Is My Cat A Marbled Bengal Or Classic Tabby Mix?

fabujealous

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Hi I adopted my cat , Ash, which is nine months old, 3 days ago and I absolutely love him. When I went to the adoption place, I saw his mom which is a Ragdoll but didn't get to see his dad which they said is a Bengal - because he escaped. Anywho, I took him home and after just one day, he quickly warmed up to the new room I put him in and is really affectionate and likes to follow me around. He even plays fetch without me teaching him. Just out of curiosity, I want to know if he is really a Bengal mix. Can anyone advise? :)
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abyeb

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Ash is so cute! I love his pattern! I would describe him as a silver classic tabby Domestic Shorthair. “Tabby” is a coat marking, not a breed in itself. His breed would be Domestic Shorthair, which is the landrace breed of cat (i.e. the “natural cat”).

I was trying to decide whether he’s shorthaired or longhaired, and I settled on shorthair, because, even though he has a plumed tail and fur tufts between his toes, the fur on his body is short. You could call him a mediumhair, but, genetically, cats are either short- or long- haired, if you want to be technical about it.

I’m not seeing Bengal influence in him, though, because Bengals have a leaner body with longer legs and a smaller head than Ash. A breed that I think he does resemble closer is American Shorthair (not to be confused with Domestic Shorthair, American Shorthairs are a pedigreed cat breed), although American Shorthairs have a rounder face than him, his body type is similar, so I think that’s probably Ash’s closest breed lookalike.

If you’re curious, you could do DNA testing on him, that will let you know if there are any breeds that he’s close to genetically.
 
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fabujealous

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Ash is so cute! I love his pattern! I would describe him as a silver classic tabby Domestic Shorthair. “Tabby” is a coat marking, not a breed in itself. His breed would be Domestic Shorthair, which is the landrace breed of cat (i.e. the “natural cat”).

I was trying to decide whether he’s shorthaired or longhaired, and I settled on shorthair, because, even though he has a plumed tail and fur tufts between his toes, the fur on his body is short. You could call him a mediumhair, but, genetically, cats are either short- or long- haired, if you want to be technical about it.

I’m not seeing Bengal influence in him, though, because Bengals have a leaner body with longer legs and a smaller head than Ash. A breed that I think he does resemble closer is American Shorthair (not to be confused with Domestic Shorthair, American Shorthairs are a pedigreed cat breed), although American Shorthairs have a rounder face than him, his body type is similar, so I think that’s probably Ash’s closest breed lookalike.

If you’re curious, you could do DNA testing on him, that will let you know if there are any breeds that he’s close to genetically.
Thank you for the speedy reply! Thanks also for the clarification, I now think Ash is a silver classic tabby Domestic Shorthair but with his mom's Ragdoll temperament. He really is the sweetest and I forgot to mention, I looooveee his soft fur. Ash sends his regards :D
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The question is if he is longish shorthair, or a young mediumhair in summerfur, where the fur isnt fully grown as yet... On the last photo I do clearly see a plum on the tail. So my bet will be, he is mediumhair. Ie a genetically longhair.
And thus, goodby to the supposed bengal-ancestry: bengals are shorthair, and thus, their natural children are shorthair too, as this is a dominating gene... So no purebred bengal, just possibly a bengal mix, even if I think he was a moggie . Probably a somewhat fancy tabby with even some spots on the tummy (which btw is common on tabbies tummy), and that is why he was labelled as a bengal look alike.

We know one of the parents was classic tabby, because its dominant and he is. But its fully possible, momma was. Classical lynx seal tabby.... Even if the background story hints, daddy was (too).

You saw momma yes? Pointed, but did she had the tabby markings on her? The M on the forebrow? Sometimes its very visible a point is a tabby too, being tabby over the whole body and quite darkish on the body. but sometimes they are tabby marked just on the face masque. And if so, may be missed if you arent observant.

Her husband wasnt no point, so the child isnt not point either Otherwise, your beautiful Ash may very well taken everything from momma. Everything, including his soft, friendly way to be.
And yes, dear daddy has the longhair gene him too, even if he could be shorthair outside... Its with long / medium hairs as with point gene: "you need two to dance tango".

