Is My Cat a Bengal?

What are the differences between Bengal cats and other tabby cats?

 

Tabby Cat vs Bengal Cat
Spot, the Bengal Cat

Some of the most common questions we’re asked are “What are the differences between a tabby cat and a Bengal cat?” and “Is my cat a Bengal cat?” So we thought it might be handy to write our thoughts down on how you can tell whether your cat is a Bengal or a lovely tabby or even some other breed.

Tabby Cat vs Bengal Cat
Hello from Robbie!

Before we go any further, we must point out that in writing this article, we’re not inferring that tabby cats are in any way inferior to Bengal cats – we love all cats in our World, and have our very own ginger tabby cat, Robbie and have had lots of tabby cats in the past, including our gorgeous girl, Friday.

Tabby Cat vs Bengal Cat
Beautiful Friday

They’re going to help us explain the differences between Bengals and tabbies in this article 🙂

My Cat has Spots, so it must be a Bengal, Right?

Not necessarily!

We’ll begin by saying that just because a cat has spots or marbling in its fur, this doesn’t automatically mean it’s a Bengal! There are many cats who have this who aren’t Bengals. Regular tabby cats can have spotty or marbled fur too – here’s our very own Robbie cat showing off his spots!

Tabby Cat vs Bengal Cat
Robbie’s spotty tummy

 

There are other spotty and marbled pedigree breeds too, so let’s look at the spotty ones first: there’s one of the oldest domesticated breeds, the Egyptian Mau, and also the Ocicat, Brown Spotted Manx, Brown Spotted British Shorthair, the Oriental Spotted Tabby and the Brown Asian Spotted Tabby. Here’s some examples:

 

Tabby Cat vs Bengal Cat
Egyptian Mau
Tabby Cat vs Bengal Cat
Ocicat
Oriental Spotted Tabby
Oriental Spotted Tabby

Turning our attention to marbled breeds, there’s the Marbled British Shorthairs, marbled Manx cats, and marbled Oriental and Asian tabbies. Here’s some photos of these lovely cats:

Tabby Cat vs Bengal Cat
Marbled British Shorthair
Tabby Cat vs Bengal Cat
Marbled Oriental tabby
Tabby Cat vs Bengal Cat
Marbled Manx tabby

On our Bengal Cat Facts page, we explain lots of different facts about us Bengals which may help you if you want further information about the breed; in this article, we’re going to be more specific about what makes Bengals different to the other cats we’ve mentioned.

 Spots and Marbles

So in our quest to identify whether your cat is a Bengal or not, let’s first examine what coat patterns are unique to a Bengal cat, whether spotted or marbled… If your cat doesn’t display these features, then they are not a pedigree Bengal.

Tabby Cat vs Bengal Cat
Jessie Rayment’s Fire Dancer

 

This lovely girl is called Fire Dancer – she belongs to Jessie, who’s a great friend of ours from our Facebook page 🙂

We’re using her gorgeous photo to demonstrate to you how fantastic a Bengal’s spots – or rosettes – can be.  In the other spotty breeds we mentioned, the spots are round and evenly distributed, though they might vary in size. A Bengal’s spots should be more randomly distributed, with no set patterns, and are usually larger and more distinct than those of other breeds.

A Bengal’s spots are often arrowhead-shaped like you can see on some of Fire’s in the picture and there should be a sharp contrast of colour between the spots and the base coat. Here is where we can talk about rosettes too – which is a unique feature to the Bengal cat (unique when talking about domestic cats, many of our wild cousins have rosettes). A rosette is a spot that has a dark outline with a lighter colour inside, with the inside colour being darker than the base coat. I’m sure you can see why we chose this pic of Fire to illustrate this – her rosetting is superb!

Because a Bengal’s spots are random, the pattern on each side of the cat will be asymmetrical – i.e. one side will be different to the other.

Tabby Cat vs Bengal Cat
Marbled Bengal Cat

In the same way that Spotted Bengal cats have asymmetrical markings – marbled Bengal cats do too. This makes it quite easy if you’re wondering whether or not your marbled fur baby is a Bengal. All the other breeds we mentioned have a symmetrical pattern on both of their sides, but Bengals don’t and this is unique to the Bengal breed.

So take a look at your marbled cat: if the coat is the same on both sides, you don’t have a Bengal! If it’s different, you do!

The Bengal marbling is a unique patterning of horizontally aligned swirls that are not found in the other breeds who tend to have bull’s-eye patterning. The patterns should be in at least three colours – the base colour, pattern outline colour and pattern centre colour (if you read the info on rosetted spots, this should sound familiar to you!).

Each cat has their own unique marbling pattern which often develops over time.

In what other ways are Bengal cats unique?

Alongside the specific markings we’ve discussed for the spotties and the marbled, there are other things that are unique to the Bengal that can help you if you’re still not sure….

One of the most beautifully unique characteristics of the Bengal cat is the glitter in our fur. This is so exquisite, yet so hard to capture in its entirety on film! The golden glow of a Brown Bengal or the pearl dusting effect on a lighter coloured Bengal must be seen in person to be fully appreciated. Here’s a photo of our Uncle BooBoo which shows some of his glow to demonstrate a little of what we mean, though even this great picture doesn’t capture it fully:

Tabby Cat vs Bengal Cat
Uncle BooBoo

There are other aspects of the Bengal fur that are also unique – it’s often said that you can tell a Bengal by touching it when blindfolded. Some find the best way of describing it is that it’s more like a pelt than fur with its feel of satin or silk, being short and plush.

The fur of  a regular tabby cat is often “ticked” whereas this should not occur in Bengals – ticking is where each strand of hair is broken up into different bands of colours. Our Friday cat has ticked fur – we can see the difference this makes compared to a Bengal:

Tabby Cat vs Bengal Cat
Friday the tabby and Spot the Bengal

As well as the fur and the coat which we’ve focused on a lot, there are other characteristics of the Bengal breed which when you put them all together, makes us a uniquely beautiful cat.

Our bodies are large, lean and muscular with substantial bones. Our back legs are slightly longer than our front ones, reminiscent of our wild ancestors. Our heads are relatively small in relation to our bodies and should be a little longer than wide, with medium to small ears. Our tails are thick and can be ringed, spotted or marbled, but should always have a solid dark coloured tip. Our chins should be light and our whisker pads prominent. Noses are large and broad with slightly puffed nose leather which is often a rich colour.

Tabby Cat vs Bengal Cat
The inquisitive Bengal Cat

Even our voices are different to most other cats and we use them often – you certainly know if you have a Bengal in your house, because we loudly remind you often throughout the day! We can be quite fussy about our litter trays, and will refuse to use them if not clean so will let you know when they’re not up to our standards 🙂 We’ll also remind you when it’s dinner time – you’ll soon stop whatever you’re doing, just to shut us up!

We hope you’ve found this a useful guide for you to identify if you have a true Bengal or not.

530 thoughts on “Is My Cat a Bengal?”

    1. Hi Sandy! I didn’t talk so much about personalities as they are quite subjective and not all things are necessarily unique to the Bengal breed. We are confident and active cats who love to play. We are loyal to our hoomins and usually get on well with dogs and other cats. We can be a bit naughty sometimes (I’m not of course, but my sister is) and we can get bored easily so can be a little destructive. It’s best not to have too much in the way of houseplants or ornaments on your windowsills if you have Bengals 😆

      1. Hi Spot…my name is Spott too, but with 2 “t”s so as not to be confused with Dick and Jane’s Spot. I think I may have a distant cousin of yours who was abandoned and starving. We have 5 other cats in the house, as well as 6 to 8 ferals outside that we feed since we’ve trapped and fixed them. This little girl just showed up one day at our house and helped herself to the buffet. After she was around for about a week and wasn’t going anywhere, we brought her to the clinic to have her spayed but it turned out she was already spayed. Who would do that to such a precious baby? So she started letting herself inside and is very affectionate, loves the water dripping from tap if we turn it on, is intrigued with me in the shower, and has a wild meow. She was so underweight when she showed up, but a couple months in our house with fabulous food, treats, love and new brothers and sisters to play with has doubled her weight. She is marbled and I see the glitter, but she is not a purebred since her fur, although very rich, thick and soft like a pelt, is ticked. The design of the marbling is asymmetrical so it seems like she has some Bengal blood in her. I’m also not sure if she is only 3rd generation removed since she will out of the blue whack my face if I’m hugging her too much and she wants to get down. 😯 I do hiss at her and she totally chills and starts purring again while I pet her and scratch under her chin. 😛 One way or the other, she is a precious doll who loves to snuggle and lays on her back on my lap while I’m on the toilet with all four paw curled in the air, purring all the time. Couldn’t be happier – all of us!

          1. I have a cat that does that she loves to sit with u and be in the tub all the time I wonder if she’s part Bengal or not she’s marble with a lot of white under her and some spots on her belly

        1. Replying to Spott – sitting on your lap whilst on the toilet is a very definite Bengal trait. My snow bengal does this every single time I make a trip to the toilet! I’ve never come across this in any other breed we have owned in the past (Siamese, Burmese, oriental etc.). Don’t you just love them.

          1. Bengals are a little different to other breeds in many ways 🙂 Glad you love them as much as we do, Linda 🙂

          2. My Vitani is a just the same. I too have had many cat breeds, and Vitani, one of my bengals, is the only cat to jump on my lap while I’m on the throne. They are such fun characters.

          3. Hi Spot,
            My bengal doesn’t join me in the Loo, but my Blue Burmese Fin does- either sitting on my lap or climbing onto my shoulders….

          4. lol 🙂 It’s so lovely that all cats have their individual purrsonalities 🙂 Obviously, we have to generalise when writing an article 🙂

          5. My 10 week old kitty. Her name is KiKi. A friend of mine said she thinks my baby girl is part bangal… She seems to have a lot of the traits you’ve been talking about..

          6. Main Coon’s are very affectionate and attention-seeking as well. He will crawl up on my lap while in the bathroom and want to cuddle. He is a big furry boy and takes up a lot of space.

          7. This is not a Bengal-only trait. I either have some Bengal or Australian Mist blood in me (I was a rescue, so it’s hard to tell), and I definitely do this! But the kitty who came before me was an orange tabby cat and my mom says he did this to her all the time. The first time I did it she got a little weepy because he’s at the rainbow bridge now, and it reminded her of him. I never met him, but mom says he definitely was not a Bengal. She also knows a Maine Coon who does this to his mommy which is hilarious, because he weighs almost 30 lbs!!!

          8. I have a siamese that will only sit on your lap when on the toilet. My bengal is only interested in the running water.

          9. I have a sweet timid cat I first thought was a Maincoon, has several sounds like chirps, clicks from high to very low vocals ranges, when I talk to him he replies & he loves to jump up into my lap while sitting on the toilet. He was a stray kitten I rescued on a freezing January day. My vet said he was only 5 weeks old & another night he wouldn’t he had made it. He grew very fast & within 5 months he was 2 1/2 ft long (nose to tail) he sits, lay downs & fetches on command, he wakes me up in the morning when my alarm goes off. He let’s me know when his litterbox isn’t up to standards. I have had cats before but he is the smartest one by far. Like he truly understands every work I say. He is like a ragamuffin or a ragdoll loves to be held & goes completely limp when I pick him up.loves for me to rub his stomach, loves to be brushed and no issues clipping his front or back nails. I sometimes wonder if he is a reincarnated human! He is semi long hair solid gray, baby blue eyes are now yellow, big thick boned & bushy tail, wide paws with tuffs of hair on his paw pads lion collar. His name is Pookie. My daughter cat is a house guest for a few weeks, Pookie is on alert & a little scared of Gus. Gus is a very tall tabby with Hugh eyes, large nose, marbling & spot with a solid line down his back & tail, ring down his tail ending black tip. Small paws large head & isn’t vocal at all.

          10. When I go to the back of the house Julius comes bounding on his long legs just to see if I’m headed for the bathroom!!! He leaps up onto the sink waiting for me to lift up the stopper and run just exactly the small amount of water he likes. Sometimes I come and use the toilet even when I don’t need to just because he likes me to sit there petting him telling him how pretty he is and what a good boy he is. Julius came to me as a stray. He obviously had been abused. When I reached down to pet him he would jump up and bite hanging onto my bleeding arm. It’s been four years. The bathroom sink is obviously a place he was never abused. It was the first place he trusted me to lovingly pet him. Now of course the sink is his favorite place with sleeping on the pillow next to mine the second. I can carry him around and pet him at all times. He has an unusually rambunctious quality and it doesn’t surprise me the vet said he is a Bengal. Julius is a deep dark rust color and looks quite striking. The most important thing about any cat is his or her personality. I’m happy to say Julius has become a cat with good behavior as well as good looks. (Not perfect behavior since he likes chasing my other cats and is quite jealous when it comes to me)

          11. OMG! My Elsie follows me when i go to the toilet and sits on the windowsill watching when I brush my teeth. She is loving friendly & loyal in a way I only thought dogs were capable. My little Bengal is a beauty and would recommend to anyone wanting a cat

          12. My Garfield resembling orange tabby does this. 🙂 My grey tabby who may have some bengal sits on my shoulder while I am in the bath. 😂😂

          13. I had a yellow tabby that laid on my lap when I sat on the toilet every morning before work. At the time we had 2 dogs, 2 puppies, and 3 young cats. His name was Tommy. He wasn’t pushy like the rest, I figured he saw his opportunity for his share of attention and took it. I didn’t mind😺He was a sweet boy, we loved him bunches! That was in the late 70s. Oh yes he was my first house cat, his momma was feral and left a litter in my folks she’d. He came in the house at any 6 weeks. Miss that boy!

        2. I’m wondering if someone would have a look at the kitten I am buying on Sunday? It’s the first Bengal I’ve had and although I’ve been told she is pedigree (comes with her family tree and pedigree document) because she hasn’t been registered to tica or anything like that, I’m concerned she isn’t. So if anyone is available to look at my pictures and let me know your opinions that would be great :-). Thank you x

          1. Hello Bryony!

            Apologies for our late reply, you have probably already got her by now, but you can still email us with pics if you wish 🙂 x

          2. hello Mike,I saw your comment and its really touching.hope they get the love and care from you.I am interested in owning a bengal, I will need to get more information on how to purchase a Bengal.

        3. Bengals do come in ticked fur aswell. My bengal has ticking. The reputable breeder i purchased him from has a few ticked. And they are all TICA registered. Its nit a preferred coat for show bengals but it is a bengal trait aswell.

          *In addition to the rosetted or marble pattern, there are three other factors that come into play when describing the color and pattern of a bengal. “Glitter”, “Patina” and “Ticking.”*

          https://www.kingsmarkfarms.com/bengals/kingpattern.htm

          1. We’re not saying that Bengals can’t have ticked fur, and we’re also not saying you can’t register a ticked Bengal, but ideally they shouldn’t be ticked 🙂

      2. Hi, sorry to interrupt this way but couldn’t find a way of commenting and being able to ask you a question, how can you tell if you have a cat that may be half bengal?

      3. Hello there
        My issue is that i cant tell if my cat Is bingal marbled or no, becouse half of things you mentioned are there and in some other are not, i took her to more than 10 vet clinc, half of them said pure bingal and the other said mixed, so im in big delima, any advice

      4. Hi my tortoiseshell cat had kittens and I know that she is 3/4 bengal as I met the parents. She is being spayed next week but wondered about the markings on one of her kittens (3xginger and 2xblack).
        One ginger kitten has loads of spots on his sides and not identical. He is only 6 weeks if they are bengal markings will they develop more as time goes on?

      1. Ocicats have spots whereas Bengals usually have rosettes, Sandi. Also, They have different shaped heads. If you look both breeds up via Google, it may help you to decide.

    2. I had. Ed. Interested in buying a Bengal I saw the weirdest ad on Craigslist for a “snow Bengal” for 100 dollars. I’ve emailed back and forth with the person including them cursing at me that it was a Bengal. Is there anyway you could tell me. I have pictures of the cat but I’m sure it’s a tabby cat. They showed me pictures of supposedly is the first born kittens that look Bengal which I’m guessing the father was Bengal and mother a tabby.. I’ve never seen a stripped Bengal. I’m curious to see if it’s true that it’s a bengal

    3. Hi I’m Jake and I’m questioning if my cat is a Bengal. He has the pattern of a Manx on one side, but not so much on the other. He has a very distinctive meow that almost sounds like there is not one or kind of a squeak. If there are stuff on the windowsills like plants and things he tends to eat them and knock them down. I have 4 other cats and bowser tends to jump a lot higher than them. I have an extremely high cabinet that my other cats can’t get to only bowser can. He is very curious and all my cats are indoors, yet he tries to get out when the others don’t. Is bowser a Bengal?

    4. I’m sure mine cat is bengalcatworld but she’s black she’s got a small head long body x bk legs are bigger than the front she talks all the time x will only go in cat litter if it’s clean

    5. Hello! I just want to say that we have a female Bengal who (we think) has a nerve problem from lack of oxygen at birth. So she moves back and forth almost constantly unless she is sleeping. She prefers to stay in our bedroom away from the other cats. She is the sweetest cat I have ever had the pleasure of owning and I never want to live without a Bengal again. However, there is only one of her. She is our nurse when we aren’t feeling well and sleeps with us in the bed when the weather gets colder. Otherwise she sleeps in her little box at the foot of the bed or in a laundry basket. She even has her own body pillow which is much bigger than she is! Love love love this kitty❤️.

    6. Hi, I think my little boy is part Bengal. He has smooth fur no ticks in it but seems to have more marbling than spots. His marbling as different tones of black and grey (probably due to his momma being a black domestic) but he has the beautiful browns in his paws and on his face in some places. He’s 5 months old and is pretty big in size. From front paw to tip of ear he’s about 7 1/2 in tall and from tip of tail to nose he’s about 11 1/2 in. I’ve had Tabby’s before but they never were that big. Also his tail kinda reminds me of a raccoon but the tip is all black. I got him as a 3 week old kitten with no known father. I’ve been told by many people that he looks Savannah or Bengal. His back legs are longer than front and his paws are still big for his size. I don’t mind emailing pictures if you need them. Please help cause I’m confused and don’t want to classify him as the wrong breed.

    7. Hi my name is charlotte and i would like to show you a picture of my cats I do believe one might be a bangle. his marble printing is not the same on either side and he does have stripes. he also has a brother that could possibly be a Egyptian mau. he has stripes and spots but if both are tabbys im fine with that to. but I would like to show you a pic for your opinion.

  1. Hi spot

    I think this was good read
    The photos are great.
    I like Robbie <3

    I think u are a good writer
    You should print a book
    Get it on shops
    Many people but it as made good read & photos are top notch!

  2. What a lovely, informative “brief” Sir Spot (by the way I have decided to “knight” you & shall from now on refer to you as Sir Spot 😀 ) I do have a question … is it a Bengal trait that you ALWAYS have to have the last word? If Aneksi thinks she should go out & it’s after “curfew” will have an argument about it & we could go on all night because she always answers back & ALWAYS has the last word!!! xxxxx

    1. I like it – Sir Spot! Ha ha! 🙂 Yes, it is only right and proper that us Bengals should have the last word, we need to remind you hoomins who’s boss after all! 😎 😉 xxxx

  3. Love your comment Clare Rosser! 😆

    As usual Spotty your columns are informative, funny and cute and I soo love the pics that accompany them! Love you and all your brothers and sisters! xxx

  4. Fabulous and informative Spot. You should be writing for Cat World. I love the bit about Glitter in your fur…Daddy does an amazing job of captuirng it too, but you didn’t mention your absolutely stunning eyes, and the differing colours – yours and Lula’s are very different. 🙂

    1. Thank you, Mairi! I didn’t say anything about the eyes as they’re not something you can use easily to tell us apart from other breeds 🙂 After all, Lula gets her lovely blue eyes from the Siamese cats in her ancestry 😆 My mummy agrees with you, though, she is always saying how beautiful our eyes are 😉 xxx

  5. Your eyes
    They mesmerize
    Your glitter… 🙄

    Can’t think of anything for glitter that isn’t yucky 😳

    Terrific post!

    1. I think I have a Bengal kitten she is nearly a year old she loves coming with me to the toilet and loves drinking water from the tap when we first got her she used to put her paw in her drinking water bowl there is one thing she does that I’m not sure about tho she has her wet meat or biscuits an she tryes to cover her food is that normal for that breed

      1. Hi Amanda! Yes, this is quite normal and natural. When cats in the wild don’t finish the prey they have caught, they use their paws to cover it up with twigs and dirt etc. This is to stop others from stealing it. This is what your girl is doing, though of course there’s no twigs or dirt in your house 🙂

  6. This is an excellent article to especially
    help those of us who are novices to the fabulous world of bengals. I had no idea about the asymmetrical markings until now. It is so wonderful that you take the time to write this information for us. I, like Zoe, think you should publish informational books–oh and children’s books with the BCW family would be fabulous! Starring Spotty Cat and Lula with of course photos by daddy! So many ideas and so little time! xxxxx

    1. Your last sentence hits the nail on the head, Linda! I have so many ideas about different things, but never enough time to do them all! Thanks for your lovely feedback! <3 😀 xxxx

  7. Can you get tabby/Bengal mix? I live in turkey and have been adopted by Fred who many say has Bengal markings but I think he’s just a unique tabby but he has very similar markings to the picture of spot that you have.

    1. Yes, you can, Ashleigh! There’s nothing to stop a tabby mating with a Bengal, though if I’m honest, I don’t think it happens quite as often as people think it does 😉 But it is entirely feasible! 😆 xx

      1. ❗ THIS is very true – I think many of us *want to think* we have a cat that is part Bengal, but in reality, it’s just a uniquely coloured tabby. I LOVE tabbies and I LOVE Bengals. I just recently adopted a cat who I really did believe might be part Bengal – but it’s just hard to imagine being true. She fits about 50% of the criteria which makes it even harder to tell. Her face is small, her whisker area super prominent, her ears are the right size, her nose is very broad (especially when compares to my three other cats – even the boy cats) her hind legs are longer, her tail is thick with a prominent black tip, she walks like a puma, she hunts like a big cat in the wild and she’s got PATCHES of that sort of unbelievably silky soft fur with Bengal type markings – it’s almost like her fur glows in the light – do you know what I mean? She’s also got these big paws (even though she’s a 7 pound cat) with loooong finger like digits and webbed toes – I thought that was also a Bengal characteristic, but I’m not sure about that.

