointing toward the back of the body with the base of the rosette fading into the background.
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Turk has many arrowhead rosettes with a few solid spots and even a couple small donut rosettes mixed in. |
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Doughnut
Doughnut rosette markings should be large open spots that are filled with color that is darker than the background color and outlined in an even darker color.
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Kyzer has mostly donut rosettes with a few arrowhead rosettes along his spine. |
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Pawprint
Paw print rosette markings should be dark spots around a larger shaded spot filled with color.
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Trixy has pawprint and arrowhead rosettes as well as a few solid spots. |
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Marble
This is an example of a sheet marble Bengal. Marble bengals should have a very flowing and random pattern. Their pattern continues to change until they are about 2 years old.
Frosted Kittens
These kittens are born one color and quickly change to another color (the color
they are supposed to be) during approx. the first 5-6wks. Nobody knows why this happens, there are many theories but nothing has been scientifically proven. Most times it is just a light frosting on a kitten, as if they have a film of light hairs covering their coat.
The picture to the left is of an extremely frosted brown spotted kitten (at 2 weeks) we had in 2011 next to her littermate that was not frosted. You can see how drasticly different their colors are. Below are pictures of the same kitten at 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 4 months. She ended up being quite a cool colored bengal (not very orange), but you can see how much her color changed over time.
2 weeks
4 weeks
4 months
Bengal Info
