Recently been wondering if my male 1 year old cat is part bengal. He has very large paws front and back, extremely long, and an interesting pattern. He’s very very tough has been boxing with my German Shepard since he was a kitten.
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Is my cat part Bengal?
- Thread starter Sammyd38
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Heya! what a pretty kitty! I’d describe him as a gray, or perhaps gray brown field (I.e. that he’s largely a colder colour on his body, rather than a warm brown) brown mackerel tabby domestic shorthair! He has the typical stripes and vest buttons on his tum (I.e. the spots) and the M marking on his forehead.
Nothing about his pattern or conformation evokes Bengal to me, personally. Even high generation bengals, like F5s, will still have markings distinct to the Bengal breed, namely rosetting or marbling. Bengals are descended from domestic cat crosses of the Asian leopard cat, so, especially in early generations, they’re reminiscent of their wild ancestors.
Unlike in dogs, the development of cat breeds is a fairly modern phenomenon. As such, most cats are no specific breed, and have no particular breed in their ancestry, either.
Nothing about his pattern or conformation evokes Bengal to me, personally. Even high generation bengals, like F5s, will still have markings distinct to the Bengal breed, namely rosetting or marbling. Bengals are descended from domestic cat crosses of the Asian leopard cat, so, especially in early generations, they’re reminiscent of their wild ancestors.
Unlike in dogs, the development of cat breeds is a fairly modern phenomenon. As such, most cats are no specific breed, and have no particular breed in their ancestry, either.
His ear shape with the curved inner edge and rounded tips, ears wide apart on his head, his muzzle and jowl shape and the big heavy toes that hide the bigger Bengal claws and all black paw pads are pretty obvious. If you compare his claw size to your other cats they will be a lot bigger and more hooked. The eye shape and smallish head and the short dense fur are good indicators too.
I would say he has Bengal in his not to distant past.
I would say he has Bengal in his not to distant past.
I don't see any Bengal in him either for the same reasons which
Maurey
mentioned.
Being larger is no indication of any breed. Lots of domestic cats are big. There is always a size range in any animal and the OP's cat just happens to fall on the bigger end of it.
Maurey
mentioned.Being larger is no indication of any breed. Lots of domestic cats are big. There is always a size range in any animal and the OP's cat just happens to fall on the bigger end of it.
Paw pad color is related to coat color. Bengals can have paw pads other than black.
And the M is just indicative of being a tabby. Lots of cat breeds have an M on their forehead. You can even find ghost markings of this on solid cats especially when they are kittens.
I have owned/adopted /fostered various Bengals for the last 18 years and sat at the judges table at shows..I think I know what I see.
This is a pure bred Bengal..can you go by coat color and markings alone??
These are friends cats.
These are friends cats.
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He's a handsome cat!
I would describe your cat as a brown (black-based) tabby domestic shorthair. He has a "broken mackerel" tabby pattern, with some stripes and some spots.
Broken mackerel is a pattern we see frequently in the domestic cat, and in general, the presence of spots on a cat doesn't indicate Bengal ancestry. However, this cat does have some large triangular shaped spots on his flanks that suggest to me that he might possibly have a Bengal ancestor. The spots in this area don't look like typical broken mackerel spots:
Other than these slightly atypical spots, I'm not seeing a strong resemblance to the Bengal breed in these pictures. The grayish and heavily ticked ground color of the coat is more typical of domestic shorthairs without breed ancestry, not typical of Bengals. Other features mentioned in this thread such as black paw pads, rounded ears, big feet, etc. aren't specific to the Bengal breed. Head type of this cat doesn't scream Bengal to me, but it's hard to say anything about head type, as there are a lot of different head styles in Bengals.
I would describe your cat as a brown (black-based) tabby domestic shorthair. He has a "broken mackerel" tabby pattern, with some stripes and some spots.