        BUT, the top part of her is so much more Tabby – while her markings are symmetrical, they are also not very distinguishable. She’s got a few “wannabe’ rosette markings on her, but most of her back is covered in single coloured stripes of some kind. And her meow is the tinniest little squeak peep you’ve ever heard – though she is very demanding for attention. The peeping could be because we adopted her and she is sick and now on antibiotics. But I imagine the meow won’t becoming that of the very vocal Bengal.

        So you really never know…maybe somewhere, somehow, a little Bengal made it’s way into her mix. I try getting a good photograph of her to show it – but it’s impossible to get one that REALLY shows her off – it’s so strange – she’s unbelievably gorgeous in real life, but the photographs just don’t do her justice!!! Truthfully, the last picture you posted of the “Inquisitive Bengal Cat” made my heart skip a beat for a second because that looks JUST LIKE MY MINNAH!!! Only, her side/back area is different. But the face, legs, and chest? Damn near identical!

        Anyway…thank so much for your very brief yet informative posting on the differences between the two breeds!!! I found it very useful! You rock!

          1. Hello Devin! Thanks for your great comments and feedback! I’m pleased you enjoyed our article 😆 Your girl sounds like a real character xx

        1. I have a bona fide Bengal cat who “peeps.” She and our other Bengal came from the same breeder and are related; she never says anything louder than a “peep,” but her cousin is a typical loud Bengal. (We call him “the loudest cat in the world.”)

        2. I am Princess Kiara, and about a year ago I did something that really upset my human parents. I was in heat and every inch of being wanted out of my home. I was going out of my mind. So I waited for the doorbell to ring and I escaped. For two whole days I panicked my parents and angered them terribly. I came home scared, hungry, thirsty and PREGNANT!! I ended up having my biggest litter yet-6 kittens. I should have mentioned my parents are responsible and ethical Bengal Cat breeders. My babies were just like you described your Minnah, who sounds beautiful by the way. So the moral here is there are probably lots more Bengal/Tabby mixes out there roaming the world than you humans think. We cats are very creative when it comes to ways to sneak out the door. Each of my babies from this litter were as precious as all my others from the past and will be as special as all my future kittens as well. Oh, and just to let you know, long webed toes are a Bengsl trait as is keeping the kitten meow. My sister sounds like a itty bitty kitten when she cries and I sound like a huge lion!

  8. Wow, what a wonderful article. Some stuff in there that I knew and loads that I didn’t know!
    Very informative and helpful=D

  9. I loved this! Informative and fun to read. The pictures were gorgeous. Im wondering how common are snowy Bengals like Lula? Also spot, you and Lula are twins..is it common for mama Bengals to only have small litters?

    1. Brown Bengals are the most common colour, Rita, snows are more common than blues, silvers or black (melanistic). The size of the litter will depend on Mother Nature and can vary as it can for any breed, so it’s not a particular trait of a Bengal queen to only have small litters. Our mummy, Pandora’s last litter was of 4 beautiful little ones 😉 xx

      1. Love the explanation on how to toell the differences between Bengals and Tabbys, but having said that, just letting you know, I love ALL cats, big and small. My Gracie as I think you may remember is a Tuxedo and tomorrow, (Friday) we are going to get our second cat, but unsure of what colour or sex to get. We shall find out when we get to the Animal Refuge. Can’t wait to have another cat around the house. Love your Spotty Cat Blog and all your advice is invaluable. Thanks so much <3 xxx

  10. I think Linda’s book idea is great Spotty! Your mum is very articulate, clever and funny and your daddy is a brilliant photographer. Perfect combo for a book! 😀

    1. Thanks very much, Em! There are lots of things we have ideas for… hopefully some of them will come to fruition soon! :mrgreen: xxx

  11. Love the explanation on how to toell the differences between Bengals and Tabbys, but having said that, just letting you know, I love ALL cats, big and small. My Gracie as I think you may remember is a Tuxedo and tomorrow, (Friday) we are going to get our second cat, but unsure of what colour or sex to get. We shall find out when we get to the Animal Refuge. Can’t wait to have another cat around the house. Love your Spotty Cat Blog and all your advice is invaluable. Thanks so much <3 xxx

  12. Very nice article,my understanding of TICA standard says the pattern on a bengal should be symetrical with good flow of pattern. Also there are a lot of inky black spotted lovely bengals out there. That would have been nice to include in your article. Thank you for a good job and for sharing!

    1. Thanks, Eileen! 🙂 We are registered and show with GCCF so I was basing the article more on those standards of points, though I think TICA and GCCF don’t vary widely 🙂 xx

    1. Good question, John! A black melanistic bengal will still have bengal markings (spots or marbling) – but you may only be able to see them in the light. If you can’t see any markings, it’s more likely to be a regular black cat 😉

  13. I am wondering if my cat is a Bengal. He is the most different cat than I’ve ever had (which is quite a few). Most of my cats have just been cats but four of them have been really special cats in regards to intelligence and relationship. Bootsie Boy is the fourth but he is the most different cat than I’ve ever known. He was a stray in the townhouse complex I live in which is how he got his name. He walked up to my and my neighbor and since his back legs are white I just said, Hey Boots, where’d you come from? 3 of my neighbors were feeding him and I was just petting him when I was outside. One day he met me at my car and walked with me to my door and it was obvious he expected to come in with me and that was that. I tried to change his name once he was my cat but he said no. He is very vocal, changing his tone based on my tone (I guess). If I ask a question that I would expect a Yes (like Are you a hungry boy?) he’ll respond with a meow that sounds positive (yes) or just the opposite if I ask a ? where I’d expect a No. He loves to be high. He often gets as high as he can and then will stretch himself up the wall staring at the ceiling with body language that says I want to climb this wall. He jumps and chases his treats, giving us quite the entertainment, we’ve decided that he thinks he’s a basketball player. He’s the only cat that I’ve ever had that I actually had to put him in Time Out because he is causing trouble. He loves to play Jungle Kitty and Stalk. He gets very annoyed with Poke but I think he secretly likes it. I’ve never played these games with any other cat. I mean HE wants to play them and taught them to me (except maybe Poke). He loves to lay on me vertically on the left (heartbeat?). He “makes love” to our shoes, not literally, but rubbing his head in and through my sandles or shoes. He is the most curious cat I’ve ever had and if a cubboard door gets opened he HAS to go in. Twice he got locked in the coat closet when my roommate got out her coat and didn’t notice him. When he walks he lopes like a Big Cat and swaggers a little bit. I thought he was a tabby (black/gray with a brown nose, lighter brown lips, white chin that disappears into my chest area, then the gray then a white tummy with light brown swirled in there. I just checked him to see if he was the same on both sides and it’s hard to tell (he;s not cooperating very well). He does have a ringed tail with the tip completely black. Visually I would never have thought of him as anything but a tabby (I agree, not shabby either), it’s his personality and other traits that have gotten me thinking. I don’t know how old he is because when I took him to the vet his teeth were completely rotting and when tested, was positive for Feline Aids. whih is the only reason why we can keep up with him at all!!!! He is extremely loving and personable. He has to meet anyone who comes over and will jump up to get a loving. He also is the most claw-iest cat I’ve ever had!!! There’s more too. Visually I think he mostly fits the description, it’s really his behavior. What do you think?

    1. Hello Jadean! It sounds like he shares a lot of the purrrsonality traits of a Bengal. He could well have Bengal genes in him based on what you say. I don’t think he’s a full breed if his back legs are white, but he could be a Bengal cross 😎

      1. I would be surprised if he was a full breed since he was a stray who chose me out of four people, 3 who were feeding him and me who was only petting him. He sure does have most of the traits though. I would think that someone who bought a Bengal wouldn’t just treat him/her like a regular kitty and then to become a stray. In fact I had to stop this reply to chase him around (to entertain him) because he’s needing to get in “trouble”!

  14. Hi Spot!
    Mama was told I am “probably” a Bengal mix, but she wonders. I have the large bones and sturdy, athletic build, and the marvelous silk pelt texture to my fur. My fur glitters but is not ticked (my sister is a ticked tabby) I have the “catitude” and a wild streak. Bark, howl, chatter, and cry, but never meow. But I have a cute little white slippers and a white bib. My tummy looks like a dark chocolate Milky Way when you bite into it. White surrounded by golden brown, ringed in black. Is it fair for mama to keep calling me Bengal mix or should she just say I’m an unknown hybrid? I’m cool, whatever, and very intelligent. I stare in mama’s eyes when I sit on her knee but ate to be cuddled. And I tuck her in at night. Best of all, I can talk! I have about 20 human words in 2 languages.

    1. Hello Karamel! You certainly sound like you have a lot of Bengal genes in you 🙂 I would say your mama is OK to keep calling you a Bengal mix 🙂 xx

  15. Thank you!
    My vet is 100% sure that my Schrodinger is part bengal, she has a good deal of experience with them.
    He is 9 months old and as big as our 15# maine coon mix! But weighs a slight 7.5#.
    He has all the attributes you describe, legs, facial features, fur softer than silk! Fussy about that box, and man does he talk! We thought his tail being 13″ long was unusual, but it begins to make more sense when if you look at how big bengals can get. He has been slightly cross-eyed since birth and is most likely part -mese of some kind. I have never had a kitten with more energy or personality! He loves water and dogs more than anything else there is. He is prone to curtain climbing and long cuddle sessions. As he grows his patterning becomes more prominent and his fur colour changes more gold-ish.
    Our other cats are a marbled maine coon mix, and a b & w lady. We raised both from kittens and never did we have to work as hard to entertain or feed right that very second with them.
    Being part Bengal definitely explains so many many things!
    Thank you for your well laid out easy to understand explanation of the differences.

    -Angela & Schrodinger

  16. Hi again spot I had been wondering about cheetahs markings etc i know he is pedigree but haven’t sent in the papers or blue sheet. He is not talkative and doesn’t really like water but he is hyperactive a nd cunning. And if we play he has to come back and have the last lunge at me. He uses his teeth a lot but he left mummy so early he doesn’t know better yet he is a brown Bengal but seems to be getting a fine almost fleck of colour at the edges of his fir my eyesight is not good but it actually looks pale coloured to me. Thanks to your mummy for all her advise when I was hand rearing him and loves to you a Lula. Cheetahs mummy

  17. Hi There. I’m pretty sure that my cat is a Bengal mix. She has glittery fur, a strong personality, a marbled pattern, really soft fur, and the face of a Bengal. Everyone says that she is really unique. The only thing that is different about her is that she has tufted ears too. I don’t know what she is mixed with because we got her at a humane society but she is really something special. I love my Sophia. Cats have a way of touching your heart in a way you never forget. Love your article. 🙂

  18. I’m wondering about size and bone structure, large thick tail….We got our cat “Suki” a few months ago from a add on Craigslist (free). She is aprox 3 years old, no papers but we are told that she was used as a breader then spaid and now we are her 4TH owners. She has sensery issues, she can’t stand to be picked up, she is terrified of hands, she just shivers and pees all over when you have to pick her up. We only get to pet her tail and I sometimes get to stroke her tummy while she stands by me, she purrs so loud the windows shake. Back to my question…Suki is SMALL she only weighs 8lb. she eats great but she is thin and her tail is long but not what I would call thick. She fits All the other discription markings. The Vet says she is healthy. I’m wondering if anyone has heard that breaders are trying to produce a smaller Bangle or is she just a runt (why would they bread a runt). How much should a female Bangle weigh? Suki has begun to climb in bed with us… and the dog… and the 2 other cats at night. I’m SO happy to report that she is HAPPY in her new home and we are working on her trust issues.

    1. A female bengal on average weighs between 8 and 12 pounds, so she is on the small side but not unusually so. Just like with humans, you will get variations in size and weights between individuals. I’m pleased she’s making progress with you and hope things carry on getting better and better <3 xx

  19. Hi

    I have been offered a “Bengal” But with no papers, I have a couple of photos but I am struggling to tell if its a real Bengal.
    Collection is a 6 hour round trip so can anyone help me?

    Many thanks

    1. We would only recommend that you buy a Bengal from a reputable, registered breeder who will always give you the papers. Are you adopting this cat or buying them? If the former then great, if the latter then I would advise you to not contribute to back yard breeders and find a reputable one instead, you can find one in your area by looking at the TICA website.

  20. I’ve got the same issue as Daniel! I’ve been looking for a bengal kitten for awhile now, and finally found 2 little boys that I think are so adorable in their pictures! Wanting to make sure that I’m not paying an extreme amount of money for a regular house cat, I’m attempting to figure out if they are tabby or bengal but I’m lost! If anyone could possibly help, I can email a couple pictures?

    Thanks so much!!
    Tina

    1. Feel free to email us photos, Tina, you can use the “contact us” tab. 😎 But as with Daniel, I would never recommend that you buy from a non-registered breeder. A registered breeder may cost a little more, but you know they have conducted proper health screening and will have socialised their kittens. It often costs more in the long run buying from a back yard breeder because of extra vet bills due to ill health. If you are getting them from a registered breeder, they will always give you the papers.

  21. it takes more than a picture. My Bootsie Boy looks like a tabby, but his behavior if very different than any cat I’ve ever had. So I started looking into it. Turns out he’s a bengal mix, but I would never have known by looking at him (without learning what to look for). I doubt I would be able to see it by a pic.

    1. That’s true, Jadean, That’s why we wrote this article as it is very difficult to tell from a pic or two, particularly if we’re talking about Bengal crosses.

    1. OK. You will need to keep her separated for a while and do introductions gradually. If you email us a photo, we might be able to tell if she looks like a Bengal or not, you can use the “contact us” tab and we’ll let you have the email address 🙂

  22. thanks, I found out that my cat is a bengal mix through your website. You are very helpful. Without close inspection, one would never say my cat is a Bengal. Not until they lived with him anyway!

  23. HI i recently got a kitten we were told he was a bengal cross but he has every marking of a marble bengal

  24. HI i recently got a kitten we were told he was a bengal cross but he has every marking of a marble benga would i be able to send a pic

      1. I have a question. I tried googling this but have found no information. I have a Bengal boy who just turned 1. I thought I had read that bengals chirp and chatter, but mine doesn’t. He just whines more like a kitten. Not really a meow, or a howl but more like a kitten whine. He is fairly good and it isn’t constant (thankfully lol). Will he ever chirp or chatter?

        1. Hello Kerry! Although there are traits that are common to the breed, chattiness being one of those, it doesn’t mean that every Bengal will adhere to those traits! Each cat is an individual, just as hoomins are 😉 So your boy may become more chatty as he matures, though he may not too! Either way, it’s all good! 🙂 xx

  25. We got our kitten as advertised as a bengal cat and she shows every sign of a bengal, the vet nurse straight away said she was a tabby but I’ve alot of research and it points to my kitten “khloe” being a bengal.

    Things she does:
    Plays in the bath with water and always drinks from the tap, she cleans her paws with the water and sometimes just sticks her head under the tap and likes to get soaked lol.

    She has climbed a tree which is a height of a at least a 3 to 4 story home and when in the house she always stays up really high.

    She is very active and very particular about her litter box, before she gets out she makes sure her paws are really clean.

    She has silk coat

    Her face is not as big as a tabbys maybe when scrunched but when she walks its sticks out

    She makes lots of different noises

    She has big paws

    Does look like her back legs are larger in size to her front

    Her markings are lines but couple to slightly circle

    Black tip of the tale.

    Please can you help me find out if she is a bengal

    1. Hello Samuel. Did you buy your girl from a registered breeder? That is the safest way to ensure you are getting a true Bengal as they will be able to provide you with pedigree papers to prove it. But if not, please send us a photo via email and we will have a look for you 🙂

    2. Hi Samuel. I’ve lived with a very pure bred bengal for 14 years. Yours definitely sounds like one. Every other cat basically loathes water. Bengals are obsessed with it….they also communicate constantly & super loyal to their person. More like a dog than a cat…

  26. I believe our kitty is a mix. Yes, Willow is vocal and fussy about her litter box, food and water. She lets me know when she wants attention. Her fur is silky smooth. She doesn’t have the marbling on her back but she does have the spotted belly and ringed tail, longer back tails, very long and athletic. She’s beautiful with tons of personality. We love her dearly!

  27. hi I was just got two kittens and was wondering if they are bengals? they are about 8-9 weeks, extremely hyper, and have awesome personalities. they do have the spotted bellies but I heard tabby cats can have this too. I would love to post pics of them but im not sure how??

  28. I don’t agree with your statement saying bengal cats won’t ever have ticking in their coats. Most breeders try to breed the ticking out and usually won’t sell their ticked kittens. However ticking is a trait found in most wild and feral cats. Ticking can occure and can’t justify your bengal as being a common domestic “tabby”.

    1. Thanks for your thoughts, but you have completely mis-quoted what I said. I didn’t say that Bengals “won’t ever” have ticking, I said they “shouldn’t” have ticking – quite a big difference! 😯 And I haven’t said anywhere at all that if your Bengal does have ticking, this means they are a “common domestic tabby” ?? I’m all for constructive criticism – but I would rather it’s based on thing I have said, not based on things I haven’t!

  29. Hi, Thanks for a very informative post. My cat, Richard Parker arrived on our doorstep. We tried to find his owners and put up posters, but nobody claimed him. This was two years ago and he’s given us so much pleasure. I always thought he was an exceptionally beautiful tabby until I met someone at a party, who keeps bengals and showed him a photo of Richard P. He told me he was sure I had a Bengal. Richard is a beautiful silver colour with dark spots and stripes. His fur is also silky soft, so it’s impossible not ot cuddle him. It is his behaviour that is most striking though. He has very different vocalisations to my two domestics, his greeting and show of affection is not a nose touch, but a nose lick. His tongue is exceptionally rough – much more so than my domestics – so, while I grin and bear it, I cringe inwardly when Richard sandpapers the tip of my nose. Oh, then there is the water thing. He loves water and has no problem getting soaking wet. He’s also much more agile and acrobatic than my other two – does aerobic somersaults. He also does scary ninja stuff when a strange cat tries to come into our home. He’s very affectionate but I always warn people to back off when the tail starts lashing because if angry, he doesn’t scratch, he leaves deep cuts. He very rarely becomes angry though, he is the most affectionate, sweetest boy ever. His markings are assymetrical, but not very much so. On his one side he has more spots than on the other, which is more stripey than spotty. Having written all of this, I think he does sound like a bengal. Would you agree?

    1. He certainly sounds like he is, Marianne, from the description you have given 🙂 He sounds like a real character 🙂

  30. Thanks for the info. Its all the things I knew mainly, except for the asymetrical trait. Which mine has. The one thing you left out is the flash down the back on some. Mine has what I call her confimation cross. She has the flash and then acrossways near the shoulders is another cross stripe. I have noticed this on many Bengals. Although My Pashie is a cross breed apparently with Russian Blue. She is quite small for a Bengal but walks like a large Tiger. She is very vocal and almost talks to me. She loves climbing, so much so that as a young kitten not having developed her muscular strength she fell and broke her leg. After surgery with metal plates you would never guess to see her now. She is a great little hunter and caught her 1st mouse at 8wks old the 1st week we had her. Since then all sorts have been brought in to me. insect world stands no chance. Anything that moves she catches, I do sometimes manage to rescue them. Birds, mice. frogs, all insects. .She had a sister who was much larger and muscular from the same litter. Her markings were more precise then so I think now she would have displayed a better coat than Pashie who has more white. She got run over as she had a fascination on going into the road. We were all greatly upset and Pashie greived for her for some time . She was spoiled a lot to help her.. She loves a cuddle and is boss of the house. I have had many cats including tortoishell, tabby and ginger toms, but none quite like her, she to me is a one off ,who I love to bits.. I still feel upset when I think of the wasted life because a car driver did not stop at the road end as should have, where we live. He/her MUST have been speeding.. Im just glad that Pashie is a garden girl and afraid of traffic noise.

    1. Thanks for your thoughts, Iris. We’re so sorry about the loss of Pashie’s sister, it must have been a very tough time for all of you 😥 It sounds like Pashie has wonderful fun in her garden and she sounds like a real character, as many Bengals are <3

  31. This was very helpful in understanding and loving my tabby, and makes me want to plan for a Bengal eventually. I currently share my house with a Somali and a ginger tabby, both females, and we don’t plan on adding to our family until both pass after a glorious life. They are 4 and 5 respectively, so I have a few years to research. I also admire the Main Coon, so I was wondering how the 2 breeds get along – Bengal and Main Coon? My husband and I are thinking they will be my next companions, in about 10 years. We will likely acquire them simultaneously form different breeders, so that they grow up together from kittenhood.
    Thanks for the great information.

    1. Hello Loraine! Thanks for your feedback and lovely comments. We adore Maine Coons too, we have heard that they make excellent companions for bengal cats 😆

  32. Hello! Love this page! Ive been wondering if my cat is half Bengal and i was just wondering if Bengal cats hiss she has never hissed but she seems to chirp in place of hissing ? And she is very loud when she meows sounds nothing like my other cat.

    1. Bengal cats can hiss, the amount they hiss will vary by cat 🙂 Lula and I hardly ever hiss because we’re generally very happy cats! :mrgreen: xx

  33. I hiss really well. Mostly to backsass my human. I never ever meow, and when I’m really mad I howl in dog (my cat howl is different)

  34. My husband and I are the parents of two wonderful tabbies, Anthony and Vito Salvatore. I am fascinated by your FB site and want to thank you for creating such an informative portion regarding the “definition” of a Bengal vs. tabby. Also kudos to reminding people to use only responsible breeders. To date, I have only adopted kittens/cats from shelters but I can understand someone wanting a specific breed. Thanks again for all you do BCW.. Love all the pictures!

  35. Not true all bengals are asymmetrical, my bengal have a symmetrical pattern. This is part of why he was a bit more expensive, because he was known to be perfect. I am sure he’s not the only one this way and I am sure I have a true Bengal (registered TICA). Other than that great article.

    1. Thanks for your comments, Seb! My article was written around the GCCF standard of points which can sometimes be a bit different to TICA 🙂

      1. Here are the exact words from the GCCF Standard of Points document: “There should be a distinct pattern with swirled patches or streaks, clearly defined but not symmetrical, giving the impression of marble, preferably with a horizontal flow.”

