The Bengal is a fully domesticated house cat with an affectionate and even temperament. It is descended from the wild forest-dwelling Asian Leopard Cat (Felis Bengalensis)found throughout the Far East.

The start of a new breed

The Bengal breed was started in the 1960’s in America thanks to Mrs Jean Mill who created a hybrid from crossing a domestic cat with a wild Asian Leopard Cat (ALC). However breeding of the Bengal has not been a continuous story since then and the Bengals we see today are the result of bloodlines created in the 1970/80's by Jean Mill (of Millwood Bengals) and other American breeders. In France the breed was introduced by Odile and Martine Callaird in 1989 who imported the first Bengal in France. This was a Millwood Bengal too.

Early bloodlines were created by crossing ALC’s with other pedigree breeds like the Egyptian Mau, the Abyssinian and the Occicat which are all comparatively rare breeds. But the Bengal is in a class of its own and has unique features that no other breed can offer such as the rosette markings, the spotted tummy and the glitter.

Breeding aims

It is the aim of breeders to create a Bengal which has the appearance of the ALC as closely as possible yet with a domestic temperament and to meet the Bengal Breed Standard. Both TICA and LOOF standards are linked here and give a list of the physical features the ideal Bengal would have. It goes without saying responsible breeders also care as strongly about perpetuating the healthy and robust nature of the Bengal.

Characteristics

Characteristics of the Bengal are:

• A small wedge shaped head, small rounded ears and oval eyes.
• The hindquarters are well muscled and slightly longer than the forelegs and the body is long and lean.
• The tail should be thick and must have a black tip.
• Its four paws should be black or brown. The tummy area must be spotted. The tummy can be white, cream or golden/apricot.
• The white tummy is the most desired because all ALC’s have white tummies and a white tummy is also unique to the Bengal cat.
• The fur/pelt/coat of the Bengal is probably the softest and finest cat fur in the world.
• It is like mink or sable to touch, short and very dense.
• There is hardly any moulting so grooming the Bengal is very easy.
• A bonus is that clothes and sofas etc do not get covered in cat hair either!
• Another point is that the Bengal may be suitable for people who have allergies.

Markings and colours

The exotic appearance of the leopard is most obvious in the brown spotted (rosetted) Bengal. Some have more spots and others have more rosettes. The most desirable markings are full rounded two colour rosettes with good spacing between them to see the background colour and a horizontal alignment along the back. High contrast between the markings and the background colour is desirable. Rosettes may be round, oval, arrowhead etc. they may be one colour or two. Two colour is more desirable. Background colours range from greyish/tawny brown, beige through to very golden or even red gold.

Other breeds have spots but none has rosettes except the Bengal.

Other coat colours appear such as mink, seal, silver and snow, the latter resembling the snow leopard. Another marking is the Marbled Bengal with large swirling patterns in a range of colours.

The Glitter

Having mentioned "the glitter" throughout this site here’s what it’s about. Imagine a diamond, a peacock’s feather or a piece of mother of pearl. The brilliance is caused by refraction of the light.

Some Bengals (not all) display this in the form of gold, silver and pearly tipping at the ends of each hair and appear to sparkle literally. Until you’ve seen it is hard to imagine and photos cannot capture the effect. These hairs sparkle/scintillate in strong light but can also be seen even in dim light.

This is "the glitter" and it a unique feature of the Bengal breed. One breeder tells of early days of judging Bengals and judges not knowing about glitter trying to wipe off the sparkles, believing the cat had somehow been sprinkled with this substance by its owner.

Sari, our female, glitter in her coat ranging from copper to gold. Our other two are also glittered beautifully with gold.

F1, F2 F3 and F4 Bengals

This means cats which are still closely related, to the Asian Leopard Cat. F1 cats have a parent who is an ALC. F2 cats have an ALC grandparent, F3 cats have an ALC great-grand parent, F4 cats have an ALC great great grand-parent.

F1, F2 and F3 can’t be shown and are not easily raised or bred, retaining more of the wild temperament of the ALC. Only Bengals born from the 4th generation are purebred Bengals accepted by cat governing bodies. A pedigree Bengal will have 5 or more generations of pure bred Bengals.

Each of our Bengals has a full pedigree, featuring Millwood, Gogees, Akkers and other distinguished Bengal breeders.

...and so

So how to sum up the Bengal? There are so many fascinating qualities and unique aspects.

• A cat with wild and exotic looks combined with a sweet natured temperament and exceptional intelligence.
• A cat that rewards its owner over and over again, delights, and is naturally strong and healthy.
• They require no fussy diets or grooming routines. Instead you can spend time playing with your cat and enjoying its company and beauty for a long time to come.