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History
of the Bengal Cat:
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Originally
christened the Leopardette, the
Bengal is a hybridisation of domestic cats & Asian Leopard
Cats (a small wild cat). In 1963 Jean Sudgen of Yuma, Arizona
purchased a female Asian Leopard cat (named Malaysia) from a pet store. Believing
the cat to be lonely, she put a black domestic cat in her cage for
company. The animals mated & produced two kittens, a male
& a female called KinKin. Sadly, the male was fatally mauled
by Malaysia but KinKin was safely removed & raised by a
Himalayan queen. |
Jean contacted Cornell University
who predicted that
KinKin would be sterile. This proved to be incorrect when KinKin
was mated back to her father and delivered two kittens. A black female
& a spotted male. Due to the
sudden death of her husband this project was abandoned.
In 1980 Jean
contacted geneticist Dr Willard Centerwall who was working on a breeding
programme which involved crossing Leopard Cats with domestic cats. This
was part of a study of Feline Leukaemia. Jean Sudgen (now living in
California & remarried as Jean Mill) obtained several F1 (the F
stands for Filial) hybrids
from this programme.
While in India in
1982 Jean & her husband came across a tailless feral domestic male with markings similar to that of the leopard.
He had been living in a rhino enclosure at Delhi zoo. Jean
imported this cat (named Millwood Tory of Delhi) back to the United States & he was mated with the
female hybrids. Other domestic breeds were used in the breeding
programme including Ocicats, Egyptian Maus, Abyssinians, Bombays &
British Shorthairs. The breed obtained official recognition with TICA in
1984.
Appearance
of the Bengal Cat:
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The Bengal
cat is a medium to large cat with a long, muscular body with
robust bones. It's hind
legs are slightly longer than the front legs, the feet are large &
oval. The head is broad modified wedge, which is longer than wide, with
small ears & pronounced whisker pads. Eyes are black rimmed
& almond shaped. The tail is thick, tapering to a black
tip. The coat is thick, beautifully sleek & soft feels more
like a pelt than fur. The belly is whited & should also have spots.
There are
two Bengal patterns. Spotted & Marbled.
Spotted:
The spots should be dark & clear, with a crisp outline with a good
contrast to the background colour. The spots can be either solid,
arrow shaped or as rosettes. Spots should be found on the body,
including the belly, the legs will have spots & or stripes. Spots
should be random or horizontal in alignment.
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Marbled: The
marbled pattern consists of contrasting horizontal swirls along the side
of the cat. The contrast must be extreme.
Glitter:
Bengal cats have a gene known as the glitter gene. It is believed this
came from the kitten Jean Mill imported from India. It is a recessive
gene & is highly desirable in the Bengal. It looks as if a handful
of gold has been sprinkled over the coat.
Bengal
Cat Temperament:
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Bengals are
intelligent,
active, energetic cats. Due to their ALC ancestry many Bengals have a
love of water. They are agile, love to climb & can be vocal with a distinctive
voice . They get along well with other pets & people. Bengals
enjoy high places & are enthusiastic climbers. Many Bengal
owners have trained their cat to walk on a harness, so they can
enjoy the great outdoors in safety. |
If you are
out a lot of the time it is recommended that you get your Bengal a
companion so that he/she doesn't become lonely.
Words used
to describe Bengals include: active, playful, wilful, energetic.
Bengal
Cat Colours:
Traditional
Tabby colours:
Brown
Spotted & Brown Marbled.
Sepia
Tabby Colours:
Seal
Sepia Spotted Tabby & Seal Sepia Marbled Tabby.
Mink
Colours:
Seal
Mink Spotted Tabby & Seal Mink Marbled Tabby.
Silver
Information & a Brief Guide to Genetics
In recent
years, Silver Bengals have taken off over in the USA & United
Kingdom. Here in Australia some breeders have started breeding silvers
& have been concentrating on producing top quality silver Bengals.
The silver
colouring is the result of an inhibitor gene (I) that takes out the
yellow pigment in the coat of a full colour cat.
It is also
possible to produce silver snows.
Silver is
dominant, so in order to produce a silver kitten, one or both parents
must be silver. It is also possible for two silver parents to produce
brown kittens if neither is homozygous for the silver.
Silver can
be homozygous (II) or heterozygous (ii), cats with either of these
combinations will look silver, but the heterozygous cat will carry the
non inhibitor gene (I) as well. Two homozygous silver cats will produce
all silver kittens, who will also be homozygous for silver. Two
heterozygous silver cats will be capable of producing silver or brown
offspring.
On
average:
25%
homozygous silver (II)
25% brown
(ii)
50% silver
(li)
but capable
of producing brown offspring, ie: heterozygous.
A homozygous
silver crossed with a heterozygous silver will produce on average:
50%
homozygous silver kittens (II)
50%
heterozygous silver kittens (Ii)
If the
inhibitor gene is not working properly then some kittens will have a
tarnished look, ie: brown colouring breaking through.
When
choosing brown spotted/marbled cats to breed with, current information
advises using browns with clear coats and very little rufous colouring
to lessen the chances of tarnished kittens.
It will be
more difficult to identify silvers in snow breeding programmes & is
not advisable unless carried out by a very knowledgeable breeder.
Silver
Bengal information kindly provided by: C. J. Winchester of Bengals
Australia.
Many thanks
to Chris of Bengals
Australia for providing me with some of the photos used on this
page.
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