  36. Really enjoyed reading your tribute to Bengal cats especially!! I have one male spotted and striped bengal who is 6 months old and already 6llbs!!! My one looks very similar to Uncle Boo Boo!! Think he’s going to be a big boy! His dad definitely was! He is a rascal but such a wonderful bundle of joy at the same time!! 😆 Only thing I will say is, it would be good to mention about how big bengals can grow, especially the males! In comparison to non-breeder cats they are somewhat larger!!! Anyways, great for you to take the time and share such wonderful facts! xx :mrgreen:

    1. Hello Chelle! Thanks for your lovely comments! I mention the size of the breed on my Bengal Cat Facts page 🙂 This article was written to inform people of the differences between Bengals and tabbies 😎 :mrgreen: xxx

  37. I just want to add how exceptionally clever they are!! My boy is kinda like a dog trapped in a cat’s body!! He loves his tinsel ball and red sponge ball – me and my partner play fetch with him and he not only brings it back to us every time but he has recently learnt to catch the ball in the air when we throw it!! 😆 He does other crazy tricks too! Is this the same as urs?! x

  38. Hi my mom adopted me in july from her local shelter and was told I am a dsh tabby. But she just stumbled across your site and is now wondering if I’m a bengal mix. I have very soft silky fur that has no ticking, I’m very verbal when I want something but do not chirp or bark, I’m very active and love to beat up my doggie brother. I love attention and being with my hoomans but do not like to be picked up. Also I like to wake mom up early by purring in her face and putting my nose on her eyes. Also I have a ringed tail with a soild tip the flash down my back and the odest marbling on my sides wich includes stripes and spots and appears to be asymmetrical. I hsve prominent whisker pads and a light chin . And seem rather large to be 8 months old. What do you think bengal mix?

  39. I am still kind of confused :/ I have been trying to figure out if my cat is mixed with bengal I definitely know he isnt full bengal but he does have some of the traits you mentioned but he only meows once in a blue moon and he kinda looks like the oriental spotted tabby as well only thing is he has white on all his paws and some white in the middle of his tummy. Maybe you can email me and i can send you a few pictures of him… his fur is super soft still and he is huge with a long body for his age which is about 6 or 7 months old

    1. Do you mean breed with a normal tabby, Lindsey? If so, then yes 🙂 It becomes more difficult to tell whether or not a cat has Bengal in them when they are a cross/mixed kitty <3 xx

    1. Hello Sheba! You are gorgeous! 😆 I think there is a strong possibility you have marbled Bengal genes :mrgreen: xxx

      1. Thank you. My Mommy said he is pleased I may be a Bengal. Thank you ever so much for getting back to me. I was only 3 months old in that picture of me munching on a chicken neck. Mommy now cooks them for me because I am fussy. I like to hang on our screen door!
        https://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i198/MasterSofTrancE/doorcat_zps5f0f1749.jpg

        (Thanks for such a quick response! Sheba walks on a leash, fetches her toys and even comes to me on command. She’s just turned 6 months old)

  40. My kitten looks like a Bengal she tends to talk to me when she wants food or the litter tray and when she purrs she sounds like she’s blowing bubbles, I got her for forty pounds she was only five weeks old! She is now 11 weeks old and very active her coat is grey black and gold.

  41. My kitten looks like a Bengal she tends to talk to me when she wants food or the litter tray and when she purrs she sounds like she’s blowing bubbles, I got her for forty pounds she was only five weeks old! She is now 11 weeks old and very active her coat is grey black and gold. Thank you for your info I enjoyed the read.

  42. Thank you soo much for posting this. You have helped me narrow down what type of cat I might have , however I’m still not sure.I was hoping you might be able to help me out. I suspect that our cat Sam is a bangle or something crossed with a bangle. Ever since we picked him up on the side of the road one night , we knew there was something different about him. I asked our local vet if he was a hybrid cat , she wrote him off just a male tabby cat. At 1 year old he was almost as long as a yard stick , and weighed in at 13 lbs. This is the biggest cat I have ever had the pleasure of taking care of. He fits most of what you have said above. He has more of a chirp then a meow . His fur feels like you are petting a rabbit. His back end is a little higher then his front when he walks. He has the classic M on the face , and strangely a V shape between his ears. He is not much of a talker unless he wants outside to eat grass or stalk birds and explore. When he wants my attention most of the time it’s a slap on the butt , or leg , sometime even my back if I’m sitting down.He is a very loving and sociable cat . If he isn’t sleeping then he is following me from room to room or laying at my feet. He can be destructive when he get bored. I find him often trying to pull the carpet up on the floor , or rip into it. You can check out photos of him here https://s853.photobucket.com/user/Prepper_Em/library/

    1. Hello Emily! Thank you for your kind words and for looking after Sam so well <3 <3 I have had a look at your pics and read your comments, I don't think he is a pure-bred Bengal, but he could be a Bengal-mix! 🙂 xx

  43. I adopted a kitten and the paper work said tabby but the older he gets I notice things. Really big ears, eyes, nose and huge paws. He has spots on his tummy and all on his side’s, his legs have very dark strips, like a Bengal but the spots are small like the oriental spotted tabby u have posted. He also loves to play in water and does this weird noise thing w his mouth when he sees a flying bug or a bird. Kinda like he’s really cold. Can I email u cpl of pics and maybe u can help me? Thank you in advance.

  44. My cat has most of the Bengal traits, however, she is not loud all the time. She was only very talkative when I first brought her home and when my Mom brought her cat over to visit.

  45. I have a question about what to feed my cat. I think she is at least part Bengal, farts terribly, not really a solid poo, and is gaining weight. She has been spade, but her weight gain concerns me. Currently she is eating Friskies Griller dried food and I used to feed her canned Friskies Griller too. She also eats table meat, like beef, chicken, turkey or whatever we are eating. She doesn’t like tuna at all. Any suggestions on what I should feed her. I can send a picture via email if you would like to see what she looks like.

    Thanks for your help,
    Diane

    1. Hello Diane! First of all, I would advise you to cut out the table meat and feed only Kitty meals, a mixed wet and dry diet is best in our view <3 Try her on a grain free diet as some Bengals have an intolerance to grains. But any changes must be made gradually, sudden changes will cause upset stomachs and / or even smellier poo!

  46. enjoyed your article very much.. have been toying with the idea to get Bengal and now know something about them. thanks. i have had siamese in the past. what i like to know is are they careful with displays around the house when they are climbing around and do they always only use a dirt box and not the garden like other cats.
    thanks Alan

    1. Hello Alan! We’re so pleased you’re considering getting a Bengal. In answer to your first question, Bengals are not in general careful – many Bengal owners don’t have breakable things on windowsills etc. Or you could try using Blu Tack. In answer to your second question – Bengals will go to the loo outside if you allow them to go out. There are pros and cons to letting them out which I wrote about in an article in our Advice Centre section 😎

  47. Spot you were right on! I changed Daisy’s food to Nature’s Choice Chicken (dry food) and Nature’s Choice Chicken (canned food) and it seems to be working. No more drippy poos, much less farts, and she is starting to slim down. Thank You!

  48. Hi.First I would like to say I love this site it’s Magic!!…..I have two male 7 month old Bengal cats(Iggy & Pop.)Exactly the same as the brownish “inquisitive Bengal” cat you have pictured here on this site,but I have seen pictures of Egyptian Mau cats of similar colour,and now I’m not sure what kind of cat I have

  49. I just bought what I think is a cross bengal, she has a lot of the characteristics you described, she loves the bathroom sink when water is running and has now ventured into the bathtub. Could I send a photo for you to see her maybe you could see if she is?

  50. My bangal is solid muscle he has a very loud meow or other sounds he makes and u defo kno if u have one in the house he is so vocal … He’s soft to touch and a climber … He’s a very gental boy loves attention.. To b honest he loves his voice so much it’s like having a baby in the house..

  51. Hi.First,I’d like to say what a Magic site this is…….We have two 7 month old male Bengal cats.(Iggy and Pop.) They both look exactly the same as your photo of the inquisitive bengal you have on this site,but I have noticed that some Egyptian Mau cats look very similar,so now we are wondering if they are mau’s. Could you please give us some info into very distinguishing differences between the two.

    1. Hello Brian. If your cats have rosettes rather than spots, they are definitely Bengals rather than Maus as rosetting is unique to the Bengal. But not all Bengals are rosetted, so other things to look out for: The spotting on Mau tends to be more uniform and the spots are smaller. Bengal spots are randomly distributed and vary in size and shape much more. There are also differences in head shape. Bengals tend to get on well with other cats and dogs, whereas Mau prefer to be the only cat. Bengals are usually bigger than Mau too.

  52. Im still not sure if my cat has part bengal in it could i send you a pic could you please email me thanks amie

  53. I have 2 Bengal cross cats Ruby 1 year and Alfie 5 months – both mothers are pedigree Bengal and both fathers are international men of mystery. I opted for this combination to try to stop me worrying about a pedigree cat being stolen. Ruby had defined rosettes as a small kitten but when she got her adult fur it is the strangest colour and markings I have ever seen with lovely aquamarine eyes, she is quite solidly built. Looks nothing like a Bengal now but is stunningly beautiful. Alfie has very dark marbling and has gorgeous tiny spots on his lower legs. Although I think Bengals are beautiful I was mainly attracted by their personality traits. I have 3 other ‘moggies’ (ginger, black and black and white). Our 2 semi-Bengals have totally different personalities to the other 3. They are constantly chatting to each other and walk round the garden chirruping away. They do climb big trees and love a stroll along rooftops which terrifies my husband and I. And they adore water – Ruby even had her own personal paddling with toys last summer

    1. You have a lot in common with us, Kimberly! Three moggies and two Bengals 🙂 We agree that the Bengals certainly are a unique breed 🙂 Thanks for sharing your experiences 🙂

  54. I looked through the article and some of the other posts and I think my guy Jackson is Bengal and possibly Tabby mixed. He does have that extremely soft, silky fur and asymmetrical spots, but not rosettes. His fur also has a twinkle, as I call it, and yes, it is hard to capture in pictures. My reasoning for thinking Tabby is his other part is the line where you mentioned ticking. If I understood this right, then I could see this if, for example I ran my hand in the opposite direction of his fur, the strands would look (in his case) lighter at the “base” and gradually become darker toward the tip of the strand. Did I understand that right? That’s what he has. He has long back legs and the black tipped tail but his face is a bit narrower than the picture of your Bengal in the jawline area. Would you think Tabby as his other half? I could send pictures to show you.

    1. Hello Marisa! In terms of strict breed standards, it’s desirable for Bengals to have rosettes, but not all do. Similarly, it’s not desirable for them to have ticking, but some do! So those two things don’t automatically mean that your kitty isn’t a Bengal 🙂 But feel free to email us a pic at bengalcatworld @ iCloud.com (no spaces) and we’ll be happy to take a look 🙂 xx

  55. I have a cat that is mostly Bengal. His mom was purebred and papered, his dad half Bengal and half DSH. I named him Willis for his chattering and back talking. He’s quite the saucy little devil and my mom is scared of him. He takes a lot after Bengal in him but I’m wondering if his mom was an f1 or f2 generation because he is quite temperamental and aggressive sometimes. He attacks pretty much anything deemed as prey (including small dogs and he did take down my 90lbs GSDx once when she ticked him off) and he also does the whole prey stalk when he gets ticked off. I did socialize him but after he turned six months his attitude soured. He’s very picky about who he likes and if he doesn’t like someone he growls and swats. He will growl even if the person he does not like is in the same room. He’s very sweet to me and my boyfriend and indifferent our baby and he took a little rescue kitten under his wing even though she suckled him but other than that he’s iffy. When my mom was baby sitting him she had to put a bucket over him because he would not let her leave the room. I joke and say he’s 12 lbs of terror. He definitely back talks other people. If you’ve seen that picture of the cat with the caption “you’re not my mom!” That’s definitely how he thinks! Anyways, he’s a very interesting color, it’s not one that I have seen a lot of and I’m assuming it’s from the DSH in him. It’s like a silver grey but then also brown. He has lovely rosettes, nicer than some completely full Bengals. I’m curious about his teeth however. They are more than twice the size of our Siamese x Ragdoll! Is that because of the Bengal in him or is he just a freak? And is his aggression normal of the breed as well?

    1. Hello Jenna! Thanks for your words. There are very few breeders who breed from early generation Bengals and those that do are very careful about who they let their queens mate with. So it would be unlikely that your boy comes from an EG mother and a mixed father. In terms of the aggression, is he neutered? Bengals’ teeth are not particularly large, though 12 lbs is a large cat so his teeth should be proportionately quite big 🙂 As long as Bengals are well socialised and neutered, they are usually no more aggressive than any other cat, though as with any other breed, there are always exceptions to the rule, and some cats are naturally a little more aggressive than others.

  56. Hi, thanks for the reply! Yes he is neutered, I had it done when he was 5 months old. Maybe he is just more on the predatory side aha. He does have a large head but, the other cat in the house is the same size as he is but they still have quite a difference in tooth size! Willis wasn’t from a registered breeder though he was just a ‘kittens to good home’ cat with a nominal fee to make sure he’d be taken care of. He does have issues with his back legs at an early age so he is on a strict feeding schedule to maintain weight because when he is on the pudgy side he can’t jump and balance very well. I suppose if his legs are bothersome that might contribute to his behavior as well.

    1. You should wherever possible buy from a registered and reputable breeder because they will ensure that their kittens are healthy and well-socialised from an early age. 🙂 His aggression may be because he wasn’t, though he should get better with time if you give him lots of love and attention 🙂

      1. He is very sweet and loving to me and my boyfriend! He was 8 weeks old when I adopted him (I will go with adopted because the kittens were going for $50 and I don’t support byb) and he will be 2 years old in April 🙂 I think he just knows what he likes and doesn’t as he seems quite self aware for a cat. Thanks for your help Spot 🙂

  57. I sent a message under the contact me page. Please let me know if it went through. Would love to know if my kitten is partly bangel. Thank you.

    1. Hello Roberta! I’m sorry we’ve not checked our messages for a little while 🙂 We’ll have a look now 🙂

      1. Thank you and I sent a reply. Hope you can help me figure out if my kitty has any bengal in her.. She sure is into everything and acts like a dog lol. If shes not then she is just an active hyper kitty and will be loved no matter what kind she is!

  58. I’m still extreamly confused about my cat. 🙁 He looks like a tabby but acts like a bengal…. And yes i am extreamly farmiliar with bengals. I have a friend who has one.

    1. Unfortunately, if you don’t know his full parentage, Dannielle, it may be that you never know for sure 🙂 But the main thing of course is that you love him 🙂

  59. Hi Spot.How are you.Good I hope. I wrote to you earlier about our two bengals Iggy & Pop and I thank you for the very helpful information.But now a few friends have seen them I am even more confused.Living in Scotland,as you probably already know we have here the Scottish wild cat,and people think our bengals look like the Scottish Wildcat as they sometimes breed with feral cats.The experts reckon the wild cats could be going extinct as there are only around 400 pure bred wild cats in Scotland.So I have been looking on the wild cat website http://www.scottishwildcats.co.uk and now I am really confused.The website shows the real wild cat has a much more rounder muscular serious looking face,compared to our two bengals. I think they might be hybrid.My daughter bought the two bengal kittens(6 month old.)From a seriously ill woman living on her own struggling to cope with them.My daughter was told they were Bengals and gave no proof ,only a breeders business card Where she got them from.The breeders card had Bengals-Savannahs on it….If you have some spare time Spot when not sleeping,climbing the curtains or sneaking up on slippers,I would appreciate it very much if you could please have a look at this website. http://www.scottishwildcats.co.uk (Sorry it may be .com)

    1. Hello Brian! We’re very well thanks, and hope you are too 🙂

      Yes, we are aware of the Scottish Wildcat, they are becoming endangered precisely because they are breeding with domestic cats and their gene pool is dwindling out, I hope they can be saved!

      So it would be quite possible for your two to be part Scottish Wildcat, certainly not beyond the realms of possibilities. I’m not sure if there is some sort of genetic test that would be able to let you know for certain, though I would expect that even if there was, it would probably cost a few pennies 😉 I suppose it depends on how important it is for you to know as to whether or not you’d want to spend money on finding out 🙂 Good luck, whatever you decide!

  60. Hello, I found this kitten (Max) in my friends yard this past November . I knew from the first week we got him he was diffrent, he is unlike any cat I have ever had. He is dog like, very intelligent , watches everything you do and even lays like a dog with his back legs strait out. He is very playful but doesn’t like to be held or snuggle. I think he might be a Bengal mix. He is grey/white with slight mixed in marble markings not the same on both sides, on one side looks like a c and he has a white line across his back like a basket handle with what I call racing stripes down his back side to his tail, stripes on his legs and face/ chin slight ringed tail solid at the tip but tail is short and stands angled towards his head a bit, and has a grey spotted belly which is lighter. He has big feet and short front legs. I’ve been doing some research online to find out what he is. He also has a stocky body and a flap of skin hanging from his belly. He is about 4 1/2 months from what I figure and is about 7 lbs. he also pounces like a tiger, sometimes on my face in the morning.. He is very dominate over my older tabby, he grabs her and bear hugs her with all his weight. I have many beautiful pictures of him if you would like to see. He is a georgous cat and I would just love to know what he might be. I have researched several diffrent types of cats and his personality most matches the Bengal . I would appreciate your knowledge. 🙂 thank you.

    1. Hello Haley! It certainly sounds like he could be a bengal mix! 🙂 You can send pics if you like to bengalcatworld @ iCloud.com (no spaces – we’ve put them in to deter spam robots 🙂 ) xx

  61. i have a kitten,well shes about 5 months old now which is totally different marking then my tabby, she has very dary tabby stripes on her but spots that line her back. her speach is very different then my tabby. beginning to think she might have bengal in her. please help me try to figure this out. thank you

    1. Hello Sue! It’s very difficult for me to tell from just a few words. Perhaps if you sent me a pic that might help – please email it to bengalcatworld @ iCloud.com (don’t put the spaces – all one word). I’ll have a look and let you know! 🙂

  62. Hi! This article from a Bengal breeder is a huge help for all of us around the globe that aren’t breeders but just have cats. I’ve learned one of my cats, a 4 year old neutered male, is of Bengal descent, but with some notable differences. Ticked fur, bulls eye on each side, symetrical patterning. Other than than those two points, you’d think him a Brown Marble Bengal.
    The really important thing to me though, is that he chose to be with me, and I accepted him. I kept a newborn from a truckbed birth and let a yardcats 13 week old kitten in a couple weeks ago. Two trips to a vet and she is happily part of my little family now. Tattoo, the part-Bengal, is a wonderful companion, and a kindly fellow to the young ones. And he is all about personality!
    Thanks Spot for the useful site and info!

  63. We are so lucky to have adopted Keeva . He is a pedigreed Bengal ( with papers), born in UK and brought to Chennai, India, by a German lady . Once here , she found she could not look after this beautiful creature ,and he was given to someone else. By a stroke of luck , he is now ours . We have caged our whole house in , so he is free to roam about inside with his friend Simi , a local Indian cat . Would love to send in pictures and news about him

    1. Hello Akhila! He sounds beautiful! 🙂 Feel free to share pics – you can either share them on our Facebook page or email them to bengalcatworld @ iCloud.com (no spaces). We look forward to seeing them! 🙂

  64. We rehomed a young female Bengal 4 months ago, and I’m wondering if its typical Bengal behaviour for her not to purr, or rarley show affection. She will lay with me by my feet. But I honestly feel like she doesn’t love me like my other cat. I wonder if she resents me for not allowing her out yet, because she hasn’t yet had her jabs. Or maybe she’s just a typical Bengal. She loves playing with my small dog and my teenage daughter. I look at her sometimes and think she doesn’t look happy!

    1. Hello Celia! Like humans, all cats are different with their own personalities. We’ve heard of Bengals who are not particularly affectionate, those who are extremely affectionate, and everything in between! A lot will depend on how she was socialised as a kitten, her history before she came to you may be a clue as to why she behaves like this now <3 xx

      1. My wife and I are interested in a Bengal. Our main concern is the effect it would have on an adult “runt” tabby cat we picked up at the animal shelter a year ago. Myna was found walking out in the county walking near the highway, She was shy and skinny as a rail, with all of her ribs showing, and we felt emotionally “obligated” to take her with us. Of course, we indulged her to the point that now she’s “fat” but quite mobile. Unlike my previous 2 cats, which I got as kittens and which were as friendly and loyal as puppies, Myna likes to keep to herself, sleep in her own room, and avoid any sort of cuddling. It’s only when she’s hungry that she suddenly becomes “social,” meowing loudly enough to wake us up and, if necessary, licking our faces until we’re fully at her service. Recently, she’s spent as much as an hour at the foot of our bed, and she loves to play with “Da Bird Catcher” toy. So my question is: would such a cat get along with a Bengal? Is there a strong possibility that a Bengal’s fierce self-confidence would cause her to lose some of the social progress that she appears to be showing?

        My 2nd question is, simply, can Bengal kittens become “people cats,” or even “bed cats”? (My previous cat slept on my pillow, on top of my head, every night–a great “stress reliever” for me.) Or are Bengals so wild and self-assured that they limit their human interaction to playing and feeding, resisting cuddling and preferring to be admired “from a distance”? (Will a Bengal curl up beside its guardian, accept petting, and do they purr? All of my previous cats would do so, and I must admit that I miss the contented sound of a purring cat.)

        1. (I’m not sure how the reply works. I didn’t mean to repeat my original post, so I’ve just deleted it.) I have a similar question about Bengals. They’re beautiful cats to look at and admire, but in the end what I liked most about my previous two cats was their affectionate, loyal, dog-like personalities. They bonded with me, slept on my pillow, and even followed me around the block without a leash. If one got out of the house and climbed a tree (once,it was a neighbor’s roof) and couldn’t get down, she would cry for me for help. When I got my hand within reach, I called for her to come, and she did, even allowing me to grab her at the top of the neck and bring her home. (She was less interested in going outside after that experience unless it was with me.) Because of their inherent wild traits, independence, and self-confidence, Bengals strike me as cats that prefer to be admired from a distance. Do they purr? (Even if its not in response to your feeding them?)

  65. Hi.My female cat is 2 years old, beautiful cat but has a completely different personality to any other tabby I have had.
    Silky soft coat
    Golden eyes, looks like she has eye liner on. small head
    Muscular body, longer back legs like a cheetah.
    Hates being picked up, only likes to be stroked first thing in morning for about 15 mins and when we get home from work.
    Very attached to my husband and if he is the house follows and meows if she can’t see him very loudly
    Won’t use the litter tray unless clean.
    Her markings look symmetric has spotted tummy.
    Her tail is ringed with black tip.
    Very wary of people she doesn’t know, only myself and my husband are allowed to stroke her, and when she has had enough lets you know!
    Can I post you a photo please

    Loves water.
    Only uses the litter tray if clean.

