Bengal Cats

Have you ever admired the wild and untamed beauty of a leopard or a cheetah, have you ever wondered "if I could could only own one..." well its almost impossible right, first they are in Africa, second they would chomp your head off the very second you come near them. What if I told you that there is a cat breed that greatly resembles a Leopard and a Cheetah wouldnt you run to the petshop and ask for one? Well yes there are such things as "Ivan" on the left would attest, and as you can see he is not your ordinary street tabby. These are a rare but very beautiful breed of cat that I fell in love with by just looking at their pictures.



These are the result of a Hybrid between the wild Leopard cat (Felis bengalensis) and the House cat (Felis catus). But these are not the direct offspring of the cross but the generations of the fifth and above so that will become more of a house cat in nature not a wild little beastie. They were the result of a study about the asian leopard cat that was conducted during the 1960's or the late 1970's to aid the plight of the rare leopard cat. This produced fertile offspring which was later carefully bred to have the conformity and temperment of a common house cat whom we enjoy the company of.


Felis bengalensis

The first generation of this hybrid called the F1's resulted to unfertile males yet fertile females which later became the foundation of the Bengal Breed. All the later generations after fifth generation produced fertile males and females and are registered under SBT Bengals. These cats steal every cat show the appear on, providing that they are an excellent examples of the breed. Look at the picture at the bottom, he is Perry owned and showed by his proud owners John and Shiela Fowler. If you owned him wouldnt you be proud?




"Sir Leonardo"

Seeing these cats prowl around your yard stalking and unsuspecting rodent would give you the feeling that your watching a miniture safari. This breed resembles Leopards, Cheetah's and on some mutation of the new breed clouded leopards. Their patterns range from brown tabby, sepia, seal mink tabby, spotted, spotted and marbled.



"Gabie"

These cats have a series of black and brown spots set on a back ground of brown, orangy brown, silver or grey. These spots come in all shapes and sizes, rosettes and swirls also come out of this breed that's why it resembles lots of different kinds of its wild cousins. Some of the most stunning patterns are the clouded leopard, the snow leopard patterns and the King cheetah patterns.



'"Clouded Pattern"




"Snow Clouded"

And soon there will the the Margay patterns and also the ocelot patterns. There is just no stopping the evolution of this new and magnificent breed, if you would like to know more visit these sites to look at their amazing cats.

http://www.rockybengals.com/ - For Marbled

http://www.bengalkittens.org/ - For Spotted

http://www.kingsmarkfarms.com/ - For all patterns and the new serengetti cats

http://www.bengalslongisland.com/ - For New Yokers

http://www.bengal-cat.net/ -Cattery of my friend Debbie
















"Ivan"




Supreme Grand Champion "Perry"

And for the breed's standards in TICA please refer to this link for the information:

http://www.ticaeo.com/Content/Publications/Pages/BG.pdf

"All photos seen here are not my own and in no way am I claiming them to be my own. Some have the knowledge of the owners of me showcasing their cats Photos.
These photos are here to give adequate and vivid representations of cat breeds and conditions and are in no means for profit."