A large, athletic breed, the Bengal attaches closely to their people and is a loyal friend with a sweet personality.
The Bengal’s size and muscle truly resembles a wild cat’s appearance.
Weight range:
Male: large: >5 kg.
Female: large: >5 kg.
Eye colour:
Blue
Expectations:
Life Expectancy: 9-13 yrs.
Social/Attention Needs: High
Tendency to Shed: Low
Coat:
Length: Short
Characteristics: Glossy, Smooth
Colours: Brown, Seal
Pattern: Tabby, Ticking, Spots
Less Allergenic: No
Overall Grooming Needs: Moderate
Club recognition:
Cat Association Recognition:
ACFA , FIFe, TICA
Prevalence: Moderate numbers.
The Bengal truly does remind you of a wild cat in appearance. A large cat that is heavily muscled, but the boning may be surprisingly light for their size. The only thing that is moderate is the medium leg length.
The Bengal has a large, triangular shaped head. They have a thick neck, large feet and a thick tail. The patterns are generally limited by the infusion of the tabby gene in the original hybridisation. A brown-spotted Bengal does look like a feral cat. The spots on the coat should not line up in rows, but should appear randomly placed.
The coat of the Bengal is short and may even feel a little rough naturally. The coat is easy to care for and does not mat.
Personality:
While many people consider the Bengal to be a wild cat that only pretends to be domesticated, the breed is actually very sweet and loving. The Bengal attaches closely to their people and is a loyal friend. As a large, athletic cat, the Bengal needs to run, jump, and romp to be contented. They are a curious and alert cats.
Living With:
The Bengal is an active cat who is extremely athletic. If given adequate room for exercise they can maintain weight without too much difficulty. The Bengal absolutely must have the ability to run and exercise freely. They are easy to keep groomed and enjoys being groomed.
History:
The beauty of wild cats has always been attractive to people, so efforts were made to breed one of the wild cats to a domestic cat in order to have a wild-appearing but gentle-tempered domestic cat. To this end, the first hybridisation of the Asian Leopard cat and domestic tabby cats were undertaken in the early 1960s in the United States. This breeding programme was suspended temporarily and then restarted in 1981 by Jean Mill and Dr. Willard Centerwall.
Despite many obstacles in producing this hybrid, a wild-looking cat who achieved domesticity was the ultimate result of the breeding programme. Since the wild cat used in the foundation of the breed was the Felis Bengalensis, the name of the breed became the Bengal.
The Bengal began as a controversial breed, and, to some degree, remains one today. Some concerns are that more wild cats will be used in domestic breeding, and that the feral part of the Bengal cannot ever truly be bred out of the domestic cat. However, this may not be a major concern because of liberal outcrossing with domestic cats, and because cat registries prohibit having show Bengals be too closely related to their wild ancestors.