  66. lets see that can I say about Titto. Well first of all I found her as a kitten lost she was just skinny butt that’s it . I put her in a towel and took her home and thought this is is an interesting cat. looks kind of like a tabby but just has this unique personality. really playful and mischievous even sometimes. she will get another cat while they are using the cat box. She a prankster. If I turn on the bathtub water she has to get wet. she will stand directly under the water spray on her amazing fur is soaking wet and then she’ll get out and clean her fur it like some wild way of getting a drink lol. she is extremely territorial and if she doesn’t know you she takes off hiding. not about to come out .. she gives lots of love bites and makes sure her bowl is never empty. she runs to the bowl meowing every time I go in the kitchen and looks at her bowl even if its half full.She like to get underneath blankets or the rug in the kitchen .. looks so funny just her eyes and nose peeping out. she has a white chin she is gray like a tabby with white whiskers. she doesn’t have spots all over her but her fur is strange swirls but not very defined . she is just the most interesting and best cat I ever had.

  67. I was given a bangle but what ur site has to say I may not have one. But no. Matter I love her any way.she can be a little bossy at times but a lot of company other times I wouldnt give her up for nothing thanks for your info.

    1. You’re very welcome! People often mistake their kitties for a Bengal, they think that just because they have spots or marbling, they must be a Bengal, but this isn’t always the case 🙂 But the most important thing is that we love our fur babies, no matter what their breed is! <3 x

  68. I have wondered for several years if my Misterz was a Bengal……..born to a stray tabby in our garage in march of 2009, I noticed from the start he had unique features. He was the largest kitten & he now weighs 15.2 pounds. He also has many other traits of a Bengal except the marbled fur. He also has the very demanding vocal personality like you talked about–when he wants something he will nag me to death & I have to stop whatever I’m doing to shut him up! My Dad was the first to mention he looked like a Bengal because the bridge across his nose is an inch wide. He has white feet & a white diamond on his chest so except for that & the marbled fur, the pictures & description make sense to me. I believe he is at least half Bengal if not more. Thank you for the information

  69. My wife and I are interested in a Bengal. Our main concern is the effect it would have on an adult “runt” tabby cat we picked up at the animal shelter a year ago. Myna was found walking out in the county walking near the highway, She was shy and skinny as a rail, with all of her ribs showing, and we felt emotionally “obligated” to take her with us. Of course, we indulged her to the point that now she’s “fat” but quite mobile. Unlike my previous 2 cats, which I got as kittens and which were as friendly and loyal as puppies, Myna likes to keep to herself, sleep in her own room, and avoid any sort of cuddling. It’s only when she’s hungry that she suddenly becomes “social,” meowing loudly enough to wake us up and, if necessary, licking our faces until we’re fully at her service. Recently, she’s spent as much as an hour at the foot of our bed, and she loves to play with “Da Bird Catcher” toy. So my question is: would such a cat get along with a Bengal? Is there a strong possibility that a Bengal’s fierce self-confidence would cause her to lose some of the social progress that she appears to be showing?

    My 2nd question is, simply, can Bengal kittens become “people cats,” or even “bed cats”? (My previous cat slept on my pillow, on top of my head, every night–a great “stress reliever” for me.) Or are Bengals so wild and self-assured that they limit their human interaction to playing and feeding, resisting cuddling and preferring to be admired “from a distance”? (Will a Bengal curl up beside its guardian, accept petting, and do they purr? All of my previous cats would do so, and I must admit that I miss the contented sound of a purring cat.)

    1. Hello Samuel. Thank you for your questions and your interest in such a wonderful breed. The simple answer to your questions is that it all depends on the cat! As with any breed of cat, you will get different personalities between different cats – we know of many Bengals who are lap cats, bed cats, purring cats. We have also heard of instances where they are more aloof too. Our two Bengals are twins yet are sometimes as different as chalk and cheese! Spot loves a nice cuddle, Lula hates being picked up but will purr loudly when you pet her when she’s on the ground, in her bed, etc! Lula is very active and loves running around in the cat garden – Spot would prefer a nice snooze in a bit of sunshine somewhere.

      Both Bengals get on well with the 3 non-Bengals we have.

      The way to try and ensure you get the cat you are looking for is to always research reputable, registered breeders. Then go and visit a few to make sure the kittens are well socialised right from birth – the first 8 weeks of the kitten’s life are crucial. If they are raised indoors with plenty of love and handling, they should grow into well balanced adults. If they are kept in a cattery outdoors with little human interaction, the chances are they will probably be more aloof. We have written another article about choosing a breeder.

      Whilst most Bengals are self-assured, if you make sure you go to the right breeder as described above, very few are “wild”. The Asian Leopard Cat that they are descended from are actually very timid cats, looks and misconceptions from uninformed people sometimes gives Bengals a reputation that is completely undeserved for the vast majority.

  70. Our part Bengal cat( mom was a naughty girl and got out) runs through the house making this kind of sound that I just realized is hard to describe. It not a meow it’s more like a song or high pitched loud purring. It is so funny. He only meows that crazy meow when he can’t find me in the house or if he really wants my attention. I have two other cats and have to say we enjoy this odd little fellow so much.

  71. i brought a kitten from my friend as there dog was going to kill them sadly and because they had no papers and all that i don’t know what bread she is. she has these leopard print type makings on her fur but only a few of them she also has these spots on her belly and these dominate black lines on the tip of her tail and i don’t know what the dad looks like as the mom just went out and got pregnant. I’ve seen bengal kittens and she kinda looks like them but her spots are not as clear as the pictures I’ve seen. so i really don’t know what she is, she is loving and kind love kisses and cuddle and loves play fighting so if anyone can help me and explain her markings and what breed she is i would really appreciate it.
    shannon

    1. Hi Shannon! It would be unusual for an un-neutered male Bengal cat to be wandering the streets looking for a male, though of course not impossible! As you’ve no doubt read in this article, many breeds and domestic shorthairs can have spots 🙂 But it’s very difficult for me to decide what breed your girl is without seeing a pic (and even then it’s not always easy) Please send a photo or two to bengalcatworld @ iCloud.com (no spaces) and we will certainly take a look for you! 🙂

  72. Hi! I’m currently reading articles trying to figure out my cat. I know who his mother is, but not his father. After reading so many bengal articles, im starting to think he might have some in him. He is very talkative and affectionate. He tends to what i call make a “bird chirping” sound a lot when he gets excited. He also likes to put his tail straight up in the air when its time to snuggle and put it at a slight crook and haul off running when he gets excited. He LOVES baths and LOVES playing in the water. Theres not ONE night that i cant take a bath or shower without him getting in it. He also likes to take car rides and stick his head out the window. His fur is ticked, but feels like silk. Everyone always compliments how soft he is. Everyday when i get home, he knows the sound of my car and comes running to greet me. He also knows his name and will come by command hearing me call it. Sorry this is so long, im just trying to shortly explain my cat as much as possible. I’m very curious to know what the other side of him is. What are your thoughts?

  73. Hi there I brought a kitten (8 weeks old ) from my friend because her dog was putting them into danger so they couldn’t stay. When we started to spend time together I realised I didn’t know what breed she was so I wanted to investigate. From research she could be a Bangal or a savannah but I truely don’t know. She is very talkative,smart ( learned litter tray in one day) has a lot of energy, wants to climb everything ( even me), she has these spots on her fur, a black ringed tail and very long legs but Her fur is not shiny. Also I don’t know if it teething but she likes to bite a lot in a playful way but sometimes she forgets and goes for it, she is very playful every hour mintue,second it’s play time and she’s good with new face she just wants to play and cuddle with everyone specially me I don’t know if it is because I was the first to hold her,meet her and feed her but she loves sleeping with her mummy.
    So yeah I just want to know what breed she is because I know no info of mum and dad.
    Thanks
    Shannon and tyga

    1. Hi Shannon! It’s very difficult for me to be sure but she could have some Bengal in her. Does your friend not know the breed of the mother? I can understand that the father is not known in lots of cases, but usually the mother is 🙂

  74. I forgot to explain his look. Hes got a striped body. Hence the name, Tiger. The stripes are black and the rest is a caramel color. He’s got a black tip at the end of his tail and when it puffs up I call it a “raccoon tail” because that’s what it looks like. He’s got big oval green eyes and a broad brown and rusty beige colored nose. His ears are defined and his belly is heavily spotted, not tiger striped. He just made 2 years old in April and he is 20 inches long (not including tail or being stretched out) and he is 7 inches wide shoulder to shoulder.

    1. He sounds lovely, Becca, and again there are some Bengal traits in his looks too <3

  75. I just adopted a Bangle cat is what there saying he is. I saw some pics here but sure if he is or not. He is 7 mths old . If I sent a pick of him can you or someone poss tell me?

    Ty
    Tom

    1. Hi Tom! Feel free to send a pic or two to our email address: bengalcatworld @ iCloud .com (remove spaces) 🙂

    1. Hi Taunya! If you’d like to send us a photo, we can take a look for you! Please email to bengalcatworld @ iCloud.com (remove spaces) 🙂

    1. As with any kitten, you must first ensure that your hands are washed and sanitised. If you are not the breeder, you shouldn’t really touch them before they’re 2 weeks old, and even then only very gently and briefly <3

  76. Hi there I’m dual and my new owner is very kind n lovely n looks after me so well. It’s only come about that I’m a bengal hybrid bread. Since my new owner only took me in after a not so great start I don’t have any papers to state my bread…see I’ve just had a litter of kittens n clearly my owner wants them when ready Togo to good homes where there not going to be miss treated or bread from to make money out off them but in order to ensure that we need papers so how my owner go about getting me and my babies registered

    1. Hi Caroline! As you saw, I’ve answered your question via the message you sent to our Facebook Page 🙂 xx

  77. Hi I have a cat marlie when we got her at just 5weeks old (left in flat on her own) I was white every month new markings came an I has the bluest eyes ever she feels like silk an sparkles in the sunlight she is marbled.. She likes to look at water (sits on edge of bath while I’m in there) but doesn’t want to get wet..she loves to clean herself an is very fussy about her litter cubical an food…she loves to play fetch with little foil balls an comes when I whistle she is very playful with my dog an loves to curle up to him too sleep.. She is very vocal an stands by fridge an yowls when she wants chicken…she has the small head longer back legs an her nose an whisker pads are how you described she also has oval shaped paws with brown pads..I thought she was some sort of Siamese but after reading your articals am positive she is a Snow Bengal it disent matter what breed she is as I love her sooooo much but it is really nice to know and helped me with her food as her back used to roll and gave now worked out that it was food with salmon in…thank you love marlie an me

    1. Hello Marlie! It certainly sounds like you could be a snow bengal! How awful that someone abandoned you though 🙁 We’re glad you have a loving home now <3 xx

  78. I love this site and I’m so happy I came across it!
    I’m about to buy a cat whose owner has had for 9 months but due to being transferred to new zealand will not be able to keep it. He says he’s got the papers and all, but I notice that the fur is symmetrical on both sides. Can I be sure based on this that this is not a pure breed? I don’t mind either way, but because I have a young child I prefer to understand the personality of the cat that is about to join our family (and also don’t want to pay for a bengal if it’s not).
    Thank you for helping!

    1. Hello Tatiana and welcome to our site! We’re glad you came across it too 🙂 Sometimes marbled Bengals can be symmetrical, so it doesn’t mean your kitty isn’t a pure bred. Make sure you see the papers before you commit any cash – that should be sufficient to put your mind at rest? <3

  79. I found the information very helpful. From What I read and the pspca states I have a Bengal (newly adopted )

  80. I really enjoyed your articles about bengals. We have 2 bengals a silver f4 and a brown f3. They can jump up to the top our our shelves about 7′ high! The f3 can get a little wild at times. almost seems mentally unsure, but when he’s wearing his collar he knows who he is and is quite proud and confident with it. (Our f4 won’t wear a collar).

    1. Oh and my daughter’s friend says our cats act more like dogs than cats (very smell driven). Although the f3 once roared (like the scream type roar you hear from wild cats) at something in our yard once. It was blood curling, but whatever it was, he scared it away. They’re very good guard cats and it something it out there they’re tails get all poofy and they do a number of things to scare the concern away.

      1. Thank you for your kind comments, Cheryl! Your Bengals certainly sound like real characters! 😎

  81. I have a 2 year old kitty named Muffin who I rescued as a tiny kitten. I know for a fact that he is a mix of sorts as his sisters all look totally different from him (one is a shaggy grey cat). However, early on we noticed that he is very different from other cats we have had in both personality and appearance. I am wondering if he is in fact part Bengal. He is quite large (13.5 lb), athletic, and slender. Muffin also displays some unusual behavior like turning on and off lights, opening doors, playing fetch, playing hide and go seek, and turning on the garbage disposal. He loves water and seems to only drink from a running faucet. He also loves to be around people, and is a constant source of energy. We joke that he never sleeps. Additionally, he has a teeny head, long ringed tail, large round ears, the glitter in the fur, the soft pelt-like fur, and the marbling. The only difference is the coloring. He seems to be an orangey- white marble with a snow white tummy that is a tad bit more muted that the distinct marbling of the Bengals I have seen. Other than that he seems to have every other characteristic.

    pic https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=f6c9705da9&view=fimg&th=140d4758fef69d52&attid=0.1&disp=inline&safe=1&attbid=ANGjdJ9phHRTo6ZPdI7Ru-rnd3OcyIae1Pz9908v0ZEzZTRys8LDngofSzj4Noxd3BqDJR0qJXaNQlfU7IM6GOrf1Xjq7dkqsKGH3V_y-_m85Obv8aKlivgpjnvlqgU&ats=1404327984514&rm=140d4758fef69d52&zw&sz=w1256-h453

    https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=f6c9705da9&view=fimg&th=1445994b893b26fb&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=1460684785110220800-local0&safe=1&attbid=ANGjdJ-xmic6gLosRhw4SnrUVz5_eMYyy1m412AZupeueXivyuv_3gArOqU48QbaBSzjX-OOyne93b0lKdD1ATfx2jkTuMGmiZqAfjSKTF3mY9irLXoX-N7WEC66Wio&ats=1404327979716&rm=1445994b893b26fb&zw&sz=w1256-h453

    1. Hello Kara! Unfortunately we can’t open your pics, though the description you provide of your boy certainly makes it sound like he could be a Bengal mix! 🙂 x

  82. Love the descriptions! Four years ago I got a Bengal mix kitten from my friend’s brother. He is absolutely beautiful. Although he is mixed with a tabby he came out the most beautiful colors of brown & black marbled. His dad was a very large spotted guy….so handsome. Lance is very athletic & used to jump on top of the 7 ft armoire with ease. His eyes look almost yellow inside but outside they are green. Very lean with long back legs. Big feet that don’t seem to match his long legs & little head! His nickname is bigmouth as he only shuts up when he’s relaxing or sleeping. He won’t stay inside & won’t use a litter box….will only go outside. His favorite game is fetch. He is very friendly with us but will not socialize with anyone else. We can carry him upside down like a baby & he loves it. Love him!!!

  83. It was good to read spots comments about Bengal cats, are little cat was called spot and such a caricature we have never had a at like him before, I think he was part tabbie but a special part of are family. We would like to get another one but think we may be better with a part Bengal as they sound as though a full Bengal would be expensive thank you again linda

  84. Question….I have a Bengal Tabby mix. His dad is a beautiful spotted Bengal and my boy Lance looks exactly like a marbled Bengal. I downloaded a pic from a Bengal site that looks almost exactly like him. Even the vet was surprised he’s a mix. My question is how can he look and act exactly like a Bengal considering I read that the only way you get a marbled version is to breed 2 Bengals that have the gene. He has great markings and doesn’t even have that bullseye that apparently isn’t desireable. His mother is clearly a tabby. I also have a question about his coat. He is very soft and shiny with a thin pelt like coat. Recently he scraped himself on the back near his tail & the top layer of his fur came off. His undercoat was kind of wiry and coarse rather than the soft sleek feel of his top coat. Is that normal? My other DSH cats don’t have fur like that. Weird that it feels so great but underneath it’s so wiry. Just curious.

  85. Hello,
    I was wondering if you can help me. Our cat Tilly is 9 months old now and when we got her I was told she was a bengal cross with the mother being a full bengal and escaping before she was spayed who was then mated by a male tom. Although with me being a bit of a novice on breeds I wasn’t sure until afterwards if she was a true mix (sorry to those who disagree with cross breeding however she’s still a wonderful and beautiful pet who I love very dearly!) To most she looks like a regular tabby, however from doing a bit of research on bengals she does seem to possess certain traits such as black paw pads, quite prominent whisker pads, very loving and vocal/inquisitive! Eats almost anything if I would let her? Chirps and clicks at birds outside? Has a “glittery sheen” to her coat in the sun and leopard spots on her tummy. I have tried to get these features in the photos although they don’t quite do her justice. I have had her spayed and she has had all her jabs. De-flead and wormed etc. very well looked after. I know some of the traits mentioned do not make a domestic cat a bengal mix but she has a very feisty personality and people think she is mad for a normal “aloof” cat! If you could take a look at the photos and get back to me with any comments I would be very grateful 🙂
    https://s1265.photobucket.com/user/littlemissloopy_liv/library/Mobile%20Uploads?sort=3&page=1
    Thank you

    1. Hello Liv! In some pics she looks like a regular tabby but in others she does have that Bengal look about her, so I would say there is a strong probability that she is a mix! 🙂 xx

      1. Thanks for the reply, yes that’s why I was a little bit sceptical but she definitely had that glittery shimmer to her coat in the sun. And she is a little character – very intelligent! Thanks again x

  86. Hey I am not sure if this is a Bengal kitten or not there are 2 of them and an orange one and one other tiger striped one they are feral kittens with their mother outside my home I have been trying the past 2 days to gain their trust to catch them they are about 6 or 7 weeks old their mother is a tabby tiger strip with some orange in her not sure about their dad but I was just wondering if you think it could be or not I am not sure if you can see this picture it is 4 shots of the same kitten I am hoping to keep him/her once I can get all 4 of the kittens and get them more socialized with humans ^-^https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=663865467032519&set=a.143223222430082.37069.100002272155959&type=1&theater

  87. Just adopted one and a mm curious if its a Bengal or a tabby or what. Please email me and help me decide what one it is. THANKS

  88. Hi just wondering if you can help with a quick question, my bengal was loud and noisy constantly until I had her spayed, she now rarely meows unless extremely hyper and trashing my house while playing. But she makes kind of whirring noises when she’s trying to communicate with me or my other cat(who’s not bengal) . Otherwise she’s totally happy and content. Anyone I know who has met a bengal or has one claims they are extremely loud and noisy, did I just get an oddball? She’s also still quite small at 18 months. Hope you can help, I’m puzzled!

    1. hello Katie! Unspayed females are usually much louder and will miaow (or ‘call’) more than spayed ones. So it’s not unusual for them to be quieter after spaying. Though if you are in any way concerned, it wouldn’t harm to take her to the vet for a check up 🙂

  89. This was very helpful as too I was looking at a Bengal this girl in my town is rehoming and she fits the Bengal criteria she said she has papers just was looking to make sure cause papers really dont mean anything I am very excited to get my new family member now. Ty

  90. I’m not sure if my Poyo is a Bengal or not. o:

    I’m allergic to cats and I heard Bengals are hypoallergenic. I haven’t sneezed around him and he doesn’t shed.

    He has a white belly, white paws, and stripes everywhere. He is definitely marbled but in a slightly different way. His fur feels soft and has just a very unique feel to it.

    He has little arrows over his eyes, which makes me believe he is a Bengal because they all have them. And his eyes are just so wow. They’re hazel-ish and he has very small pupils.

    He loves to play, always active. But he’s also very cuddly.

    I have never seen a cat like this before so for him to be a Bengal, makes sense.

    Any help?

    1. Hi Katie! He sounds wonderful! We would never claim that Bengals are hypoallergenic, though many people who do have allergies seem to react less to them than other breeds – we have witnessed this ourselves with some of our allergic friends who have met our gang 🙂 It sounds like your boy could well be at least part Bengal 🙂 Please mail us some pics as these will help in us giving you an opinion (click on ‘mail’) 🙂

  91. I just recently got a kitten and I think she’s Bengal. Or at least part Bengal. She has the most beautiful golden glow (the silkiest fur I’ve ever felt on a cat) and I wish I could show you, but I can’t figure out how to put a picture on here. I feel I captured it perfectly. I was just wondering if you could tell me if she’s Bengal or not because her spots aren’t exactly like the spots shown above. She doesn’t have rosettes.

  92. Im not sure im my Benitzio is a Bengal or not!
    His coat is ticked and almost stripped which makes me think he is just a tabby but his personality is crazy! He is extremely loud and naughty but will cuddle up the second you pick him up. His meows can get very loud if you dont respond to him and sound gargled almost.
    His body is very big but he isnt the slimmest. He has similar facial markings to a bengal kitty, has the white spotted belly and the black tipped tail, his back legs are also quite larger then the front and he is VERY soft. Any idea? THANKS!

    1. Hi Sarah! It’s difficult for us to tell from just a description, but it sounds to us like he’s a wonderful tabby with a big personality! 🙂

  93. I have a 2 year old female I was told she was a Maine coon and blue bermise but I had s gentle man come to my house who’s mom raised benals he saw my cat and said she might be a Bengal we can’t tell

    1. Hello Kara! Do you know who the breeder is? They would surely know who the mother and (possibly) father are and may be able to advise you? 🙂

  94. Hi
    My cat is a rescue-he looks like a normal tabby but has some features of a bengal-the voice (!) the love of water the black pads and the face shape.
    I was wondering if you could tell me if he is a cross? I tried to add some photos but I can’t-can I email them to you?
    Thanks
    Freya

      1. Hi,
        We recently adopted a cat from the local shelter. After we got him home and began spending some time with him, we realized his claws weren’t coming out and thought that maybe he had been declawed. After careful inspection, we noticed that not only did our cat have claws but they were deep inside his paw. I had to spread his fingers apart to see them and also noticed that his feet are webbed, something I have never seen like this in any other cat. When he runs and plays on the kitchen floor, we never hear his claws, just the squeaking of his pads that sound like sneakers on a basketball court. His paw pads are black and the tops of his feet are beautiful and look airbrushed. He also doesn’t shed much, which we found odd. Over time began to noticed many other characteristics in this cat that we had never seen before. His nose looks leathery. His fangs are pretty big. His coat is very short and shiny and silky. He also loves to run and is very fast. Sometimes he even fetches. He loves water and the first time one of us had a bottle of water in our hands his ears perked up. We quickly realized he enjoys drinking from water bottles. When I posted a photo of him on Facebook, a friend who has a Bengal cat commented that he looks to be “part Bengal”. There is no ticking in at least most of his coat but there are some areas where it is hard to tell. I thought I would ask and see what you think. If there is a way I can share a photo with you, let me know. Thanks!

