Bengal Cat Colors: Learn All About Their Marvellous Markings

A Bengal breed cat is a common hybrid cat present in different colors.

The Bengal cat breed originated in the United States. These hybrids are created by crossing domestic color cats with the Asian leopard cat or wild cat species.

Bengal cats come in various base coat colors, and it is the coat color that makes them very unique. The coat color makes them look majestic. The most common domestic cat breed which is mated with the Asian leopard cat is the Egyptian Mau. Bengal cats have shiny golden fur that comes from the leopard cat. The fur of the Bengal cats has spots all over their body. Bengal cats are a very energetic domestic breed of cats made from wild cats.

These cats are generally larger than house cats, with a long, muscular body and a pointed tail. Bengal breeding produces several colors like silver, snow, and tabby patterns of Bengal kittens. While modern Bengal breeds have been declared domestic animals, the first Bengal breed was declared wild cats.

They are pretty similar to a snow leopard breed. Just like the snow leopard breed, this breed of cat has distinct markings on its body. The registry of a breed can be found and recognized at TICA. TICA stands for The International Cat Association and is considered the world's largest genetic cat registry where a cat's breed can be easily identified. After reading about the cat's color in the Bengal cat, also read about do cats shed and can cats eat sweet potatoes?

Bengal Cat Patterns And Colors

Bengal cats are recognized to be majestic and gorgeous. They were bred from wild cats and, as a result, have a wild appearance but are smaller than the wild leopard cats.

There comes a variety of Bengal cat breed depending on their color, patterns, and shapes. It should be noted that even the kittens of Bengal cats differ from each other even in the same litter because of the two different genetic compositions of their parents. Bengal kittens come in different colors. The base coat, patterns, and colors of the Bengal cats depend upon the genes. Often various breeders conduct genetic breeders testing, which allows them to predict the base coat color.

Along with the base coat color, it allows them to predict the patterns of the upcoming litter or breeders and helps them eradicate many diseases from the breeders. Usually, Bengal breeding chiefly produces Bengal kittens of three color breeds: brown Bengal cat, silver Bengal cat, and snow color Bengal cat. Each breed of the color mentioned above has two categories of base coat patterns in these cats: marble and spotted. In the spotted cats, the spots can be single spots or have a variety of rosetted colors, including chain, clouded, cluster, arrowhead, donut, and paw print rosettes. While in Bengal colors like silver and marble color, cats have patterns like horizontal flow, reduced horizontal flow, sheet patterns, chaos patterns.

In every case, the sparbled coat Bengal cats exist, which has a mixture of the marble and the spotted pattern. The three official colors of Bengal cats are brown Bengal cats, snow Bengal cats, and silver Bengal cats. However, there exist other colors, too, which have not been recognized officially. These colors are charcoal, melanistic and blue, and some shades of blue.

What colors do Bengal cats come in?

The mating of wild cats like leopard cats and domestic cats has resulted in the production of Bengal cats and Bengal kittens. Bengal cats are a domestic breed of cats that have a wild-like appearance. There is a variety in the Bengal cat colors.

Bengal cats come in various base coat colors. At the same time, the dominant colors are brown, snow, and silver. There exist other colors, too, like charcoal, blue and melanistic which have not received official recognition. The brown Bengal cats color variety is the most common variety, and they have green or gold eyes. The color of spots on their base coat varies from black, reddish-brown, to light brown. The characteristics of a brown Bengal cat are: they have a red nose, a black tail tip, green or copper-colored eyes, brown markings all over the body, a white belly.

The snow-colored Bengal cats come in three base coat colors which are seal sepia, seal lynx point and seal mink. It's very difficult to distinguish between the three colors of snow Bengal cat, and therefore to reduce complications, a genetic test is conducted. A seal lynx point snow Bengal cat has blue or a shade of blue eyes, a seal mink snow Bengal cat has aqua eyes, and a seal mink or seal sepia snow Bengal cat has gold or green eyes. Thus, the three can be distinguished on the basis of their eye color.

