Pocket Leopards Bengals™

DETERMINING BENGAL "TYPE"

The ultimate goal of the bengal breeder is to have a domestic cat that resembles the wild Asian Leopard Cat (ALC) as much as possible. A bengal with "type" will resemble the ALC in many ways. Generally speaking, a F1 -F4 bengal will be have much more type then a SBT bengal (for explanations on the terms SBT and F1,F2,F3,F4, please see the "about bengals" page). The goal though is to breed SBT bengals with as much type as the F1's or better. All of the pictures of the bengals on this page will therefore be of SBT generations of bengals. All bengal pictures will also be bengals from our own cattery.

So how does one determine type? The best way to determine what anything should look like is to compare it with the real thing. For a bengal, the best way to determine type is to compare the bengal with the ALC and see how it measures up. It would behoove any bengal breeder to really study  ALC features and learn them so that they may compare their own cats. On this page, we will explore some of the features of the ALC and see how a bengal should resemble them. Bengal breeders have not yet been able to duplicate all of the ALC features with any great success, however we are continually striving towards the ultimate goal.

The ALC coat is only one part of the bengal cat that makes it look unique among domestics. We will explore the coat a bit but for the other features, imagine the cat has no color or is a solid color and compare the features of the bengal and the ALC that way. Don't let the pretty coat distract you from seeing "type". You know your cat has "type" if it still looked like an ALC even if it was not spotted.

COMPARING ALCS' AND BENGALS:

Below are some pictures of my good friend's ALC cub "Sabor". Sabor will be used in a breeding program and hopefully he will breed domestic bengals for a new foundation line. "Sabor" was bred in captivity and he lives in the house with the rest of the domestic cats including bengals and a feral cat.

In this part I am going to compare ALC features to bengals to show what traits bengal breeders should be striving for in their own bengal breeding programs. This is in no way an exhaustive list but I will add as much info as I can as time goes on. If you feel you have something to contribute to this page, by all means contact me and I'll see if I can add it. I am still in the process of learning (and probably always will be) so don't take my information as the ultimate authority on the subject. I hope though, to be able to at least open some eyes as to what to look for when looking at a bengal cat.

NOTE:Please do not copy or use any of the pictures or info. on this page without first obtaining permission.

All ALC pictures courtesy of my good friend Skye at LilLeopards

HEAD SHAPE/PROFILE:

In the picture below of the ALC, notice the profile and how the entire head is an "egg shape".  The forehead is domed rather then flat and flows nicely into the nose bridge. The back of the head just behind the ears is substantial. Notice the pictures of the Bengal kitten below (the kitten is "Little Miss", a Pocket Leopards Bengal) The angles of the pictures are slightly different from the angle of the pictures of the ALC cub but notice how closely the Bengal's profile resembles that of an ALC of near the same age.

FACE:

In the picture below, the ALC cub has black lines running down the forehead down to the corners of the eyes. Most domestic cats, including bengals,do not have this trait but rather have a tabby "M" that ALC's do not have. Bengal breeders are trying to duplicate the stripes on the face to look like a ALC and are trying to breed away from the tabby "M". In order to do away with the "M" , we will have to keep the"legs" of the "M" but get rid of the middle "V" that makes up them "M".

So instead of looking like this: M

We want our bengal to have lines like this: l ' ' l

Most bengal breeders are not yet successful in duplicating the stripes on the ALC's face as the tabby M seems to always pop up in the SBT generation of Bengals.

ALC's and domestic tabbies also carry a common trait and that is what is called "mascara lines" on the sides of the cheeks (picture above). The mascara lines look like sideways triangles (that are open on the end)on the cheeks. What is different about ALC's and tabbies though is ALC's have white in between the mascara lines while most domestics, including bengals, do not. If you look back at picture # 1 you will see the mascara lines.

FACE COLOR:

ALC's have white around the eyes and on the chin. We call this a "whited expression". Most SBT bengals do not carry this trait to maturity. Most bengal kittens have the white around the eyes but it tends to color over or fade by the time they reach adulthood. Most bengals do keep the white chin though.