        1. Hello JL! The webbed paws are not typical of the Bengal breed, but some of his other characteristics sound like they could be! 🙂 You can email us here – we would love to see some photos! 🙂

  95. So I’m pretty sure I have a bengal. My siater found him in a box on her mailbox about 6 months ago. He is just a baby. However he is very long and lanky. It looks like the spots on his coat are faded and he looks quite a bit dirty. Only thing I see that is commonly found in Bengals that my kitty doesn’t have is a love for water. He absolutely hates it. But he is pretty mean to my 2 year old. Ive tried to calm him down but he is constantly stalking my child like prey. Any tips on this? Also, should we invest in another cat around his age? He has tore up every toy we have bought or made and has now started on toilet paper and notebook paper. And he found our kitty litter stash and poops in the bag of litter instead of his box. :/

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  97. Thanks for the info thought I might add this. Pure breed pedigree bengals can have a ticked coat. It is undesirable in show cats as it blurs the coat pattern a bit. The feet are another good marker with the black pads and chunky knuckles.

  98. Hi Spot,

    I sent you an email through the contact us tab on my “phenomena” please will you help?

    Kindest Regards
    Bianca

  99. I want to buy a bengal cat it was helpful to read your info but i still not sure if i can fully identify them wen they still little IMG_1735.png i dont know if you can see the pic could they b bengal cats?

  100. I just got my Bengal today, he is 10weeks old and terrified!! He wont let me touch him, he is currently hiding under my dresser. Is this normal? Becky

    1. Hi Becky. Bengals are normally outgoing and confident cats, especially when kittens. It sounds like your breeder hasn’t socialised him very well. Did you see where he was ‘brought up’ whilst at the breeder’s place? Also, 10 weeks is rather young to let a kitten go – most reputable breeders wait until 12 or 13 weeks. Was it a registered breeder you bought him from? It’s so important to make sure you go to a reputable breeder as this will usually mean you get a healthy, happy and confident cat.

      But having said all that, it’s understandable for a kitten to be daunted when faced with new surroundings etc. Give him time and don’t try to force any unwanted attention on him, though of course give him lots of love when he wants it. I’m sure he will come round in time – you just need a bit of patience.

  101. I have 3 cats, two of which I bought as Bengals. One is a brown spotted bengal and the other is a marbled one. The brown spotted has all characteristics of a bengal but I am concerned about the marbled one being a bengal. I could send you pictures if I Had somewhere to post them. She is just not as soft as my other bengal and a few other concerns. I bought her after she had had a litter and they didn’t want to breed her anymore. She is now spayed. She is almost 2 years old. The papers they sent were just a copy of her pedigree as I am supposed to have them put in my name. Any help on determining her breed? Please reply.

    1. Hi Lisa. We’re sorry to hear you’re having doubts about your marbled Bengal. You can email us pics and we can have a look for you. If she is registered with TICA (or any other organisation), you should be able to contact them to check whether or not she has been registered.

  102. Hello, I need some advice please.. I have had 4 cats for a few year now, one being a rag doll cat. Recently a bengal kitten was brought into the household. The kitten it 4 months old and a beautiful cat. However, the 4 cats behaviours have changed as a result, they are wary, they hiss and sometimes wont come into the house because my bengal tries to fight with them. The most concerning for us is my beautiful ragdoll cat who we adore, can never walk into the house without the bengal jumping on his back and biting his neck, he runs to hide but the kitten pursues him. We use the ‘No’ hiss at him, and usually end up removing him by putting him in another room. My partner insists that we rehome the bengal because of the disruption to the house and other cats. I understand the typical behaviour but want to know how to stop him biting my cats neck. If we can stop this then I think everything will be okay. Will he grow out of it? At what age can I let him outside?

    Please can you reply to my email so I know I can see your reply. I will be so grateful for your advice as I have grown attached to him and do not want to rehome him. I would like to mention that he was brought into our home without our knowledge, my daughters ex bought her it and did not ask us first, they are not together now but didnt have the heart to get rid as its not the kittens fault, but just having problems with him now.

    1. Hello Michaela. We’re sorry to hear you are having these problems. It sounds like your kitten wasn’t socialised properly from a young age and it needs to be nipped in the bud now rather than hope he grows out of it. It’s a little early, but we would recommend he is neutered if he’s not already. You can also try something like Feliway to help calm all 5 cats down (bear in mind it takes a few weeks to ‘work’ – it’s not an overnight miracle). If there are still issues you could consider using a natural remedy such as Zylkene on your new boy (feel free of course to discuss with your vet first, though this is not a drug). Make sure there are lots of different areas for all the cats to escape to and have time out from each other. Reward good behaviour when you see it, with reassuring words or little treats. Make sure there are enough ‘resources’ for them all such as food bowls, water bowls, litter trays etc. Have lots of interactive play with your Bengal – they are a very active breed and like human interaction. If they get bored, they can get naughty. If all of this doesn’t help, you may wish to consider consulting a certified Pet Behaviourist if re-homing is not an option.

      If you are going to let him outside, make sure he is fully vaccinated, microchipped and neutered. If these are all done, there’s nothing to stop you letting him out on short supervised trips from now.

  103. Hey, grrrreat info! I was wondering, tho – do you have any info on the non-standad Bengals? I suspect our sweet bad boy, Oberon may be an offshoot of a melanistic black Bengal who went catting about without permission from a cattery near us…

    1. Hi Janelle! A melanistic is a natural colour that occurs if both parents carry the recessive gene – just like black panthers or jaguars in the wild 🙂 Is there anything specific you would like to know about them? <3

      1. Hi – thanks for the reply about black Bengals! I was wondering, absent the fabulous Bengal fur markings, are there “always” physical traits I can look for on my boy Pberon? I.s. eye color, inside mouth color, paw pad/claw color, tail length, untrimmed talon shape and size (we have noticed that Oberon’s talon are much longer, thicker, and sharply curved than our other cats), typical weight for a young (2yr. old) male, body type, etc. I’ve rad the social traits and he’s right up there, just wondering about any non-fur-color clues. Thanks again!!!!!
        Janelle

        1. Paw pads are usually black, though I have seen pink ones too (though they have been on Snow Bengals). Eye colour is not particularly unusual – can vary from amber to various shades of green (certain snow bengals can have blue eyes). There’s not really much that would stand out in terms of talons etc. A male Bengal usually averages around 10 to 15 pounds, but you can get them much larger than this also. They don’t usually reach full maturity until 3 years old or so. The back legs should be slightly longer than the front, giving an arch to the back. The head should be small in relation to the body and the ears small too, though again we have seen Bengals with larger ears – not all conform to every point of the breed standard 🙂

  104. Do people breed bengals and tabbys? I saw the momma and daddy of my little Ziva and they were without a doubt bengals, but there also could have been other cats in the house. I believe Ziva is bengal, but I’m curious how long it takes for their baby fur to go away if you know what I mean. She’s almost 3 months.

    1. Hi Karly! I’m sure there are some people who breed Bengals and tabbies, though registered breeders would not do so. We always recommend people get their Bengal cats from registered breeders. Kitten fur can take a few months to go away, though most of it should be gone at around 4 to 6 months, though of course all kittens are different.

  105. This cat found me his stripes are so striking I named him Marshall he sounds like he my be bangel cat, one thing vary different on him I have never seen on a cat is he has a large round marking in the middle of his wight fur with looks like dots with different colors on his belly is like a circle. Have you ever seen this ?

    1. Hi Cary! We have not seen this before in the middle of white fur. Many marbled tabby cats have ‘bulls-eye’-type markings which sound similar to what you describe. I don’t think your Marshall is a full Bengal from what you say, but perhaps he may be a Bengal cross.

  106. My kitty Jacob is a Bengal Cross his dad was a long hair tuxedo and his mom was a golden colored spotted bengal. Jake is black and white like his dad, but when he is out in the light you can see that he is covered in spots and rosettes in grey and white color. He is definitely loud.

  107. hi my name is thug and i was rescued from a shelter.( all mommy wanted for christmas was to rescue a helpless kitty with alot of spunk and playfulness ) i was so lucky to have my new family. MY owners where told i was a gray tabby bengal mix ….but i am not for sure i was hoping to beable to post a pic and see what you thought but it wont give me that option. i have a very unique meow (mix between a meow and a whimper of a puppy lol) so adorable my mommy just wants to eat me up with kisses. i am also very playful and always finding something to get in to hehehehe….i can jump very high and far. any ideas ?

  108. I rescued my Bengal girl, Mali, four years ago when the neighbors caught her in a dog carrier and called the zoo, the DNR, the police, the local tv stations, and me because they thought they had trapped a baby bobcat! She was just a terribly underweight and terrified little kitty! I cared for her, got her fixed and healthy and slowly introduced her to my big, laid back orange kitty Romeo. They get along fine now, after a year of Romeo hissing at her, but she is VERY high energy, as is typical of Bengals, and aggressively attacks Romeo from time to time which puts him into panic mode, so I break it up with a spray of water. What concerns me is that it will get too aggressive when I am not here to stop it and that Romeo will be injured. He is 10, has a heart murmur, and is on heart meds. Any suggestions? Mali does have her own room and sleeps there every night with the door closed, but I hate to close her up during the day! For the most part, Romeo and Mali get along well. I’m just concerned about Romeo’s vulnerability and Mali’s occasional aggression.

    1. Have you tried something like Feliway, Carolyn? This is said to help calm kitties. Also, are there any triggers that set off the attacks? Monitor carefully to see if there are, as there usually will be some cause. e.g. when an attack happens, note down what the circumstances are – time of day, what they cats were doing, was it close to food time, etc. Over time you may be able to work out a pattern. If you can work out what it is, you should be able to address it. Otherwise, you could try consulting a qualified pet behaviourist as they may be able to provide insight once they can see the circumstances.

  109. I love all types of cats my favorite is a pure jet black cat of any breed whether short or long haired.. I recently acquired I kitty who is very distinct I don’t know what breed she is but she is beautiful with black and grey marble hair I say hair because it very long and she has a fluffy tail I don’t know what type of kitty she is I noticed her paws are very large in retrospect to her head I named her mystique because I don’t know what breed she is , she doesn’t really meow or pur for that matter her temperament is quite docil this article was very informative. Thank you for sharing

  110. This article was very informative to me. My Turbo has the silkiest coat, unlike my Grey(who is a gray and white tabby I believe). I have wondered about that silky fur as I have never had a cat before with that kind of fur. It sounds like Turbo could have some Bengal genes. His marbles are asymmetrical and he is very vocal especially when he wants outside. With his markings, he is a very handsome boy. He was found on a shelf at my son in law’s work, but they had not seen a mama cat around. He brought him home and they bottle fed him for a few weeks. Can’t imagine what I would do without my “boys”!

    1. We’re so pleased you found it helpful, Gwen 🙂 And we also very happy your little boy was rescued and now lives in a loving home 🙂

  111. Thank you! I have been reading more comments here, and another thing about Turbo is that he insists on going outside and ventures much farther than Grey does. I have to call and call for him sometimes to get him back in, and rattle his favorite treat bag. They are learning that they get treats when they come back in. 🙂 I think he is mostly Tabby, but whether he has some Bengal or not, I love both of my boys dearly!

  112. This was useful my sephy is atleast half Bengal. But I noticed she is very dark marked unlike some of the colors listed above she is black sliver and brown. A unusual look she is very exotic looking. But I wondered if it is normal for them to not like strangers. Sephy doesn’t like people she doesn’t know especially vets. She really only likes me and my mother any one else she is gets angry around. I don’t not know much about her parentage. I just wonder if that just her being partial to me and my mom and just not liking anyone else it if it something in her breeding. I have had her most of her life though and she is Still young. She absolutely hates the vet they have to sedate her to see her. I couldn’t believe how much of a personality change she has with them versus us. She is so Sweet with us and loving and lays on us etc. But at the vet she looks ready to kill. Just thought this was interesting to read and helped a lot. .

    1. Thanks, Tiffanie. It’s not unusual for a Bengal cat to form a strong bond with one or two people. It’s perhaps not surprising that she doesn’t like the vet as they usually are doing horrible things (from a cat’s perspective at least 😉 ) And many cats don’t like strangers, particularly when they dare to come on to their territory 🙂

  113. I am trying to adopt a bengal kitten but am not to sure if it truely a bengal I have pictures of her and was wondering if I can send you one

    1. Depends on the individual, Luke 🙂 Our Spotty cat isn’t a loud purrer but our Spike purrs very loudly indeed! 🙂

    1. It’s difficult to tell just from a pic or two, Fiona, but she certainly has a fair few features that are Bengally! 🙂

  114. Hi, my name is krystal. I’ve been wondering for a while since I got my cat if he’s Bengal! I’m still unsure though!): I’m hoping you can shoot me an email so I can send you a picture of him! He’s much bigger then my other cat… he is very very active and what I’ve always described as rabbit legs. They’re so long! He is gorgeous and loved no matter what breed he is, But he peeks my curiosity with his features. My email is kleepender@Yahoo.com

  115. My bengal seems to malt all year round and because he is a in door cat its very noticable is this natural ?

    1. Most Bengals don’t moult very much at all, though you can get longer haired Bengals (Cashmere Bengals) which I’m sure are the exception to the rule. Perhaps your boy has some of the same genes as these, Geraldine.

  116. i have a rescue that might be part bengal and part barn cat. her name is jelly and she has been the best cat for our other rescue luke who kast own was a drug users and she has taught him how top play and be a cat again. But i notice she clicks alot when she is looking at something out the window and was wondering if this is a trait of a bengal cat or just a cat thing. Just that i have never heard any of my other cats do this .

    1. Hi Jeff! Many cats can chatter to birdies and other interesting things they see out of the window, it’s not just a Bengal trait 🙂 So pleased you are rescuing such lovely cats!

  117. I have what was told to me when I adopted him from a neighborhood friend was a Bengal/Maine Coon mixed kitten who I named Zen. My daughter Dana raised him for the first 3 months after we adopted him and then she moved out and Zen stayed with me. Zen was very attached to my daughter at first and Zen really didn’t want anything to do with me when Dana left. It took about a week before I became Zen’s best friend. Zen loves water, I realized this after i put an ice cube in his water dish and he sat there mesmerized, then plays and takes it out of dish. He won’t drink out of anything but my decorative water fountain and bathtub. He had to be in the bathroom with me if I’m showering and runs to the bathroom after every toilet flush He has grown 3 times his kitten size and he’s only 7 months old. He is very soft, affectionate, his deep loud annoying meooow isn’t heard often but usually when he’s up near his liter box, Zen is a very fussy eater that will eat only Fancy Feast with gravy. Wish i could send a picture to show u my Zen. thank you for your very detailed post. 🙂 I love your cats

    1. Thank you for your wonderful description, Lisa! He seems to have the best of both worlds – Maine Coons and Bengals are our two favourite breeds 🙂 You can email some pics if you like 🙂

  118. Hi,
    I have some questions about my cat. I rescued her from an abandoned house at new years & she was aprox 12wks old then. We’re saving money to have her vet checked & desexed & was going to ask our vet for possible background bloodlines based on looks & personality.
    She shows some characteristics of Bengal, but her markings are different. She has a black stripe down her spine with subsequent black stripes running down her sides. She has a white/pale belly with black spots & very prominent mascara eye markings. She also has a ringed tail with a solid dark tip. Her body colour is grey with black & white misty stripes & pale belly with black spots- her coat is fairly soft & doesn’t really malt at all. She sort of looks like tiger stripes with cheetah spots only she’s grey.
    She is very playful, loud, needy & can be very savage at times- especially to adults. Her mood can change at a click of ur fingers from being cuddly to aggressive. Her favorite snuggle spot is around our necks/under chin or on top of our clothes (Dirty washing hamper or clean ironing pile). So my question is, is she just a normal tabby or could there be something else there? She is unlike any cat i have ever owned in 30yrs.

      1. Hi! Our Annie cat said she approves of her name 🙂 It’s difficult for us to say what breed she may be without seeing her, so if you could email us a couple of clear pics showing her markings, that would be great 🙂

  119. I am trying so hard to figure out if I have an Ocicat or a Bengal. I posted a picture on a facebook page and people have been saying Bengal. After reading this I think I’m leaning toward the same. What a beautiful animal she is!! Great read thank you!

    1. One of the easiest ways to tell, though it’s not foolproof, is that Ocicats have spots whereas many Bengals have rosettes. If your cat has rosettes she is a Bengal. But having said all that (I said it wasn’t foolproof 😉 ) if she has spots she could be either as some Bengals have spots instead of rosettes too 🙂 Ocicats have a different head shape to Bengals, a bit narrower.

    2. Hi , just wondering , if you found the kitty, in Brisbane because a pedigree rosette Bengal was lost in Brisbane while being looked after by friends & the kids are still pining. ????

      1. Hello connie. We are sorry to hear this, we have not heard of a kitty being found in Brisbane, I’m sorry 🙁

  120. We adopted an older kitten from the shelter. We thought it was a boy but it was a girl. No problem it didn’t matter to us but we began to notice different things about it. First she is marbled which we didn’t know could be bengal at first. It was only after she started making chirps and attacking the water facet (acts like she thinks it’s going to play back with her) that we thought her strange. She’s not fond of water but not afraid of it either. She is highly active and her fur is very silky. She has a heavy frame and looks kinda like a tabby. Although her marbling has similarities on both sides it is obviously different. She does have a target on both sides although one side is a large target and the other side a small one. Her personality is sweet but she almost seems bipolar. One moment she is demanding cuddling and the next she is growling letting us know she is done and wants to go play. She also buries her food and will steal any food she can find like it’s a game. Her back legs are a little longer than her front ones and her face is sweetly round with long eyelashes and a dark line around her eyes like she’s got eyeliner on. She loves to play hard and runs all over the house. She plays the best with the 3 year old Shar Pei we have. They are buddies. I would say she is roughly ten pounds or there abouts. She about 9 months old.

    1. Hi Becki, you just described the cat we adopted about a year ago! He came from a shelter in W. Va and was shipped up to a city close to me. Our cat Ace is small in stature, so I’m assuming he was the “runt” of the litter. I didn’t know how else to attribute his incredible IQ, or his ability to problem solve. i.e. He’s very territorial and like any cat, he owns us, not the other way around.. One evening, he thought that it was close to our bedtime so he went upstairs on our bed, and grabbed my eye mask I wear at night, put it in his mouth and delivered it right to my feet!! How smart is that?? He’s done it a few times. He also hides Bandages, coins, elastics and pens.. He hides them under a oriental scatter rug. Regarding his color and stripes. He’s got the classic M on his forehead which indicates Tabby. However, he’s gray and black w/ a black stripe that goes from his neck, down his spine, and all the way down to the top of his very large tail. The last inch or two of his tail is pure black, while the rest of the tail is gray and black. He has gray fur with black stripes, and in between the black stripes are black circles. On his small head, he has what looks like American Indian War Paint across his brow line (almost like the eyeliner thing you were talking about!) and near his whiskers are more lines. He’s very active and loves to play with the red laser light, a toy mouse off of a stick, and at times elastics that I send over his way through my fingers. He’s coy, clever, cute, a little shy, and mischievous as all heck! Ace loves to lay on his back on the floor and rock back and forth… I’m reading

  121. Oh one other thing about her fur; she had a tipping on it I thought was ticking but after reading your article I think it may be what you were referring to as glitter. It doesn’t have rings only the tips of the fur has a lighter color that makes it shine more. It’s not all over the fur though just in some places. I know she’s not a pure Bengal but it would explain her personality. Thank you for any insight. So many people tell us so many different things that it’s nice to talk to someone who knows Bengals.

    1. Hello Becki! Your girl sounds adorable and a real character! And you certainly describe a lot of Bengal traits in both her looks and purrsonality! If you would like to send us a photo, you can email us if you wish 🙂

  122. My oldest daughter and I are terribly allergic to cats but my husband and two other children are not. I am so allergic, that even walking into a fully cleaned and empty flat with clean carpet, can set me into an asthma attack if a cat once lived there. So imagine my surprise when my daughter said a stray cat has been hanging around her door – and that she finally pet it once and had no allergic reaction. I visited her a few days later and pet the cat myself, and I couldn’t believe that nothing happened! The temperature was extremely cold and hated that she was outside, so we thought we would just see what happened if we let her inside. I couldn’t believe she jumped right up on the couch next to me and I still had no reaction. Long story short, we are now the ecstatic owners of a beautiful, loving, crazy acting cat, “Charlie”. (daughter and cat moved in with us :-)) She has beautiful markings, plays with water, has huge paws, striped tail with black tip and velvety fur. She must have a good bit of Bengal in her, maybe Bengal/Calico mix, because she looks nothing the other hypo allergenic cats I’ve since researched. We are so glad she adopted us. A joy we never thought we’d experience! Thanks for all the superb information on this post!

    1. Hello Kim! How fantastic that you have a feline friend who doesn’t make you ill! 🙂 Thank you for sharing your experience. Whilst we would never claim that a Bengal, or any other cat, is completely hypo-allergenic, we do often hear cases where people with allergies don’t have a bad reaction. But, sadly, this is not true in all cases so it’s so wonderful to hear that everything is going well for you 🙂

    1. Hi Charles. Bengals shed a lot less than other cats, if at all. Some will shed a little. Did you mean are they hypoallergenic cats? If so, the answer is that I don’t think any cat is actually hypoallergenic, however, a lot of people who have allergic reactions to cats find that their reaction is a lot less when meeting a Bengal, or may be even non-existant. But having said that, I have heard of instances where allergic people are allergic to Bengals too. So I suppose you could say the risk of an allergic reaction is a lot lower with a Bengal cat, but it’s not to be completely ruled out.