Ps. Ash may be just meaty with strong bones, but its possible he is somewhat fat, to put it bluntly....
Be sure he exercises and plays a lot, eats much wet food, and the dry food he eats shall not contain much carbos... If he eats much dry food, be sure he drinks aplenty water.
 
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fabujealous

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The question is if he is longish shorthair, or a young mediumhair in summerfur, where the fur isnt fully grown as yet... On the last photo I do clearly see a plum on the tail. So my bet will be, he is mediumhair. Ie a genetically longhair.
And thus, goodby to the supposed bengal-ancestry: bengals are shorthair, and thus, their natural children are shorthair too, as this is a dominating gene... So no purebred bengal, just possibly a bengal mix, even if I think he was a moggie . Probably a somewhat fancy tabby with even some spots on the tummy (which btw is common on tabbies tummy), and that is why he was labelled as a bengal look alike.

We know one of the parents was classic tabby, because its dominant and he is. But its fully possible, momma was. Classical lynx seal tabby.... Even if the background story hints, daddy was (too).

You saw momma yes? Pointed, but did she had the tabby markings on her? The M on the forebrow? Sometimes its very visible a point is a tabby too, being tabby over the whole body and quite darkish on the body. but sometimes they are tabby marked just on the face masque. And if so, may be missed if you arent observant.

Her husband wasnt no point, so the child isnt not point either Otherwise, your beautiful Ash may very well taken everything from momma. Everything, including his soft, friendly way to be.
And yes, dear daddy has the longhair gene him too, even if he could be shorthair outside... Its with long / medium hairs as with point gene: "you need two to dance tango".

Ps. Ash may be just meaty with strong bones, but its possible he is somewhat fat, to put it bluntly....
Be sure he exercises and plays a lot, eats much wet food, and the dry food he eats shall not contain much carbos... If he eats much dry food, be sure he drinks aplenty water.
If I recall correctly, the mum is also a medium hair and she has pure white fur with no seal points. However, I don’t think she had blue eyes like that of a ragdoll. Here is a photo of Ash’s Sister from the same litter
 
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fabujealous

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Whatever they are, they're beautiful! I once had a cat that looked like Ash, and I called him a marbled tabby. I love that cat and the color of his fur.
I love Ash, he’s the most adorable cat ever and I’m sure yours was too <3

Ps sorry for posting a lot of photos of Ash but I just can’t resist bc he’s too cute and I HAVE to share them
 

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I've just recently adopted a 10 month old kitten from a shelter and have noticed that shes very big for her age, had unusual markings, has long back legs and a long, slinky body. Could she be a marbelled bengal
 

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Wow, both of those siblings are so cute. His silver coat is beautiful and looks very soft and plushy. His sister looks so cute and dainty too! Thanks for all the pics!
 

lutece

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I've just recently adopted a 10 month old kitten from a shelter and have noticed that shes very big for her age, had unusual markings, has long back legs and a long, slinky body. Could she be a marbelled bengal
She's lovely!

I would describe your cat as a brown classic tabby domestic shorthair. In this picture, she appears to have normal classic tabby markings, with a "bullseye" marking clearly visible on the side, here:

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British Girls

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So cute!!
He is a classic tabby. The characteristics of a classic tabby are:
M shape on the forhead
1 or 2 lines running from the outside corner of the eye
At least 2 necklaces
stripes running from the back of the head and ending at the neck
'butterfly' markings on the shoulders and from the tail of the 'butterfly' there is a stripe that runs down the back
On either side of the stripe there is another stripe running parallel to it
An oyster shape on either side of the cats flank
Ringed tail with the tip being a solid black color
Spotted belly
 
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Molly11

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She's lovely!

I would describe your cat as a brown classic tabby domestic shorthair. In this picture, she appears to have normal classic tabby markings, with a "bullseye" marking clearly visible on the side, here:

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Thank you for the quick reply. Very helpful. I looked up the bullseye markings you mention and I'm more confident now that she is just a normal tabby. I've had tabby before, but I was surprised at how long she is, when she stretches out she's taller than the stratching post. I was also unsure about the 'rosett' patterns on her coat, but I think that may just be a marbelled coat that some tabby have. However, she sits quite strange with a square back which I do know is a traight of bengals
 

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