There is also a dark "eye liner" around the eyeball, which many Bengals have.

EYES:

ALC's have large, nocturnal eyes that are round. They are a dark color. Many bengals have eyes that are very close to this shape, however I don't see many SBT bengal with eyes the same dark color as the ALC.

EARS:

Ears are smaller and rounded at the tips. Bengal breeders have found it hard to duplicate this trait in the SBT bengal. Most of the time if they can get the ears small, the tip will be more pointed then the ALC and if they can get the tips rounded, the ears will be larger then the ALC. This is a trait that Bengal breeders will probably be working on for some time before we can start to see major improvements in the overall appearance of the breed.

NOSE:

The nose itself is wide and the whisker pads are puffy. Many bengals carry these traits but not as pronounced as the ALC.

Ocelli:

ALC's have white patches on the back of the ears that many people refer to as "Night Eyes" because it looks to other animals like the cat has an extra pair of eyes on the back of the head. These white patches are called "Ocelli".

To date, most Bengal breeders have been largely unsuccessful in duplicating this trait in the SBT bengal. Many domestic tabby cats has a "Tabby Thumbprint" on the back of the ears which is an area of thin hair which makes it appear a little bit lighter then the rest of the ear, however, the tabby thumbprint is not to be confused with ocelli. Some bengal kittens are born with light, almost white or orangey colored areas on the back of the ears but in almost all cases the spots color over as the kitten matures. These light areas that color over in time are also not to be confused with true Ocelli.

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BODY

SHAPE:

The ALC has a long lean but muscular body. The picture of the ALC is of a still young cat so you cannot see the musculature in him yet. The ALC also has longer back legs than front legs and the ALC has a higher rump than a domestic. Bengals also are to have a similar body shape. Notice the pictures  below of the ALC cub and a bengal kitten of similar age. Although both cats are in a slightly crouching position, the pictures still show how the back legs are longer and the rump is higher then that of a domestic cat.

TAIL:

The ALC tail is short and thick. Bengals are allowed to have medium length to short tails which are also supposed to be thick. Most breeders are aiming for very short tails like that of the ALC. The tip of the tail is blunt and not pointed. The tail is carried low. Look at the picture below of the ALC and of the bengal and compare the size, shape and tail carriage. Both are very similar. Many bengal breeders have been unsuccessful in duplicating the size, thickness and shape of the ALC tail on a regular basis. An ALC like tail has proven to be difficult to duplicate in the Bengal breed. Many Bengal breeders have been very successful in producing Bengals with tails that are carried low like that of the ALC though.
 
The tail of an ALC is spotted whereas most bengals have ringed tails. Some bengals are popping up now though with some spots on the tail or large rosettes (for example our stud "Graffiti Art" and his full sister, our queen, "Art Of Noise" both have partially rosetted tails)

COAT

PATTERN FLOW:

There are many areas of the coat I want to touch on and I will be adding the info at a later time. For now, I'd like to talk about pattern since I have the picture that demonstrates pattern. Please look back at the picture above. The pattern of the ALC is spotted and the spots run in a horizontally flowing direction. They all seem to line up in that direction, flowing from the shoulders backward to the base of the tail. Bengal patterns are to be similar to the horizontally flowing pattern of the ALC. This applies even to the marble bengal. The marble pattern also should flow in a horizontal line from the shoulders backward towards the tail. On the torso, there should be no lines flowing vertically or spots clumping together vertically forming a "rib bar". The pattern also should not be flowing in a circular motion forming a "bullseye" pattern in either the spotted or the marble patterned bengal. If you take a look back at the picture above, the bengal has the same type of pattern as the ALC with horizontally flowing spots with no "rib bars" or "bullseye".

SPOTS AND ROSETTES:

Like the ALC, most bengals are born with solid spots, which later rosette. The pictures below demonstrates how this ALC had solid spots at a younger age and then later this same ALC has rosettes.