  123. Hi. You think my cat might be a Bengal? I’m still a little confused. She has the Bulls eye on one side and different marble on the other side. She acts very wild. Destroys my plants. Likes her litter box clean. Very vocal. Walks like a tiger and acts like a dog. she will eat about everything. Loves tomatoes, cauliflower, etc. she has a very long tail.

    1. Hello Della! It’s hard for me to say without seeing her. It sounds possible she could have some Bengal genes possibly 🙂

  124. I have a kitten. He’s beautiful and I knew he was a marble tabby for sure right away. But as he is growing he is getting a very long pointed almost siamese type face and in my opinion rather large ears despite his very tiny head. After reading your article I have looked at his back legs and the do look longer to me. He is very fast and more agile than any cat I have owned even at his very young age (3 months). He’s inquisitive as all get out and He chirps most of the time. Lennox is just as vocal as my siamese if not more so. I don’t by any means think that he’s full bengal. But I was curious if you could tell based on the markers I’m telling you if you think it’s possible that there is some bengal in his genetics. He doesn’t have the body shape of a traditional cat. He is much more sleek and looks like he’s built for speed. His fur is super soft and silky but not quite as pelt like as a traditional bengal. I am one who’s had many cats of all types, shapes, and sizes. But he is by far one of the most unique looking and behaving cats I have owned since adopting my flame point siamese. I own another marble tabby but he behaves very much like most of my other cats. Oh ya and what is with the massive paws both my marbles have. It’s insain!

    1. He sounds gorgeous, Bridget! 🙂 There could be a chance he has some Bengal genes, it’s difficult to say without seeing him 🙂

  125. I have a cat that is so very different from any other cat I’ve ever had that I don’t know what he is apart from big. He’s almost 11 months old now and weighs 15 pounds. I found him on my back steps last April being chased by a huge melanistic tomcat with spots I could only see when the sun hit him just right. Ajax, my kitten, looked like an ordinary tabby kitten at first but he has the softest fur I’ve ever felt. Everyone who pets him is amazed by his fur. He doesn’t meow very often but does chirp, trill, chatter, mew, etc. He’s really funny in the litter box. When he was little, I’d watch him to make sure he didn’t eat the litter and I’d often have to bite my hand to keep from laughing at his antics. He was never happy with the first three holes he’d dig and would cry when he couldn’t get it right. He often gets in trouble because our other cats aren’t interested in play fighting like he is. I don’t know if he’s part Bengal or just a very strange tabby. I’m pretty sure the tomcat who chased him is his father as he is built just like him with long bony toes and a long body. He was about 5 weeks old when he turned up and has been in charge of the house since the second day. He’s taken up with the only one of our cats who’s ever had kittens and is also the only one who will put him in his place even though he’s twice her weight. He has some white on his feet, chest, and tummy.

    1. He sounds wonderful, Karen! It’s of course possible from what you say that he could be a part Bengal 🙂

  126. Thanks for the info, it was just what I was looking for! I’d like to suggest adding some content on the terminology of what generation your cat could be…(?) F1, F2, etc. I think my cat could be a F2 or F3? He has a mackerel tabby cat, but all other traits sound so much like a Bengal. He’s definitely unlike any cat I’ve ever owned!

  127. Hello, i am trying to find out if my 6 month kitten is a bengal. He is already 10lbs and looks alot like the seal point or snow bengal.

  128. We Love our Bangals, I’ve even taught one of them to play fetch the stick, toy, well anything it finds really. Throw it and he brings it back, tail, in the air

  129. Hi Spot! You make Bengal information so simple and fun!
    I discovered my baby, Princess Leia, is a Bengal through watching the show Too Cute on the Animal Planet channel. I discovered this because of a peculiar phase in her development as a kitten called the fuzzies. I thought for sure she would be a long haired cat but it turned out Bengal kittens grow extra long hairs just like their wild cat cousin’s babies do to disrupt their outline in the wild. I was so shocked to discover this but also delighted! She also has red tabby like your Robbie and brown tabby like your Friday. Her back legs are SO long and her tail is nearly the length of her entire body, minus her head. I just got her spayed so she’s healing currently but already so active and getting into things. It is very difficult to restrict the movement of a Bengal! She’s a naughty girl! I call her my 16 year old girl because she has such attitude and always talks back. She is one of the smartest cats I have ever encountered. Your babies are beautiful!

    1. Hello Anna Elizabeth! Thank you for your lovely comments, it was so interesting to read about your Princess Leia 🙂 We hope you have very many happy years with her, there will never be a dull moment, I’m sure <3 🙂

  130. Hi! I was fostering a momma cat and her 4 babies. Momma has a somewhat exotic look to her. She has a chaotic pattern to her but it is blended pretty well and I couldn’t quite see if her coat was symmetrical or not. I still have two of her kittens here. She and the other two are now in their new forever homes:). Anyway, I was watching them play yesterday and noticed that one of the (the lightest of the four and also the one with noticeably different markings – people could usually tell her apart from the others pretty easily) has incredibly asymmetrical markings! One side has the classic tabby O and the other is just completely different. There is no O at all. It is just a ton of random looking chaotic lines. I don’t know how it took me so long to notice it. I was wondering if this is any indicator that she has some Bengal in her? Obviously not a lot but some? Or could it simply be a strange gene?

    1. Hi Shelby! It could be a sign of having some marbled Bengal, or it could just ne her markings. It’s difficult to be exact without being able to see her <3

  131. I wish I could include a picture in here to get some advice b/c I’m so torn between “I think he’s a Bengal.” to “Nah, he just has markings close to a bengal.” Our cat Ace, whom we lovingly refer to as Acey. (Sounds like Lacey or Casey) He’s a male and will be 2 yrs old in September, 2015. Fully grown, but rather small in stature and in form. His face still looks like a kitten; his head and face hasn’t grown at all since we got him when he was 5 months old.

  132. Lol this sounds just about right about my Bengal cat. Well he’s not mine, he’s my brothers. I was never a animal lover but I have so much love for our cat. His name is Leo. It’s amazing how clever they are and how well they communicate. Not only do they talk loads but he has different tones so you can figure out what he’s actually trying to say, believe it or not!

    1. We have heard that several times, Jannat 🙂 People who are not cat lovers, completely falling in love with the Bengal! 🙂 And yes, we can believe that he talks to you! As you say, they are a very intelligent breed 😉

      1. Yes! I firmly believe my cat is trying to “talk” to us – especially my husband. He’s the biggest guy in the house (my husband) but is the most patient and gentle so Ace wants to talk to him. My husband will ask him a question and he’ll either sit there with perfect eye contact as he’s chirping away. lol. He meows when he wants something, but he doesn’t meow much b/c he’s too busy chirping like a bird! lol 😉

      2. Yes! I firmly believe my cat is trying to “talk” to us – especially my husband. He’s the biggest guy in the house (my husband) but is the most patient and gentle so Ace wants to talk to him. My husband will ask him a question and he’ll either sit there with perfect eye contact as he’s chirping away, or he’ll start rolling around on the rug as he’s chirping to my husband. lol He meows when he wants something, but he doesn’t meow much b/c he’s too busy chirping like a bird! lol 😀

  133. Our cat “Dixie” sometimes lays with her hind legs streched straight out behind her, is this a Bengal characteristic? Never seen a cat do this before.

    1. Not necessarily just a Bengal thing as we have known other cats do this, though Bengals will too 🙂

  134. New baby in the family, Jasper/Jazzy about 6 and a half weeks old. My neighbor breeds Bengals and after the local coyotes killed my wonderful Siamese, I met him and asked if he eved had a kitten that he couldn’t sell that I would love a new kitten, he was expecting four litters at that time. One of the moms had two orange males and I now have one in my home, he has some spots and patchy stripes but they are a solid color, his littermates were beautifu
    dark kittens with lots of spots. He definitely has a very insistant voice, climbs up and sleeps on my shoulder in the daytime and my head at night, and he is loving and wanting to play with my Lab. Hes an F7… My neighbor said that when his fur changed I might see more of the Bengal Spots, when should that be happening? Hoping he gets really big! His back legs are a bit longer, he has lots of the traits mentioned, just looking for more info on his fur changing and when to expect that change. Thanks!

    1. Hello Leslie. I’m sorry to hear about your Siamese 🙁 Your new boy sounds like a cutie! Bengal kittens go through a phase called “the fuzzies” where the markings are not very clear though you can usually make rough outlines of spots etc out. The fuzzies usually last until they are around 16 weeks old. 6 and a half weeks is a very young age to be leaving the breeder, most breeders usually wait until they are 12-13 weeks old, I expect this is because you are his neighbour though 🙂

  135. Hi there! Your babies are beautiful and clearly well-loved. What gorgeous cats! Thank you for this informational article and your lovely website. I recently adopted my second cat, Ramsey, from a local rescue. Had the rescue not intervened in the nick of time, Ramsey and fifteen other cats would have been euthanized by a local Humane Society simply because they had ringworm. 😥 I adopted Ramsey to be a companion for my first rescue cat, Clarabelle, because I live alone and was afraid that Clara, with her huge personality, was getting lonely and bored. I first noticed that Ramsey might be different when I compared his body and Clarabelle’s. Clarabelle is not a large cat: she was a stray and weighed only six pounds (at 1.25 years old) when I adopted her. Now she is up to eight or nine pounds and I still think of her as a small cat (when compared to my family’s sixteen-year-old, sixteen-pound cat). Well, when I brought Ramsey home, Clara started looking…well…chunky! Round. Plump. Voluptuous, if we want to put a sexy spin on it and anthropomorphize her. She’s just a stray, domestic, medium-hair cat, but to me she is beautiful because she is an interesting combination of black and white. The pads of her feet are bicolor! Even on one foot, there is a blend of pink and black pads! Her nose is black, but the right side of the bridge of her nose is black, and the left side is white, divided evenly down the middle. She reminds of the Holstein cows we have in the state of Wisconsin, USA, where I live, and so I named her Clarabelle, which strikes me as a cow name. Ramsey is just soo long and lanky and slender, with such a long tail and large ears and slender face. He weighs seven pounds, but stands one or two inches taller than Clara, and has legs (especially back legs!) for days. To me, he look exotic, with a sort of Middle-Eastern, Fertile-Crescenty flair, and so I googled Abyssinian cats, because that was the only Middle-Eastern exotic cat I knew of. His big ears and parts of his face seem to fit, but I wasn’t sure. I took him to my wonderful vet (who only works with cats) for his “get-to-know-you check-up”, and the first thing she says when she walks in the exam room is, “Well, Helll-ooo Handsome! You remind me of a Bengal!” I had never heard of Bengal cats. She said it was his rich, rich coat and his golden eyes. Ramsey is about nine months old and has classic tabby markings. His fur is incredibly short and incredibly soft-softer even than Clara’s, whose fur I thought couldn’t get any softer. I’m not sure if Ramsey’s fur is glittery but it just shines and shines. I believe his fur is ticked, but I don’t have much experience. He is super friendly and cuddly. He loves to snuggle in my lap and burrow into my body-as if he really likes pressure. He doesn’t really like to be picked up and held, and I have to squeeze him more than I would squeeze Clara so that he doesn’t squirm out of my arms (clawing me in the process!). He has a freight-train purr, but isn’t overly loud. However, Clara is the Queen of Loud! He doesn’t seem fastidious about his litter box, but he certainly poops more frequently and in greater quantity than Clara. It’s really quite impressive! I don’t know if it’s a kitten thing or a man thing. He sneezes bigger than Clara, poops bigger than Clara, everything bigger than Clara! Typical male. To me, it honestly doesn’t matter if he’s part Bengal or not. He is the prince of my heart, and will always be the king of my heart when he grows to be an adult. He is regal! But since he’s only nine months old he reminds me of a gangly teenager. He has great potential, though, like when you see an awkward teenage boy but you know he will mature into a gorgeous man! I can’t believe he would have been euthanized for having ringworm, and I am so grateful to the rescue for fostering him for months before I found him. However, as a former anthropology major in college, I am interested in genetics. Ramsey is clearly not a pure Bengal, but I’m wondering if he might have Bengal blood. Could I send you some pictures, just to get your opinion and satisfy my curiosity? Like I said, it doesn’t matter to me, because he is my miracle baby. Do you know how common Bengals are in the United States? Or how probable it is that a loose Bengal would have mated with a loose tabby cat in Sheboygan (Native American name), Wisconsin, in the Midwest United States? A brief Google search led me to your site and I’ve enjoyed perusing it. Sorry for this novel-length post and thanks in advance for any comments you may have. You all seem like simply lovely people! Take care, and greetings from Green Bay, Wisconsin, home to Rachel, Clarabelle, and Ramsey. 😉

    1. Hello Rachel, Clarabelle, and Ramsey! Thank you for your lovely message, we enjoyed reading every word 🙂

      You can send photos to us here and we will gladly take a look and offer our opinions 😉

  136. I just rescued three kittens and one is much different than the others can you help identifying her? I could email you pictures or fb message them to you. Plz let me know if you can help

    1. Hi dee! Yes, we will help if we can 🙂 Please feel free to Facebook message some photos 😉

  137. Hi Spot, we have just recently ‘rescued’ what we think is a snow/silver/marbled bengal (with yellow/orange eyes) from a cat shelter. We are quite sure he is part or all bengal – he has all of the obvious character ‘tells’ his fur and physical appearance is very bengal – larger head, muscular neck and shoulders, longer back legs long slim tail, striped legs and tail and back. He also has a lighter spotted belly and webbed large feet. When he sits in the sun, his fur just shines and sparkles like no photo can illustrate.

    He is noisy, vocal and extremely playful and energetic, in-fact in the mornings he is more interested in playing than eating!… He vocalises his wish to play, to have his tray cleaned and to be fed… We know (for sure) that he was stray for about 2 years, being fed by a lady who was a cat lover. He was homed in the shelter for adoption as he was not happy sharing his territory with other cats and had become aggressive towards his benefactors other cats. When we picked him up he was so timid and scared that it took almost 3 weeks for him to allow us to get close enough to touch him.

    Most of the time he is sweet and sociable, but we have had a couple of instances when he has urinated on our sofa, clothes or bed, usually after we have been unable to attend to him (been in the shower or bathroom when he has been calling…)

    Can you help? We don’t want him to think that it is OK to ‘pee’ on our stuff or think that he can just have our attention whenever he requires it… Have you any suggestions how we can calm him and avoid this behaviour?

  138. Hi
    Great posts….I am considering a cat however live in an apartment….do you think getting 2 x Bengal kittens for an apartment is a good idea? I wonder if they are better suited to having some outdoor space given their breeding background?
    Thanks
    L

    1. Hi Lindsey. Many Bengal cats live happily in apartments, though there must be lots of toys and activities for them to do such as cat trees and climbers etc. I know of a few people who have also bought cat wheels for the indoor-only Bengals, though these are a bit pricey 🙂 You could also always consider taking them out for walks when they’re old enough. Of course, the best play things they would have would be each other so if you are considering getting a Bengal, two is most certainly better than one 🙂 Good luck!

  139. Everyone wants to talk about their Cat Owners, yes they own us.

    I got enslaved by this loud character called Little Dude who is now just The Dude. First it was please share your lunch with me, then it was let;s play, to NOW YOU WILL WORSHIP ME! Insidious creatures.

    So much is so subjective about behavior and vocalizations, and we have so many permutations out here in the environment of feral cats that to have a Bengal can only be certainly ascertained by getting one from a breeder. Yet, that does not mean much in the face of all of these characters that so many write of here.

    So, for us formerly free people who were ambushed by one of these characters hanging around the place, this is what I have come up with from all of the articles I have been able to read, and the chatter here.

    To have what would appear to be a Bengal, it Must have::

    White Belly including chin.
    Black tipped Tail and be stripped with no less than 8 stripes
    Left Right asymmetry on sides
    Stripes on Legs and running down the back to tail root
    Marbled or Spots on sides
    Soft Pelt like fur

    OK you are now in the Bengal world, 75-80%

    Longer Back Legs
    Now you are in the 81-90%

    Bonus Attribute – Likes Running water 3%

    Bonus Attribute – Swipes regularly in interaction and play – 3%

    Bonus Attribute – Will ascend sheer vertical surfaces to get to food (Asian Leopard Cars eat lots of birds) or to you when you call (dog like personality) , displays of -long jump punches when attacking other cats (spectacular violence) – any one of these or all = 3%

    remaining 1% is reserved to verified origin.

    This places The Dude in the 96 percentile among all of the Tabbies around here.. I know better than to try and make him a 100%er in my mind, but he appears to be up there in what is dominant in him.

    What an intriguing, attractive, and addictive animal. This means a lot coming from someone who believes cats should only be named after Menu Items at a Chinese Restaurant.

    the only experience better is 3 kittens in an enclosed hard floor space with 4-5 pecans.. American Gladiator never had anything on such Battle Cats.

  140. Sorry, I have to comment further, and I usually attribute the words ‘disdain’ and ‘contempt’ to the personality of the feline genus. I am serious about the Chinese Restaurant Menu items thing, and thus great accolades have to be given to this 96% Bengal in my life.

    The Asian Leopard Cat was well preserved in the creation of the Bengal. In the wild and in the Bengal, they are awesome patterned little Leopards, very attractive little Dudes and Dudettes who are prolific climbers to go and get birds. The Leopard cats would have proper company with the domesticated cat as they have no society, so the independent nature of them would mix well with the general disdain and contempt of felis domesticus.

    Yet, the breeders out did felis domesticus, at least in the Cat that has enslaved me. He is highly social, which got him fed as the other cats are wild feral weasels looking for a free lunch. If they would associate and be social, they would get food.

    I have to feed him inside because he was gathering a harem, and is so sociable that he would not run anyone off.

    So I wonder if the Bengal is more Human interactive than most of Felis Domestici.

    Now I started everything with this guy by sharing a lunch, as I had no cat food. There was a time that he disappeared for about 3 weeks and came back really thin. Then the cat food was being eaten by other cats as well, and he was not gaining weight or running the others off. Then something came in the garage ate his food and left a feces deposit right next to the bowl 2 nights in a row,

    He eats inside now, and he will no eat unless I sit with him. Silly, He is not allowed to roam the house because he sprays as he is still a stray, so if I have to go do something else he stops eating and crouches in the middle of the room, then if I am delayed he comes looking for me to make me sit with him.

    The Stray Bengal –

    here is the wild stuff around here with The Dude. I find him on roof tops and in trees from time to time, the Bengal genes are serving this individual, The Dude, very well, because he really has nowhere to run, and one almost feels sorry for the lesser weasels disguised as cats around here, as one cannot hide under the houses because the dogs get under the houses too.

    They cannot take a short run up a tree because the stray dogs here climb the trees too.

    Scale a 7′ fence at will, well you had better because the dogs here climb them and stand on the top of them, so 7′ is merely an obstacle and no destination for safety,

    Any cat around here with lesser than Bengal genes is just not going to make it. Might be one reason I see a lot of cats around patterned like him, because some Bengal genetic skills are required just to survive.

    This is a company job house here. The boss was in town one day and saw The Dude attack an intruding Male, He had an awestruck look on his face describing his 4-6′ leaping attack off a 2′ porch in the the yard, seeing the other cats fur flying, and Little Dude actively pursuing the intruder for a block and a half. Like he had never seen such violence before his own eyes before. The boss could not believe the violence in the harmless fuzz ball.

    If you have one of these spectacular animals in your life, being sociable, interactive, environmentally vibrant, you will probably never encounter another animal with such a soul. Truly an exceptional experience to be owned by one of these creatures.

    I am still serious about the Chinese Food Menu items thing. That is a testament to the breeding of the Bengal.

  141. Hi! I was reading your blog wondering if my cat, Nala, was at all a Bengal. She sounds like one so far but I was still wondering if Bengal cats are polydactyl.
    My cat is and her feet are what I love about her so much! 😆 Love your blog so much btw!!!

    1. Hi Cayla! Thank you for your kind words 🙂 Bengals are not typically polydactyl, but you can get the odd exception to the rule now and again, as you can with any breed 🙂

  142. My Bengal, Taz, is so sweet! He is almost like a dog! He greets people when they drive up to the driveway, and is so friendly. He makes friends with all the neighborhood cats. He loves water, drinks so much and loves to put his paws in my bath water! I have always loved cats. but this is the most lovable cat ever! I board him when we go on vacation, because he is so friendly. I know someone would love to take him! He is going to grandma’s next month while I am away.I know she will fall in love, but she can’t have him. He’s my boy! He loves my poodle mix; they are best friends — brothers. What a joy! He has spots and stripes with a very long tail, and is a big boy. My vet thinks he may be part bobcat!

    1. He sounds like a real character 🙂 I hope you have many happy years with him 🙂 Enjoy your trip! 🙂

  143. Hi,
    Found this very informative.

    13 years ago, a cat my daughter trailed home one day, and we subsequently found was pregnant, produced a litter of 3 females and 2 males. I kept the last-born, the runt, who at 13 is still an impressive cat of 6 kilogramms.

    His siblings were all typical Bengals with spotted coats. Max has all the characteristics of a Bengal, but is black. He has a very distinctive sheen to his coat, and he has the large, kinky Bengal nose and long hind legs. In the sunlight, you can see spotted marking in his coat.

    I’ve heard that these cats are called “Melanistic” Bengals. Can anyone offer further information? He’ll be relocating to the Continent with his friend, Mr Tiddles,next month. I’ll be driving and taking the ferry to Dunquerque (don’t want to be stuck in Calais) and would be grateful for travelling advice.

    Thank you!

    1. Hello Hannah! Yes, you can get black Bengal cats and they are called Melanistic! It’s just like in the wild where you get melanistic big cats that we know more commonly as panthers 🙂 In terms of travelling, if he is not used to it, I would consult your vet. They may be able to give you either some natural remedy or some mild medication to help calm him. Make sure he has enough food and water for the trip and of course a space where he can visit the toilet.

  144. My husband and I was given a 4 month kitten recently. She told us he was half Maine Coon, but I don’t see it. I think he might be part Bengal. His fur is so soft, he is marbled and the marble does not match on both sides, but he has white feet, chest and belly. He does have one big spot on his belly, he has black, what I call tuffs, on the tips of his ears. I’m just curious if I might have a part Bengal kitten or just a beautiful tabby.

