Is any cat that is part ALC be called a bengal? I understand that TICA registered bengal cats must be F4 or later, but does that mean that anyone can breed ACLs out in the country and make their own bengals? I couldn't imagine those cats would have the same temperaments as lines bred from the original Jean Mill stock.
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What is technically a bengal cat?
- Thread starter microrca
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Many Bengal breeders have their own ALC or F1 they are using as foundation stock from what I've seen. I'm far from an expert on the breed though. The woman I got mine from told me that was her plan, they were moving to MT and she wanted to get an ALC to breed instead. She had two SBT pet Bengals and my girl who is supposedly an F2 that she had planned on using to breed originally. I think they are considered ALC hybrids until stud book level where they are officially Bengals.
They would still be a Bengal in name once they got past the initial hybrid status.
Reputable Bengal breeders have bred their cats not only for the coat patterns a but a lot of work has been put into breeding a cat with good social temperament as well as retaining some of the leopard cat behavior quirks and physicality so I wonder why to try and re invent the wheel and start from the beginning agian breeding from an ALC. I think it would be easier to buy an F4 that already has got good behavior traits and start there.
There are sub species of ALC,s as well just to confuse the issue with different coloring and size and build depending whether they come from Siberia and the colder north or the more tropical areas as Pakistan etc.
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ALC's are not legal to own in all states (if you are in the USA). You can get an F1- F3 Bengal female and breed her to an SBT male to breed EG bengals. (EG males are sterile). There are not very many breeders in the US that have ALC's in their breeding programs, most of them have SBT. Why would you want to breed any cat to an ALC to make your own bengal when the breed has already been established?
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A breed is a pedigreed cat, meaning it has a pedigree that can be traced back 3 or more generations of registered cats. They conform to a standard and are bred for that and traits like temperament. Some breeds allow outcrosses, these cats get a special,number that moves forward with ea h generation of that cats progeny until the line reaches championship status. ALC x Bengal could be a registered foundation Bengal, but an ALC x a domestic, or unregistered Bengal wouldn’t be considered a Bengal purebred.
