Bengalkatze (Wildform), felis bengalensis (C) Ehel. Dennler, Cattery v.d. Rheinaue

The Bengal Cat is decended from from a domestic cat and a Asian Leopard Cat (ALC) mating.

During the 1960's researchers, such as California's Jean Mills (Millwood Bengals), were studying cat related diseases such as leukaemia and other cancer related viruses. It was noted that wild cat types such as the lion and tiger were immune to some of these diseases. The wild Asian Leopard Cat was bred to the common house cat in an effort to study the immune defences of the wild cat family to these diseases.

In the 1970's Millwood acquired 8 female ALC/Domestic offspring from the University of California. The cats were the result of a project to investigate the ALC's natural immunity to Feline Leukaemia. It was from this moment on that the Bengal was established and the Bengal Breed was finally registered with the TICA (The International Cat Association) in 1983, with the first to be shown in 1985 in the New Breed/Colour Class.

The Bengal is a unique breed of cat in that it is the only spotted breed which is directly descended from a wild ancestor. This gorgeous ancestor is the Asian Leopard Cat (ALC). The domestic Bengal gets its name from the Asian Leopard Cat's scientific name (Felis bengalensis). The goal in producing the Bengal is to recreate the look of its wild ancestor the ALC in a domestic cat.

BENGAL COLOURS/PATTERNS

These are the main colours of Bengal:

Brown Spotted	-	Also known as Leopard Spotted
Seal Sepia	-	These are green or gold coloured eyed (AOC-E) Snow Bengals
Mink	-	As above but with a very light brown coat
Seal Lynx	-	This is for all the blue eyed (BLU-E) Snow Bengals
Blue	-	Blue/Grey Markings on light grey, classed at present as an unwanted gene
Black	-	These are black markings on a black background
Silver	-	Silver background with black/brown spots

You then have two coat patterns:

Spotted - As the name suggests the coat is covered in spots. They must be random, or horizontally aligned. There must be spots on the torso, tummy and legs. It is desirable to have rosettes (showing two distinct colours) a little like a donut one colour on the outside and an inner circle with a lighter colour. Also desirable are spots shaped like arrowheads or paws. None of these are essential in showing your cat/kitten.

Marble - Is as the name suggests. Horizontal markings, swirls down the side of the cat. The pattern should be random. Vertical striping is undesirable. Belly once again must be spotted

Bengals do not have fur but more of a pelt coat, this is a lovely soft coat that came from their wild ancestors. At around seven weeks the kittens will begin to get what is called the fuzzies, this is something else that is past down from their ancestors providing them with a camouflage in the wild. The fuzzies is when a kitten begins to grow longer guard hairs which disguise the spots from a front view, but the beautiful markings can still be seen from behind.

Glitter Coat - Most Bengals are bred with a glitter coat which looks just like someone has got a handful of gold glitter and sprinkled it over. The glitter gene is said to have come from a foundation cat called "Millwood Tory of Delhi" which Jean Mill found in India. The same effect appears on snow Bengals looking more like a pearl dust.

We would like to thank Tuhina Bengals for this history information!