Asian Leopard Cat - Nabuco
The Bengal is a fairly new breed when compared to other cat breeds. In 1963, Mrs. Jean Mill, a geneticist, saw the need to both preserve the look of leopard coat on a domestic cat. Her motive was to safely satisfy the public's desires for a leopard on their lap without having wild female cats being killed for their fur and their cubs sold to pet shops all over the world. Shortly after the initial breeding, Mrs. Mill had to discontinue this experiment and not much was heard about this new breed. It wasn't until the early 1980s that the Bengal Cat breed was again found on the domestic cat scene. Since that time, the breed has flourished and has become very popular both in the USA and worldwide.
Today's Bengal is the descendent of the original crossing, by Jean Mills, of an Asian Leopard Cat (Felis Bengalensis) and a domestic housecat. They are the size of an American or European Shorthair, come in spotted or marbled coats of brown or ivory. The goal of Bengal breeders is to maintain as close as possible the physical features distinctive to the small forest-dwelling wild cats and yet have the loving, dependable temperament of the domestic cat.
APPEARANCE
The Bengal should appear different from other domestic cats. It is an athletic animal, alert to its surroundings, friendly, curious, confident with strength, agility, balance and grace. It is a medium to large cat exhibiting a very muscular and solid build. Females are generally smaller than their male counterparts and exhibit proportionately similar qualities. The wide nose with prominent whisker pads and large oval, almost round, eyes in a slightly small head enhance the wild and expressive nocturnal look. The very slight, to nearly straight, concave profile and relatively short ears with a wide base and rounded tips add to the Bengal's distinctive and unique appearance.
COAT
& COLORS
The coat is one of the most distinguishing features of the Bengal cat. It is short, dense, displays either a randomly spotted or marbled pattern which is unusually soft and silky to the touch. The coat may be glittered or non-glittered. Glittering is the appearance of look of gold or, in the case of the ivory colored Bengal, ice crystals. Bengals come in either a spotted or marbled pattern with four color combinations: brown tabby, seal sepia tabby, seal mink tabby and seal lynx point tabby. In the brown tabby, all variations to the base color are allowed with spotted or marbled markings being virtually black, tan, or various shades of brown. The coats of the seal sepia, seal mink and seal lynx point have a base color of ivory, cream or light tan with a clearly visible pattern. The color of the pattern ranges from light to dark seal sepia, light to dark seal mink, and from dark seal brown to light brown, tan or buff respectively. There should be little to no difference between the color of the body markings and the point color. Blue and silver colored Bengals are being bred today although blue is not an officially recognized color for show.
PATTERNS
The spotted Bengal should have random or horizontally aligned spots. Rosettes, which come in paw print, arrowhead, doughnut or half-doughnut shapes, should show two distinct colors/shades. The contrast between the spots and base color should be extreme and present a distinct pattern with sharp edges. The belly must be spotted and a white belly and underside are desirable.
The pattern on the marbled Bengal should be random with a horizontal flow when the cat is stretched. It should resemble the marbling in a cake or ice cream. In the marled Bengal, preference to three or more shades ( base color, markings color and dark outlining of the markings) is given. As with the spotted Bengal, contrast must be extreme with distinct shapes and sharp edges to the marbling. Again, it is desirable to have the undersides and the belly white. The belly must also be spotted.
EYES
The eyes, as stated above, should be oval, almost round and large without giving the appearance of being bug-eyed. They are set wide apart, back into the face and encircled with light spectacles in the brown and seal lynx point tabbies and ivory/cream spectacles in the seal sepia and seal mink tabbies. Eye color in the brown tabby may be gold, copper, green, bronze, brown or hazel. In the seal sepia the eye color should be gold but may also be gold-green. The sepia mink tabby carries aqua (blue-green) as the preferred color but can also have a green or green-gold color. The seal lynx point must have blue eye color. The more richness and depth of eye color the better is the rule for all variations.
OTHER PHYSICAL QUALITIES
Bengals should have medium to small, relatively short ears with a wide base and rounded tips. Large prominent whisker pads and high pronounced cheekbones are desireable. The nose should be brick red and rimmed in black. The tail tip and paw pads of the black in the brown tabby must be black while these should be dark seal brown colored in the other colors. In the seal colors, the paw pads can also have rosy undertones. The body should be long with sturdy, firm bones, medium leg length, large round feet with prominent knuckles, and a medium length, thick tapered tail with rounded tip. A classic distinguishing feature is the very muscular body especially in the males.
TEMPERAMENT
The temperament of the Bengal is extremely important. They should have loving, outgoing personalities to correspond to their beautiful wild appearance. They should not show any aggression toward people. Although shy at first, the inquisitive nature of the Bengal allows them to make a choice whether they will "accept" a stranger or not. Once the decision is made, Bengals normally become very attached to their owners. They are intelligent, playful, and loving cats who make very good pets.
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