HISTORY
The Bengal Cat is a distinct, unique breed of spotted domestic cat derived from
the ancestral crossing of a domestic with an Asian Leopard Cat. What is believed
to be the first documented cross in the United States is recorded as 1963:
however, there are references to domestic and wild crosses in earlier
literature. The Bengal of today was first recognized in 1984 by The
International Cat Association (TICA) and must be four generations away from the
Asian Leopard Cat.
DOMESTIC / LEOPARD CAT HYBRIDS
In the first generations of hybrid the F1 cat has an ALC parent
(usually sire) and a domestic parent, the F2 has an F1 mother and a domestic
sire, and the F3 has an F2 mother and a domestic sire. Males are usually
infertile while the females of these generations are used as foundation stock of
the domestic Bengal.
DOMESTIC BENGAL CATS
The domestic Bengal (must be four generations or more from the Asian Leopard
Cat) makes a loving, intelligent housecat with normal litter box habits. Curious
and entertaining, some even enjoy playing in water and bathing with their
owners. They enjoy the companionship of both adults and children and adapt to
other family pets. While some owners regularly walk their Bengals on leashes;
exercise, nutritional and immunization requirements are the same as for all
domestic household cats.
BROWN SPOTTED TABBY BENGALS
The brown spotted tabbies (leopard spotted) have dark spots on a lighter
ground color ranging from gray or tawny thru sorrel to golden and very rufus
(bright orange) and on to a rich mahogony. NOTE: The Asian Leopard Cat is
considered a brown spotted tabby in the fancy and ranges somewhat in color.
SNOW" SPOTTED TABBY BENGALS
The seal lynx point (blue eyed)and seal sepia (gold or green eyed)
spotted tabbies (fondly referred to by breeders as two of the "snow"
leopard spotteds) have ivory backgrounds with contrasting spots. The seal
mink (aqua or green eyed) spotted is a combination of one each of the above
pointed siamese and the burmese sepia genes. Extreme contrast between the
markings and the ground color is desirable in each spotted color
TICA has registered more than 20,000 Bengals world
wide since the mid 1980s!
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