    1. Hi Anna! It’s impossible to be certain if you don’t know his ancestry, but hopefully our article helps – perhaps as your boy grows older, he might develop some of the personality traits of a Bengal so you may be correct in thinking he has some Bengal genes in his bloodlines 🙂

    1. Hello! As you know, Bengals (of any colour) are not supposed to have white socks. Sometimes you can get Bengals that have ‘faults’ such as white bits where they shouldn’t have them (e.g. lockets). So if you have the papers proving pedigree parentage then I would say it’s possible, though highly unusual. If you don’t have papers, I would be more doubtful. Depends on how much white there is too.

  145. What a great site! I had no idea my kitty was a bengal until I started researching cat breeds, and when I realized my Bandit fits the bengal description like a glove -there’s no doubt- I found your site. I really didn’t like cats much before, but my friend had a kitten she couldn’t keep and was going to give it to a horrible local farm where the people would let the dogs kill the barn cats if they felt like it. I planned on keeping him until I could find a better home than THAT. The first day he stole the cash my sister left on the table for the pizza boy, and he took it downstairs and left it on my bed-thus how he got his name. He was so social, had so much personality, and I loved how talkative he was (And NAUGHTY, which I love) and followed you around and would wait at the door for me-and needless to say I grew to love him quickly. He is six now, and the best gift God has ever given me I didn’t know I needed, he has been there and a huge blessing when I used to struggle with addiction and depression. He is so sweet, he seems to have empathy and consideration for others, especially (mostly) me and my boyfriend, (who never liked cats before either, I told him when we moved in that he would fall for Bandit) I know exactly what you mean about the ‘glittery’ fur, I can’t even describe how shiny, soft and sleek his coat is compared to other cats. My mom calls him the basketball kitty because of his long legs and loping walk. He is an AMAZING hunter- one second he’s just sitting there, then WHIP! SWAT! He does a somersaulting leap way up in the air, then sits down to munch his fly. I never have flies in the house for long, and when I lived with my mom he would catch a mouse in any room in just a few minutes. I can’t ever shut doors unless he’s on the same side as me, or else the meeyowing starts! He invents the funniest games, too. The newest one is rushing over to the nearest rug, then meeyowing a certain way to signal he wants a ‘rug ride’, where I pull the rug around the floor with him on it until he leaps tumbling off it. I didn’t even know cats could be as intelligent as he is, he can say ‘hello’ and then has several specific meows for specific things, and he can understand not just words but countless phrases, and can imitate bird chirps so well it lures the birds in. (Though I don’t let him outside to catch them) He has a different chirp for different birds even! I love how he sleeps with me, gets up whenever I do and follows me from room to room and waits at the window for me when I go for a walk. I swear that since he’s always nearby he’s helped my mental issues more than anything else. Not to mention the comic relief, oh my he does the funniest and naughtiest things-always seems to know when I need cheering up! (Ransacking the toilet paper bag and getting it everywhere is my favorite) If I’m talking to my boyfriend and we haven’t noticed him for a few minutes we’ll look over and there he is-upside down on the floor, all four paws straight up in the air, ears mushed on the floor with his head cocked-just looking at us, waiting to notice him, and that’s when he’ll bat at his tail, like “see what I have to do to get your attention?! …but arn’t I cute?” He is amazing. Sorry, this is a long post but bengals have so much personality to describe, its hard to keep it short! Good to know there are other people blessed with kitties with as big of personalities as mine, they are such a gift. Thanks for reading, and remember-beware the meeyow!

    1. Hello Jenny! Thanks so much for sharing your experiences with Bandit. He certainly sounds like a character and we’re so pleased you rescued him! 🙂

  146. I found this very helpful, I have been trying to figure out if my kitten has Bengal in her. From reading this I do not think she does, but definitely believe that she is one of the tabby breeds you mentioned I was wondering if you could email me and I could sent you a picture and you tell me your opinion on her breed. If so I would greatly appreciate it!

    1. Hi Robin! Thank you 🙂 Yes, we have a FB and Twitter page, both called Bengal Cat World so quite easy to find 🙂

  147. Great website – helpful info. I BEG YOU ALL not to get a “bengal” cat or any other bred cat while SO MANY are suffering and being put to death in shelters. there are so many beautifyul, lovable cats that are suffering. It is vanity to breed them, to adopt a highly bred cat. If you love cats, I beg of you to save one of the millions put to death each year, and NOT participate in breeding when SO VERY MANY are suffering and in need of homes.

  148. Hello my name is Jenn. I have two Bengals. One is a 3 year old unaltered female her name is Shadow. I was given her by a neighbor about a year ago and I have come to realize she was abused by how she is always hiding in random places in the house. It took nearly a year to get her to finally warm up to me. Shadow when she is playful and calm loves to lay in the sun. she tries to be a sneaky kitty and pounces on the dog. She has a bonded 2 year old Calico American Short-hair/Bengal she loves named Spirit. Honestly I have to admit it was Spirit who got her to be comfortable with my 2 kids, husband, dog, and I. I just recently got another Bengal Kitten who just so happens to be all black. His name is Loki he is 2 months old. He loves to play, eat, and sleep. He is very fearless and challenges everyone and anything it is quite cute. My question is how do “panther” Bengals occur?

    1. Hello! Black Bengals, otherwise known as ‘Melanistic’ is a natural colour that occurs when the two parents carry the appropriate genes. So just like in the wild where you get black panthers and pumas, you can also get black Bengals.
      As an aside, we would recommend that you spay Shadow, as unaltered females can suffer from different diseases if they are not bred from, and they can also be more problematic in behavioural terms. She may well settle much better once she has been done. And of course, breeding should only be undertaken by registered breeders.

  149. I have a young cat that I believe might be a Bengal (or half). She’s a tortie, but is definitely not the standard 50/50 black and orange. She has some patterning and there is a lighter and darker shade of orange in her fur. That’s not why I think she’s got Bengal in her though. She has a very muscular physique, and her hind legs are longer than the front. She’s the fourth cat I’ve raised from a young age and by far the most challenging. Everything that moves is a thing to be hunted (my poor toes). Very high energy, incredibly smart, and into absolutely everything. Her meows are distinctively ‘bark-like’.

    I also know that she was dumped as a kitten very close to a large Bengal cat breeder. I’ve thought it was possible that she wasn’t a desirable pattern or that she was a mix and so she could have been dumped.

    Have you ever heard of a full breed Bengal with a tortie pattern? Or do you think it would be more likely that she’s a mix? I can send pictures too.

    1. Hi Sarah! A full breed Bengal will not usually have a tortie pattern, though of course it’s entirely possible she could be a mix You can email us some photos if you wish 🙂

  150. I recently adopted a rescue kitten and my daughter insists she’s a Bengal. I couldn’t care less, either way as I love all my babies. I noticed that she’s not like any cat I’ve ever had & decided to research bengals. I landed on your site & swear you are writing about my baby. Soooo many things are now explained.
    My main concern is how to keep her inside. My neighborhood is far too dangerous for her to go out. I’ve adapted my ways of leaving. I go out through the garage & if I’m not fast enough, she is still inside & safe. I close the door, turn the light off & in 5 minutes she wants back in.
    Right now, she races me (and only me) to the door. When my daughter & her young man come to visit Gracie she doesn’t try to get out when they leave. Perhaps it’s because I’m her human & not them; but I’m very worried that she’ll get out. She wouldn’t last long as she’s only 4 months old.
    Any suggestions you have that will aid in deterring her from charging the door would be greatly appreciated.
    I’m sure she’s only part Bengal but I tried a squirt bottle when I left one day & my baby beast charged AT the water on her hind legs batting at the water with her front. It was the funniest thing I’d ever seen. I adore that baby so much & have had her only 2 months. She’s also the naughtiest kitty I’ve ever had. But you should see her romping with my 6 year old chihuahua who at long last has a playmate.

    1. lol 🙂 Bengal cats often get along very well with dogs 🙂 The only things I can suggest regarding leaving the house are practical ones, such as is there a door you can close before you get to the garage so she can’t race you to the garage door? Are there any other doors you could use that either have double entrances or that again have another door you could close in the room where the external door is, therefore not allowing her access to that room where you come into/leave the house?? I don’t think there is much behaviourally you can do otherwise – she sees this as a game 🙂

  151. Hi There how can I post a photograph of my Tigger to find out if he is indeed Bengal as I was told he was.
    Thanks

    Kathy

  152. So I’m pretty sure I’m a Bengal. My mom found a picture of a purebred Bengal and we look almost identical. My daddy disagrees, so I’m hoping that you can settle it (they think I’m purrfect either way). I’m charcoal, grey and silver. My silver coloring is so bright my mom says I’ve been kissed by the moon! My fur glitters and mom says it feels like a bunny rabbit’s fur! It’s so shiny that she says I could’ve been a “Breck girl” (whatever that means). I don’t have a whole lot of marbling. It almost looks like someone drew silver swirls on me with a pen. My markings are definitely not regular tabby markings but they are asymmetrical, though, and very unusual. My tummy is very very spotted (and I love having it rubbed, just like a puppy). My tail is fat but not fluffy and I have the right head and ear shape. My body is long and lean but I’m a pretty good-sized girl, and still growing.
    I’m also obsessed with water and have an otherworldly yowl that I terrorize my family with when I’m feeling neglected 🙂
    I’m going to email you a couple of pictures. I’d love to hear your thoughts. I was a stray and was found wandering around a farm. My mom rescued me, because the girl who found me was going to take me to the pound.
    We had trouble with the online email form so we used the email address that popped up and direct-emailed you.
    Looking forward to hearing from you!!!

  153. We have a rescue kitty from Afghanistan that we thought might be a Bengal at first because of markings and other factors – he is needless to say rather unusual in coloring, markings, size and personality. After a lot of research online we decided if there is any ‘heritage’ other than that of a mongrel kitty, he must have some Ussuri cat in him (which might make sense being from Afghanistan). He is rather large (13 lbs), has a very short sleek and satiny coat that is an unusual sandy golden brown – perfect for blending into the Afghan desert with an unbroken ‘collar’ ring and some other neck/chest striping and blotches on his sides that have a faintly darker margin when seen in the right light. He has large golden eyes and his brown ears end with distinct black ‘tufts’ about 1/4″ long. After reading you Bengal story above, I am again questioning whether he has some Bengal in him or not. So much of your description matches him to a ‘T’. When he is unhappy with his litter box (he has some digestive problems we have not been able to correct) he howls like a banshee and he is a very vocal cat – ‘talks’ a blue streak. Other than an expensive genetic test, is there any other way to tell if he’s a Bengal?

    1. Unfortunately there is no way to be absolutely certain, Helene. Even a genetic test would not be conclusive. I would say it’s unlikely he has Bengal if he is from Afghanistan as they are not common in that area, but who knows? Anything is possible! I’m sorry we could not be more definitive in our reply.

  154. Hi so around 2 months ago we got this kitten and i personally think that he is a cross breed at least with a bengal and a tabby whereas my dad feels that he is just a tabby. Jinx loves to play in the water and splash around, he also races to the door to great my mam, he loves to be picked up like a baby on his back and have his stomach rubbed. Everyone single morning as well as through the day he sits at your feet crying for you attention until you pick him up. He has a really long body when stretched out and whilst he is in your arms he rubs his face against yours and you only have to touch him for him to start purring. And lastly he is ever so energetic, apart from when the light is turned out on a night in which he lays down on his bed until morning comes. Oh and he also loves his food apart from pepperoni (not sure if that is spelled right) in which he tried to dig a hole into our carpet to bury it. Thanks and if you could email me and i will send some photos. I just wanted to know if he was part bengal at least

  155. I had been Interested in buying a Bengal I saw the weirdest ad on Craigslist for a “snow Bengal” for 100 dollars. I’ve emailed back and forth with the person including them cursing at me that it was a Bengal. Is there anyway you could tell me. I have pictures of the cat but I’m sure it’s a tabby cat. They showed me pictures of what supposedly is the first born kittens that look Bengal which I’m guessing the father was Bengal and mother a tabby.. I’ve never seen a stripped Bengal. I’m curious to see if it’s true that it’s a bengal

    1. Hi Lillian. You get what you pay for in this life. I would be almost 100% certain that this ‘breeder’ is not registered and is only trying to make a fast buck or two. We advise you to steer clear and only go to responsible, properly registered breeders and not those found via Craigslist. You may have to pay a bit more, but you are getting a much better quality kitten. By all means, send us photos if you wish – you can email then to us here

  156. Hi Spot, Spot the Bengal is very interesting and informative. I saw a kitten marble coat short fur with long tail. It’s was put in a cage with a domestic short haired. I observed that it will quickly give his hand to cover “the thing” immediately after his room mate “done his job”. Is it one of the Bengal unique characteristics.

    1. Hello Jaidin! It’s not something we have personally observed, but Bengals are quite a fastidious breed, so it would fit in with their personality 🙂

    2. Hello Jaidin! It’s not something we have personally observed, but Bengals are quite a fastidious breed, so it would fit in with their personality 🙂

  157. Great article! I had never heard of Bengals until I started doing research into some of my “rescue kitty’s” strange behaviors. The more I found the more I’m convinced he must be, at the very least, a Bengal mix. However, unlike the beauties in your article, my boy is entirely black, with the exception of two large white patches on his underside. I don’t see much about this coloring in my cyber travels. Do you know if it’s possible? I’m wondering, if it’s an “undesirable” trait, perhaps an unscrupulous owner turned him out because of his color. He was discovered wandering alone in a corn field (at only eight weeks old… he’s quite a scrapper!). Thanks for your time and your assistance!!

    1. Hello Laura! Yes, it is very possible to have a black Bengal cat, they are also known as “melanistic” Bengals, if you google that, you will probably find lots of pics 🙂 It’s just like in the wild where you have all black wild cats, otherwise known as panthers 🙂 Some breeders think it is undesirable, though others encourage it as it is quite rare. So pleased your boy was rescued 🙂

  158. hi there my cat i think has bengal in her she defo sits on my lap y on loo and she sits having a conversation with me whilst im on the loo she is silvery coloured with stripes fur is softer than soft vet said they have never seen such a soft coat, vet also said to me she isnt no moggy which i thought she was lol shame i cant upload a pic otherwise i would to show you and maybe i could of got some confirmation on this

  159. I need to no how I can tell if my cat taz is mixed with bengal. His mom was bobcat n lyinc mix n I don’t no what daddy’s was. He has leperd spots n little bit of a Orange color. He is a grey tabby looking cat. He is the only one that lets me give him baths. He has markings I’ve never seen b4. I seen pictures n that’s why I’m asking.

  160. Question At what age does the Bengal cat hair gets mostly orange??? My Bengal will be 2 this month the hair is so full of gold hair tin the outside light he sparkles with gold hair his belly is beautiful orange He walks on a lease not allowed outside without the lease get some many remarks what is the 2 breeds????and how large should he get height and weight Thanks for any info

    Yvonne

    1. Hello Yvonne! Bengal colouring will depend largely on their genetics and what colours their parents, grand-parents etc are. By 2 years old, the colour will be pretty fixed (although snows can darken after this age). Weight varies from 10 – 15 pounds on average for a males though you can get them that are both lighter and heavier than this. Height? I’ve not ever measured the height of our cats, but they are usually a little taller than your average domestic shorthair, though again some can be much larger.

  161. Questions ?
    Teusday Feb 16 2016

    When my three little ones were born I couldn’t believe my eyes they are marked so differently and when I researched it on Google well it all pointed to Bengals !
    I have two questions first the female is SOOO tiny compared to her brothers , shes half their size is this normal ?
    My second question is this my three babies have extra toes what do you think about this ?
    And I do have a third question , how do I go about selling them I have an abundance of snows and four swirls ?

    1. Hello Janine
      Females are often much smaller than males, so this is normal.
      Having extra toes is called ‘polydactyl’ – it’s not uncommon.
      We personally only agree with registered breeders selling litters. But make sure you don’t advertise on free sites such as Gumtree etc and make sure any possible new owners are thoroughly checked out.
      We hope that helps 🙂

  162. I have a 4 month old Bengal (her name is Priscilla) that I have had since she waswas 12 weeks old. I also have a tabby cat who is 23 years old (had her since she was 10 weeks) who recently went blind and is showing the beginning signs of some cognitive issues. Yet still eats a bowl plus of food everyday, tail still constantly moving, and can still get arpund ok.
    Here’s the problem – the bengal kitty terrorizes her! She stalks her whenever she moves to go ANYWHERE!!!! She will lay right up next to her (almost face to face) then just whack her for no reason, dart by her at 105 miles an hour which she knows startles her. I could go on and on. I am constantly squirting her with a squirt bottle to try to deter her but it only works momentarily. My old cat is so stressed out I picked her up and she bit my shoulder. She has NEVER bit me or even tried.
    I am wits end with the bengal kitty and don’t know what to do short of finding her a new home which I don’t want to but will do if I have to. My old cat has been the best cat in the history of all cats ever and doesn’t deserve being put through this. HELP PLEASE!!!!!

    1. Hi Megan
      Unfortunately Bengals are high energy cats and want to play and have others around them be high energy too. With two such different cats with different needs, we would recommend that you separate them if at all possible. Give them both their own space with the things that they need – toys and activity for the Bengal and lots of comfy and safe sleeping and relaxing places for the older cat. And of course give them both lots of love attention. We hope that helped!

  163. I am curious because we recently got a kitten who at first looked like just a tabby, but once I looked closer I realized he has leoprd type rings in the orange part of his coat. He’s half white and half orange with the rings in the Orange part of his coat and stripes on the Orange part of his legs and tail. I was thinking he was maybe part Bengal, but now I’m not sure after reading your post. He’s got tons of energy and is very talkative which is why I’m unsure if he’s part Bengal (or maybe one of the other breeds you mentioned) or if he’s just a tabby that somehow has leopard rings in his coat.

    1. Unless you know his family history, Keara, it’s very difficult to be sure either way whether or not they are a Bengal mix.

  164. Hi there! I was thinking of the getting a kitten and so unsure whether it is Bengal… The breeder claims it is a Bengal kitten… But after reading this, I’m sure that it is not… But speaking of the tail Colour, even for a marble, the tip is dark Colour as well? I hope I can send you a picture of the kitten for you to let me know whether I should buy and trust the breeder… Hope to hear a favourable reply from you soon.. Thank you

  165. Tabbies or mixed Bengal cats tend to have white socks or feet. A pure breed Bengal should have the feet the same uniform colour as the rest of its body and the soles are black in colour.

    1. True, though we’ve seen quite a few Bengal mixes that don’t have white socks or feet 🙂

  166. I got my cat when she was 14 weeks old and from someone who had a litter of bengal kittens. My cat is not as spotted as most bengals and I’m not sure why. She has all of the traits of a bengal. Her fur is grey and brown, it is also very sleek and shinny and pelt like. She is also a very large cat about 12lbs. She also has spots on her stomach. Her pattern is spotted and stripped( she has a partial marble pattern and a partial spotted pattern) . The person I got her from told me both of her parents were retired Bengals. I believe the litter was an accident , so I know they were not breeders. The reason I wanted a Bengal is because they are closed to being hypoallergenic and my boy friend is allergic to cats. He doesn’t seem to have much of a reaction to her and she does shed quite minimally. I am just wondering why is my bengal cat not as spotted as most? How can I know for sure if she is a 100% bengal or not is there anyway to find this out?

    1. If the person you bought them from has papers to prove the mother and father are Bengals, then the litter will be also. Sometimes you get better “quality” cats (in terms of pattern) and sometimes the quality isn’t so good.
      So the answer is that one or both of the parents are not Bengals, one or both of them could be a ‘poor quality’ Bengal, or maybe it’s just the luck of the draw. There’s not much you can do to be 100% sure if she is pure bred or not. Whatever her markings, I’m sure this doesn’t detract from her purrsonality or your enjoyment of her.

  167. Hello I have really enjoyed reading everyone’s comments. I have recently gotten a 9 month old male bengle “Tay”. I am not sure he is a real bengle. He is a snow , and it’s hard to tell his markings are so light on his body to really tell if he is a true bengle. He is a tan cream Coe with a darker tan face ,feet, and along his spine . He has light blue eyes along his spine you can see spots but his middle section is hard to tell if it’s a strip or spot pattern . I have seen small kittens with distinct patterns. Do the snow Bengals coats darken up with time or is it just how it is. He does like drinking out of the faucet and you can’t use the bathroom alone your bathroom time is no longer private . He is a very affectionate cat. He’s in whatever room you’re in. He loves to be up high and he will run through your house like a like a madman. When he plays with his toys he likes to grab it with his front paws and stand on his hind legs and he’ll walk a few steps. Can you help me tell if I have a bengle. I have pictures if you’d like to see.

    1. Hi Renee! It sounds like you have a seal lynx point snow Bengal. These are the only type of snow Bengal with blue eyes and they are born pale and do darken with age 🙂 Same as our Lula, she was very pale when born but is quite dark now.

  168. Hi, we adopted a 5 month old kitten from the pound and wasvtold he was part maine coon. 4 months later he had grown into a beautiful cat from a ragamuffin. Lol. Sonce we have had him, he is different from any cat we have ever had or seen. He is very good st entertaining himself, he has this very quiet squeaky voice unless he really wants something then it is very loud. The thing that had gotten us dumbfounded is acts like a wild cat, the way he holds himself, walks , trots, everything about him. He does not like water. He is a real love bug ,but also turns around into a lion. He will get into this pattern were he will start runnung and jumping ss fast as he can. I ave started looking at the other breads for characteristics and the bengal comes the closest. Here is a link to my facebook where I post his pictures. Could he be half bengal? Thanks@

    1. Hi Julie! Unfortunately we can’t see your Facebook pics as the link is not accessible (it’s probably your privacy settings). You can email us a pic if you wish?

  169. Hi Spot,
    A year ago I hand reared 3 beautiful kittens from a week old, one dark golden tabby with spots, one grey/light brown tabby with spots and one black one.
    Just recently one of the girls who has the dark golden tabby mentioned that she thought they must have bengal in them.
    They are very hoomin orientated, my little girl follows me everywhere, like the other posts – even to the loo! She sleeps with me in bed and she purrs constantly but she also has a wild side, you can almost certainly tell, once she’s lost her foil ball she plays with, that she’s bored and looking for something else. I am also playing with hee to stimulate her and she plays fetch all the time with said foil ball. Shes very clever and if you pht a treat in a bag on the bench that you think she doesnt know about, shes in there and pinching it. Shes also very clever, she goes out to play but knows exactly when its her 9pm curfew and you can guarantee she is in at 9pm on dot or a bit sooner, never late! She even managed to open the draw under the bed and take her throw blanket in with her to sleep. She is 1 year old now and has not grown from a kitten!
    Shes quite small, very slim and quite sleek in her coat, although she has ticked fur, she has a few spots dotted about at the top of her back and stripes down her side, neck and legs, she also has a white belly.
    I have hand reared plenty of kittens but never one that needs quite so much stimulation, normally they settle by 9 months but not my girl, and not the other two!
    If you speak to her, ask her what she wants, she replies in little squeaks. Theres just something about her that makes me think she is more than a domestic. Could this be possible???

