The Bengal cat breed is a new breed of cat which has been developed to have the markings and body structure similar to an Asian Leopard Cat whilst still having the a friendly and gentle temperament like a domestic cat.
The Asian leopard cat was used to introduce the short pelts (coats) making the hybrid offspring closely resemble their wild ancestor.
The first generation Bengal is extremely difficult to breed.
A geneticist named Dr. Willard Centerwall has been involved in the breeding of leopard cat hybrids for use with leukaemia research.
These cats were bred from and produced the founding cats of the Bengal breed.
Males typically weigh between 14 to 20lbs , with females being usually smaller 10 to 12lbs.
The usual colours are brown spotted, snow spotted, blue spotted, black spotted and silver spotted although all colour variations come in the Marbled pattern too.
The Bengal should have small rounded ears , a strong chin, puffy whisker pads and wild expression.
Bengal cats are active cats and always ready to play. A lot of breeders and owners deem them more dog like than cat like as often they play games such as fetch.
Bengal cat is also capable of jealousy therefore introducing a new play mate of whatever breed will need to be done gradually over on average 1 to 2 weeks.
The Bengal is usually a very healthy breed of cat due to originating from a hybrid mating.
Cats Encyclopedia Dogs Encyclopedia
