Breed Profile Bengal Cat

Dr David Richardson August 2005

History of the Bengal Cat

The Bengal started when Jean Mills crossed an Asian Leopard Cat (Prionalurus Bengalensis) with a domestic in the 1960s.  This cat had a female kitten which when crossed back to the father produced more kittens, so it was fertile.  Jean had the ambition of developing a wild looking spotted cat with the friendly temperament of the domestic feline.  She resumed her breeding program in the late 1970s and 80s, and the first Bengal  was recognised by TICA in 1983.  The Bengal is the only cat with points for temperament built into its standard.

Description of the Bengal cat

The Bengal cat is most characterised by its striking spotted or marbled coat and its glitter.  The ground colour is yellow, buff, tan, golden or orange , except in the snow leopard which is white with spots and marbling ranging from red to black, with blue eyes.

The head of the Bengal has a broad modified wedge with rounded contours.  It is longer than it is wide and is small in proportion to the body.  In profile it gently curves from the forehead to the bridge of the nose.  The muzzle is full and broad with large prominent whisker pads and high pronounced cheekbones.

The ears are fairly short with a wide base and rounded tips set on the side as much as on top of the head, and pointing forwards when viewed from the side.

The eyes are large and oval to slightly almond shape.  The eyes are set wide apart and slightly slanting.  Eye colour should be a deep shade of green gold or hazel, and blue in the Snow Leopard (pointed) variety of Bengal.

The body should be muscular, strong, medium to large & robust with the hindquarters higher than the shoulders.  The legs are of medium length with slightly longer hind legs than front legs leading to large round feet. The tail of the Bengal is medium in length tapering to a rounded tip. 

The coat of the Bengal is short to medium length and pelt like.  It is thick, luxurious and unusually soft to the touch, with a gold GLITTERING appearance preferred.  Kittens may have a slightly longer coat.  Colours maybe Brown Tabby, Sepia Tabby, Mink Tabby or Brown Lynx Point Tabby as well as Silver Tabby.  All these colours may be found in the spotted or marbled pattern.

Coat pattern is unusual in that the spots are horizontally aligned rather than the broken mackerel vertical alignment seen in most varieties of spotted domestic cat. Cats should have a strong bold chin strap and mascara markings are desirable as are blotching and horizontal streaks.  The belly of the Bengal must be spotted.

  The marble pattern differs distinctly from the classic tabby in that the pattern is much more random than the classic target appearance.  Preferably the flow of the marbling should be horizontal along the length of the cat.  Vertical striped or mackerel influence is undesirable and preference should be given to the cat with three or more shades of colour; for example the ground colour, the markings and then the dark outlining of those markings.  Contrast must be extreme with well-defined shades and sharp edges to the pattern.  Again the belly  must be spotted.

The snow leopard variety can have all varieties of ground colour at a high degree of Rufus in yielding a yellow, of Golden or orange to brown colour is preferred the overall appearance should be of gold dusting however a great base coat should not be personalised.  The markings of the snow leopard variety can be black or various shades of brown.  The point colour on the Lynx points should not be substantially darker than the body colour.                

What I'm looking for when judging the Bengal.

I am looking for a cat of good temperament, with an extremely striking coat either spotted or marble in pattern.  I am looking for a strong and muscular cat with a smallish head, oval eyes whose colour matches the body colour.  I am looking from small to medium ears set well back and with a forward slant.  Most of all I am looking for a coat with extremely well-defined, horizontally contoured spots or marbling with fantastic contrast between the pattern and the ground colour, and I am looking glitter on that coat.

Scoring the Bengal cat

Temperament is worth five points, coat is worth 40 points including 30 for the pattern, head and body are both with 25.