Broken mackerel is a pattern we see frequently in the domestic cat, and in general, the presence of spots on a cat doesn't indicate Bengal ancestry. However, this cat does have some large triangular shaped spots on his flanks that suggest to me that he might possibly have a Bengal ancestor. The spots in this area don't look like typical broken mackerel spots:
Other than these slightly atypical spots, I'm not seeing a strong resemblance to the Bengal breed in these pictures. The grayish and heavily ticked ground color of the coat is more typical of domestic shorthairs without breed ancestry, not typical of Bengals. Other features mentioned in this thread such as black paw pads, rounded ears, big feet, etc. aren't specific to the Bengal breed. Head type of this cat doesn't scream Bengal to me, but it's hard to say anything about head type, as there are a lot of different head styles in Bengals.
No, you can't go by coat color and markings alone. However, many of the physical traits that you see in Bengals also appear in domestic cats in general, and don't necessarily indicate Bengal ancestry. Bengals do not have extreme head or body type like an Oriental breed or Persian. Nearly any cat COULD be part Bengal... but statistically, most cats aren't, even if they have some physical features similar to Bengals. Because most lines of Bengals are intensely bred for color and markings that don't appear in other domestic cats, color and markings are a good place to look for clues.
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Rosetted / marbled patterns are more typical of high generation Bengals with many generations of Bengal breeding behind them, rather than early generation hybrids. The Asian Leopard Cat itself has smaller spots and less rosetting than most Bengals we see in the show hall today. Bengals have been selectively bred for large rosettes and dramatic marbling over many generations.
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I can’t help with your question because I’m here asking a similar question, but I wanted to say what a beautiful kitty he is!
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Wow, handsome dude! He could easily be Pimenta's brother
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What a GORGEOUS king he is! 
IF we decide his body shapes and details are typical for a bengal ancestry, its easy to explain why he hasnt no spots nor marbles. Classic tabby, and thus, marbled, is recessive to mackerel / broken mackerel.
IF he has a parentage of both, say a broken mackerel moggie momma and a marbled benga or half bengal daddy, he would be a carrier of both marbled and mackerel, but himself be a broken mackerel tabby.
Im not sure how its with spotted ( rosetted) and mackerel; which is the dominant here in this pair. But lets not complicate; and pretend an marbled Ancestor.
Ps. I know there are also regular spotted Bengals. Not that common, its not fancy, but they are legally registered and you can see them sometimes on Shows. They will hardly won over the more fancied types, but they will get their Excellent, no problem.
Ah? So the regular spotted Bengals we sometimes see on the Shows, are not necessarily a less fancy type of Bengals, but quite the opposite, they may be the real thing; an early generation of Bengal?
Im not sure this detail shows how brave and competitive he is. I think it sooner proves how friendly and kind your German Shepard is...
Yep..you getting it.
And to add to that the many subspieces with different coloring and markings of Leopard Cats the foundation cats can be bred from, ones from Northern China and Siberia (Silver or blue or white to the tropical cats to Singapore region and India
This one from Tsushima Island
Note the long fur.
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This will depend on the other parts of the pedigree. A Bengal with mostly spots rather than rosettes might come from a breeder who doesn't emphasize rosettes in their breeding program, and/or it might be part of an early generation (EG) breeding program.
Historically, if you look back to the first generations of Bengal breeding (early breed history) you will see more spotted cats and smaller rosettes. It took many generations and a lot of selective breeding to achieve the large, flashy rosettes we see today. Today, since the majority of Bengals are rosetted (or marbled), you'll also see rosetting in EG cats, because even when an ALC outcross is used, most of the pedigree is going to be later generation Bengal. But some breeders don't emphasize rosettes as much as others.
This is an example of an EG cat from a breeding program that doesn't place as high of a priority on rosetting as some breeders. This particular cat is a 2nd generation Bengal with a Malaysian ALC grandparent. Picture is from this breeder's site, Bengal cat Breeder, Northern California (their web site is definitely worth browsing if you are interested in Bengals):
The existence of spotted EG Bengals doesn't mean that every spotted cat out there is likely to be an EG Bengal, however!!!
MOST Bengals are bred for flashy rosettes (or Bengal style marbling, or other patterns you would never see in a domestic cat).
MOST spotted cats without rosettes don't have Bengal ancestry.