    1. Anything is possible, Katie, but unfortunately I don’t think you will ever be certain as there’s no tests you can do. She sounds just purrfect though! 🙂

  170. I was wondering if you could have a look at this kitten please im looking at getting they say it’s a bengal cross and this is the first Ever bengal owned have had other breeds

  171. Good afternoon,

    This may sound stupid but I bought a “HALF SAVANNAH/HALF BENGAL” cat mix from someone. If you could help me identify if she truly is a half savannah, half bengal… I’d truly appreciate. I know breeding both breeds is and sounds atrocious… But hey… I guess they tried somehow… My cat seems like a marbled oriental cat, however, she’s brown and she has spots on her tummy.

    I just recently made the instagram account today July 30, 2016, just to show you pictures and videos of my cat.

    She’s very loving and we have a bond, she’s grew attached to me. She’s playful and smart. She loves to climb and stay in high places. She loves to sleep with me and around me. She loves to stay with me or she loves to be around my presence. She follows me everywhere I go in the house, if a door is locked and she and I are separated she MEOWS like there’s no tomorrow. She constantly meows a lot also. She wakes me up when she’s hungry or when her litterbox is full of poop she wont stop meowing. She meows a lot when I’m in the washroom washing my face, doing my makeup or getting ready in general. Although, she’s extremely TERRITORIAL especially when it comes to her bed I made for her which is just right beside my bed. When I’m asleep, she also goes to sleep because I wake up to her sleeping on her bed next to me curled up (SO ADORABLE). Whenever I talk to her or say hi to her she responds with a meow and she goes around against my legs rubbing herself and meowing LOUD. She just meows a lot. But anyway her fur is similar to that of an Oriental Marble cat, only my baby girl is brown, with stripes on her face and her body patterns are black marble lol if that makes sense.

    1. I always wake up to her EVERY SINGLE DAY sleeping on her bed RIGHT BESIDE ME which is only like at least 15cms away lol yeah I measured. Our beds are the same height so we see each other from a clear view when we wake up LOL. I woke up one time and so did she. Sometimes she would sleep right next to me or behind me or on my foot or behind my butt when I’m in fetus position. Anyway my instagram is instagram.com/colbythebengalsavannah

      I’d love for you to check it out just to identify her or at least please try. Thank you 🙂

      P.S. STupid me forgot to ask the previous over for her registered papers or vet papers and I recently broke my phone and I lost contact of her and even the ad that has her phone number in it was deleted so I dont know any other way to contact the previous owner to ask for the papers.

      1. Hi Amelia! Thanks for sharing your pics with us. It’s very difficult to tell from what we can see… she seems to have quite a strong Bengal appearance, but then she has large ears and a narrower face that are more attributed to a Savannah. She also looks quite big and of course Savannahs are much bigger than Bengals. So overall, from what we can see, we would say that it’s quite possible for her to be a Bengal/Savannah mix. We hope that helps 🙂

  172. I was just wondering, can my cat be part Bengal even if her coat is symmetrical? She has all the characteristics of a Bengal accept for the asymmetry.

    1. Hello Yoruichi! Yes, if she is part Bengal it’s certainly possible for her pattern to be symmetrical 🙂

  173. My Bengal girl tends to growl whenever someone knocks at the door, but she is such a timid little thing that she just runs when they come in. Her curiosity always gets the best of her though, and she will eventually come say hi… especially if the visitor wants to play! 🙂

    1. lol! Cats in general are very territorial so it’s not unusual for them to growl like dogs do when there is someone at the door 🙂 It sounds like she is a sociable little thing deep down 🙂

  174. Hi! Really enjoying your info here.
    We are hoping to adopt a 6 wk old Bengal/barncat cross,and successfully introduce him to our 3 year old indoor-but-active male. He’s fixed and declawed, and badly needs a sibling for playtime and cuddling company when Mom and Dad are away at work. Should we expect anything out of the ordinary when attempting to convert the newcomer(our first Bengal!) to an indoor 4th floor world? And are Bens particularily cuddly with their humans?

    1. Hi Domino
      First of all, 6 weeks is much much too young for the kitten to be away from their mother. I am guessing that the person you’re getting him from will probably not have socialised him very well.
      In answer to your questions, you need to ensure there is lots for your Bengal to do if keeping them indoors. They need lots of activity and toys. Tall cat towers are a must, and you will probably also find when he’s older that he likes to get high up on furniture, doors, etc. If you can afford a cat wheel, lots of bengals love these.
      In terms of cuddliness, it all depends on the cat and how well they’ve been socialised from birth. You may need to work on that, without forcing anything on the cat.

  175. I was wondering if i can send a picture of my cat Furgie to you and see if we can decide or figure out what she is like her breed or the type of cat that she is?

  176. Hello, my boyfriend and I got a baby kitten about 2 months old from a friend. Whos story was that their house cat got out and became pregnant from a cat on the street. So I saw my Sunny Boy out of the bunch and took him home. He is almost a year old and e have never been sure about what he is, we have had people say he’s a tabby but have also had a few people bring to our attention that he looks like a bangel. So I looked up bangels and came across your page. There is many characteristics in a bangle that reminds me of my boy. I was wondering if I emailed you some details and pictures of him of you cpull answer our question?

  177. Thanks so much for writing such a lovely and informative article! I have 2 cats, one is an American shorthair and the other, our newest addition, Tigger, has had me wondering if he’s a tabby or a bengal for the longest time. He is the most affectionate cat I have EVER met, climbing all over me, following me, and even comes when I call his name. He hates being alone and constantly wants to be in everyone’s business. He is super outgoing and playful, can jump at least 5 feet in the air, and weighs like 15-20 lbs but he’s not even overweight! He doesn’t walk like a normal cat…he slinks like he is hunting. If I sent you photos would you be able to tell me whether he’s a tabby or bengal? He’s got all of my family puzzled!

  178. I have a cat I thought was just a regular tabby. Someone notice him walking behind me and my dog one day and said “I sure would love having a Bengal, they are beautiful cats” Until that
    a cat was just a cat to me, I just rescue them.
    Upon taking him to the vet for physical and to have neutered the vet wrote under breed “Bengal”. Bently does not look like the Bengals pictured he looks like a Tabby. How can I tell?

  179. Thanks for the checklist of physical features, which my pair of rescued Bengals passed with flying colors!
    A word to fellow adopters: BE PATIENT! My cats came from the local county shelter, among 73 animals, 17 of which were Bengals, seized from a woman who had kept them outdoors in rabbit hutches for most of their lives. Shameful, and in such filthy condition were they that I was sneezing and coughing for their first few days with me, until they cleaned themselves up! Now, 8 months post-adoption, Caesar (M, 16 mos.) and Josie (F, 36 mos.) are finally allowing themselves to be petted and continue to gradually become more and more affectionate. So, please don’t rush it, especially in the case of shelter cats which come from a history of abuse. Believe me, when they finally start warming up to you, it’s the greatest thing in the world!

  180. I’m curious if my cat is a Bengal mix he is highly active at night and he has the most mark and face shape as well as rosettes

  181. So I just got a kitten about a week ago…she’s 9 weeks and she’s so different then any cat I have ever owned! From what u have posted her marks look like a marble British kitty. Would u mind taking a look at her??
    I also have a tortiousshell that I never knew were around, and she is the most beautiful cat ever, If u know anything about them I’d love some info 🙂 she’s so unique

  182. Hello Spot.
    I think I may have accidentally found a Bengal that was dumped where we live. He is about 4 and 1/2 now but was found as a kitten. He has assymetrical marbling and gorgeous rosettes on his hind legs and the characteristic shimmer in the sunlight. The only difference is the white chin and paws. One of his favorite pastimes is to sit and howl in the garage just to make the dogs bark. The vet say he is not over weight, just a big cat (he weighs 14lbs). I was wondering what your thoughts were.
    Thank you so much.
    Audie and Yoda

  183. Hi ya Spot,
    I have beautiful Bengal Girl named Jaguar and she’s a rare(ish) Red Marbled Bengal. She is very much her daddie’s girl and is extremely territorial ( she’s been the only cat in the household for all of her nearly 14 years). She’s also a real scaredy-cat – she hates being outdoors where there’s no fences (that’s probably because i follow the Australian laws to the “T” and keep her indoors at all times). I’ve read lot’s of different articles on Bengal Cats and all of them pretty-much describe Jaguar to a “T”. However, this is the first one i’ve seen that mentions a Bengal cats peculiar toilet habits – Jaguar does often have either her front paws or all four paws on the rim of the litter tray…. all depending on whether she’s making a cash deposit or a lump sum deposit! She also goes crazy about moths! Jaguar is very vocal when it comes to food – even though she often starts “Demanding” when she knows dinner is still up to an hour away!

  184. Hi
    I have a cat, Jenny, that I found as a stray kitten who I think has some Bengal in her. I just wondered if you could give me your opinion please? She certainly doesn’t talk like my other cat (Maggie the elderly moggie), she meeps and mawps and kind of chirrups, once she starts she doesn’t stop and she’ll meep while purring when she’s being fussed, which she loves as she’s very clingy and affectionate. She has a very loud, long miaow which she’s not afraid of using! She has more of an oriental shaped face than Maggie, yellow/gold eyes and is marbled grey/brown tabby with a whitish muzzle, her markings are quite symmetrical but not entirely. She has a very long thin tail, small ears, long thin legs and small paws (black pads) and what’s best described as a bouncy, springy, erratic gait- while Maggie sort of mooches everywhere, Jenny will run/trot/skip/kind of jump in any combination. She’s smaller overall than Maggie, but then she’s really quite cobby (short and well-built), whereas Jenny is longer and thinner. She doesn’t have the glistening coat where she’s ticked but her black parts are very glossy, and her fur overall is finer and silkier than Maggie’s, but again Maggie’s is very thick and shaggy. She’s very alert and quite nervous but I think that’s maybe to do with however she was treated before I found her (she had a raw ring round her neck from a too-tight collar and while she took a while to get used to it, once I could pick her up she would always hide her face in my hair as though she was scared, she’s not that comfortable with other people). The vet thought she was part Bengal but wasn’t sure, she said she definitely had some sort of oriental breed in her and thought Bengal was most likely. Does she sound part Bengal to you? She also has a flea allergy and quite a delicate tummy, is this common to Bengals? I’ve had several cats and she has a sort of runt-of-the-litter look about her and doesn’t seem pure-breed of any sort. Thanks very much for your help x Lucy x

    1. Sorry, should add that she has a cream belly with some black spots but just pure cream towards and between her back legs. Thanks. Lucy x

  185. Your website is very interesting. I’m in Australia.
    Two years ago a starving kitten turned up on my bedroom window sill. Of course I ended up keeping him, even though I first tried to take him to an animal shelter (I already had two cats) and ended up going back to buy him back! They desex them and microchip them, which is good.
    But when I talked about him to a friend, she thought he sounded like a Bengal cat, as she knew someone who’d dumped two Bengal cats in a farming area (I don’t know how they can do that; he was so hungry his tail curled under him). Soon after finding this Bengal, I saw another cat, the spit image of him, looking through some food scraps in the barnyard near the house. But I never saw her again (My friend said one of the two dumped cats may have been pregnant.) I now have strays turning up that look a lot like my Bengal cross! I think they’re all related to the one that I only saw once.
    My George is so different from the other domestic cats that I’ve had. He’s very large; his body is one long muscle, when I pick him up I need two hands. He’s heavy. His markings remind me of a tiger; there’s just something about him, even though he looks a bit like a tabby – I have a large poster on my toilet door of various different wild cats on it. And he has the long strong tail that has the black spot at the end.
    When he goes to lie down, he just flops down and stretches out. He’s aloof, but is quite affectionate, but not smoochy. When I cuddle him he submits, then gets all rigid and demands to be let down – and I don’t argue! But he rubs noses with me quite happily. And he loves baking in the sun under a small skylight in the back corridor.
    I think he’s a Bengal cross, not a pure Bengal. The other day I saw a photo of a Bengal cross on an American website, and George looks exactly like that. Unfortunately when he goes outside and sees a stray, he really goes out for the jugular. Fairly vicious. Yet he’s no trouble when he needs to be given a deworming tablet, or defleaing powder. And he loses arguments with my other male cat.
    He loved my dog, he got on well with her, and soon after she died, and strays turned up at the back door, he started to spray inside, everywhere!!
    It is not impressive!
    I love the cat, and somehow I’m trying to cope – I’ve had to close nearly all rooms to him, and I’ve put cardboard against nearly most of the furniture, including the fridge! And plastic wrap on the bottom of the mirrors of my antique dressing table! One of my friends calls it the house of cardboard!
    He’s an interesting cat, not smoochy, as I said, but affectionate on his terms. In the morning he gets restless, wants to go out, and starts to spray. Actually, when I call out ‘No!’ he takes notice. He’s the first cat that I’ve ever had who actually listens to ‘no.’ They say they’re more like dogs, and I can see that. The trouble is that his spraying behaviour has affected my two other cats – my delicate female cat, Lucy, started to wee in other places, not the kitty litters, and my other male cat, Felix, is now far more aggressive, especially with the Bengal Cross. It’s a bit sad as beforehand they all got on so well, sleeping all curled up together.
    Any ideas on what to do about the spraying would be gratefully accepted!
    As for the interest in water, I haven’t noticed that, but the cat that visits me on the toilet and wants to sit on my lap, is the other, perfectly normal, black domestic shorthair!! That way he is assured of a cuddle!! Lol
    But sometimes George makes me laugh, when he takes a flying leap from one kitty litter to another in one go before deciding which kitty litter he’s going to use. (there are five old baby baths of kitty litter in a row down the side of the long central corridor of my old house).
    Bit of a crazy life style : ) : )

  186. What about the markings on the eyes? Looks almost like eyeshadow. I wonder if that is specific to bengals?

  187. Me and my boyfriend are thinking of adopting two female Bengals who are about 3 years old, but we live in a one bedroom flat with not a lot of room. The living room and kitchen are a decent size but the bathroom- where we were hoping to keep a litter box -is pretty small. Will this be an issue?

  188. Hi Spot,
    I have a black and white tabby named Lilly. She is the most prettiest cat I have ever seen. Her mother was a tabby and I think her father was a Bengal because he was cheeky and a bit of a jumpy cat! Can you help me ?

  189. Hey Spot I just wanted to leave a response, my hoomin found your article very helpful, when she adopted me she was told I was half Bengal but was never sure, thanks to your article she can be pretty sure. My last owners were mean and gave me away because I got pregnant because they leaft me alone with an unneutered male, I’m a very small cat so making furry jellybeans was hard on me but my hoomin did her best to help me through it. One of the jellybeans stayed with me and the other 2 have new hoomins, the Jellybean who stayed is very naughty and crazy but I love her most of the time. Both me and my jellybean are very Bengal but not quite all the way, we are too small to be full Bengal.
    Many thank yous
    Pepperoni
    =^.^=

  190. Webbing between the toes, or “webbed feet” are definitely a characteristic of Bengals. It’s a carry-over from the Asian Leopard Cat, which has webbed toes. I’d guess some Bengals may not have webbed toes (or barely noticeable webbing), depending on how far removed they are from an F1 Bengal.

  191. I have a kitten that does not fit the barn cat. She showed up under my deck. I am willing to keep her but am wondering who is missing her. I thi If you have recently lost your fur baby let me know.00

  192. We have a 6 month old kitty whose Mummy was a Bengal and daddy was a domestic short hair. She talks to us heaps-she we speak to her we are often met with a ‘meow’ and not just at times you would expect a ‘normal’ kitty to ‘meow’. She is a huge jumper-we are constantly amazed at how far she can travel. She is also fascinated with water-a Bengal trait from what I have heard. She loves nothing better than going into my sink, having a look around and sticking her paws in anything where there may be some water. She is more like a ‘dog’ than a cat. She loves to explore outside but if we call her name she will run to us without hesitation. She is very trainable. This makes me think, even though she is a cross, she has many Bengal traits. What do you think?

  193. Sorry if this was asked already (I made it through about a quarter of the comments before giving up) but may I ask why there was no mention of Savannah cats?

    They’re often confused with Bengals. I know they have different body and head shapes, but what about the markings? So Savannah cats would also be symmetrical then?
    What about crosses between Bengals and Savannahs? I have a Savannah that I guess has Bengal blood because she’s super shimmery.

    1. Hi Tina
      We have not discussed Savannah cats as the page is about Bengal cats and we don’t have the same knowledge about Savannahs to discuss them. The same way that we have not discussed in any detail (other than include a couple of pics) any other of the spotty cat breeds 🙂 We are just focusing on Bengals 🙂

  194. Hi,

    I have what was sold as a Bengal cat from a pet store. I know pet stores are not good sources to find pedigreed animals but she was given to me, so I have no complaints. She has a pedigree but it doesn’t look very authentic to me. I love her to pieces but I have doubts about her heritage. She does have some Bengal traits but some that are not, so I’m thinking she is a mix. She does have a very small head and what I feel are asymmetrical markings (spots and stripes), but small paws with large toes in comparison to the feet. As a matter of fact, I call her “lion toes” sometimes! She doesn’t shine or glisten, but she has fur that feels like a pelt, short fur that is very smooth and silky. I would be able to tell her from one of my other cats blindfolded.

    One unfortunate thing is that I noticed is that she has what I would call a “skinny” tail. It is tipped in black. She also has black fur between her toes, if that’s of any importance. She’s not crazy about water but I have caught her batting water out of her dish and leaving the floor beneath a mess.

    Her cry also isn’t remarkable. She cries very softly but cries immediately if I leave the room. I wouldn’t know that except that my daughter was in the same room she was in and told me about it.

    One thing I feel I should mention is that she’s not afraid of me getting her down from high places. She doesn’t cling to whatever she is on and very willingly allows me to pick her up. Many times, she just goes limp when I “rescue” her.

    Do you think she could possibly be a Bengal mix?

    Thanks for your help! Sincerely, Eleanore Merolla

  195. I have a black cat i picked up and im wondering if he could be a cross.
    he has a smaller head than our tabby and a small head compared to his body.
    he is very very talkative.
    always comes and sits in the bath when im going to the toilet.
    extremely fussy about his litter tray
    he is a big cat.
    fussy on food to the point where its only his dried food and tuna. bowl must be clean.
    his short coat is like silk i have never felt a cat soft like this before and its almost rich in feel its hard to explain.
    he is smart too.
    is it a possibility? how would i find out?

  196. I suspect our cat may be part Bengal. The shelter found him on the side of the road, so I thought he may have been abandoned when they found he was a mix. I came here to check as he had some characteristics of a Bengal. His back legs are longer, his pattern is different on either side etc. But he has white which I have never seen before. This is why I thought he may be part Bengal. Still not sure though.

  197. hi
    Robbie looks as if she were the twin of a cat I rescued 🙂
    her name is Habouba and I would love to send u her picture but I can’t from here
    it is amazing

  198. We take a cat from street and my vet said its mixed but i think someone put him there and he come to me he looked my eyes and gived me his hand and i adopted him. He is intelligence kind to my sons and 4 month old
    When i looked web i see snow bengals and said oh my got tiger u got twins. But still not sure that he is bengal. I wanna send some photos can u help me pls?

  199. Not looking for a Bengal and knowing next to nothing about the breed I recently adopted an adorable “as is” FIV positive high energy shelter kitten with light brown eyes that matched his coat, tabby markings on his forehead, white bib, white feet, black spots on his sides and an unusual black steak running from neck to tail. Once home and several searches later, additional traits emerged; unique vocalizations, low to the ground stalking behavior, asymmetrical markings and a fascination with water. He walks like a Bengal, talks like a Bengal and mostly looks like a Bengal but without genetic testing or a pedigree paper trail what differentiates a “Bengal mix” from a “pet quality Bengal” with color faults in the extreme?

  200. I picked up my orange kitty, sight unseen, except for a blurry photo. Thought he was 6 weeks, but was only 4 1/2. He greeted me with paws and arms spread, mouth open, a hiss and bit me on my nose. He howled like a seagull going home and when we got him home he also bit the nose of my husband, dog and cat upon greetings. Loves to slap faces of everyone. The vet calls him “uncooperative.” His name is Jack and we love him SO, SO much. I believed he might be half Bengal, at first attitude impression, but now he is almost 5 months old, weighs 8 pounds, has quite tall back legs, a small head for his body, rounded ears, extremely long tail and has been developing many spots and even some monochomatic rosettes in addition to very definate tiger stripes on his shoulders and hips and legs. He has 5 stripes down the back of his head leading to a solid stripe down his ringed tail, which, as I noticed upon 1st seeing him is slightly grayish, compared to the rest of him. He is very loveable at times, bites at other times, but he’s learning not to, he is constantly playful – never stops, more curious than any cat I have ever known and loves running water. Even jumped into my dogs bath! Just discovered my washing machine. He follows me from room to room throughout the day and already has a routine and comes when called, better than our dog. Oh yeah he’s a talker. Kind of argumentative, really. I miss him when Im not home and when we are gone, he and our dog get into mischief, (knocking over recycling bins and garbage cans, ripping into bags of food) as my dog alone never did before. He hunts his prey, and talks while carrying his “mice” before giving them to me. I would send a picture if I could figure out how. I have a picture of his mother, who was a pregnant drop-off stray on a woman’s doorstep. His father is unknown. Please let me know what you think. I guess anything is possible. Tell me how to send a picture and I will. Thanks for listening. BTW, I was think of getting a Bengal and studying up on them, but missed my 19 year old dearly departed orange tabby, I had to get a new orange kitty when he died. This one could not be more different from Ricky, but I love him just as much – already.

  201. I know our cat is a Bengal because we bought it as an ex breeding car, weirdly though and I have not seen this comment before, the tail can be quite upright and very stiff, so it seems she often was to display it’s rear end

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Tales from a Spotty cat