A silver Bengal cat has a white color coat with black markings. They come in combinations like silver charcoal, silver blue, and many others. Some characteristic features of a silver Bengal cat are: they have black markings, a red nose, golden or green eyes, and a black tail tip. These three varieties of colors like silver and the other two in Bengal cats are most common and are officially recognized. This term refers to a group of colors with three distinctive genetic variations: the seal lynx point, seal mink, and the seal sepia.

What factors affect the color of their coats?

The color and the pattern in the base coat of Bengal cats depend upon several genes. The color can be determined by studying the genes with Mendelian inheritance.

For example, the melanism in Bengal cats results from the deletion of the 2-bp agouti signaling protein(ASIP). Even the charcoal-colored pattern or coat color in Bengal cats is caused due to incomplete melanism. Genes that cause melanism in the cats are melanocortin-1 receptor [MC1R; Extension(E,e)] and agouti signalling protein [ASIP; Agouti(A,a)]. Thus, the factors that control the coat color of Bengal cats are the presence of dominant and recessive genes in the Leopard cat and the domestic cat.

What is the rarest Bengal cat?

Bengal cats come in various colors and patterns. While the silver and brown-colored Bengal cats are most common, the snow Bengal cats are very rare.

Bengal cats were produced by a crossbreeding between the wild Leopard cats and domestic cats; therefore, the very first generation of Bengal cats was declared wild, and their kittens were called F1, and they were not allowed to be kept as pets. The males of the F1 generation were sterile. Usually, Bengal cats are very costly, and though the brown-colored Bengal cats are the most common, the snow Bengal cats are a rare breed. A snow Bengal cat is created by mating a Siamese cat and a leopard cat. A Siamese cat is very rare, and the silver color on the coat of a snow Bengal cat comes from its parents.

After the snow Bengal cats, the very next breed of Bengal cats are the spotted Bengal cats. The spots in the spotted Bengal cats are of three types, leopard spots, sorrel spots, and charcoal spots. The spots on the spotted Bengal cats are what make these cats expensive and the second-costliest cat. Often some kittens of Bengal cats have glitter on their coats. This glitter is formed as a result of the glitter gene, and it makes their fur shine. This variety of Bengal cats are also rare. A snow Bengal cat comes in three varieties: seal lynx, seal mink, and seal sepia. A seal lynx Bengal cat is very light in color and has a light cream-colored coat. They have marbled, tan, grey, or brown spots on their coats.

They also have blue or shade of blue eyes and a black tail tip. A seal mink Bengal cat has an ivory color coat. The markings on their coat darken as they grow up and are caramel chocolate colored. They also have aqua green eyes. The Lynx and sepia gene results in the colors in the Snow Bengal cat kittens. The seal sepia breed of Snow Bengal cats has a coat that is brown in color. Such coats make them look very grand.  They have green or golden eyes.

The Origins Of Bengal Cats

Bengal cats were first created in the year 1889 when an Asian leopard cat was crossed with a domestic cat which was a Californian tomcat in California by Jean Mill.

Jean Mill was credited for creating this unique species of cats, which was declared domestic and had a wild appearance. However, in the beginning, the work did not receive much attention, and it was only in the year 1970 after Jean Mill started her breeding experiments once more. And in 1975, she handed over a group of Bengal cats that were bred at Loma Linda University. It was in the late 19th century when people started creating Bengal cats. The name Bengal cat comes from their wild parent, the Leopard cat known as Felis bengalensis, and it's from here the name Bengal comes.

Responsible Bengal Breeding

There are various methods and things that need to be kept in mind about breeding Bengal cats.

While breeding, you must know the recessive genes the breeding cats carry. Often the breeders conduct various testings on their breeding cats to find out if they have any diseases. They must perform these tests to ensure they can produce a species free from any of these diseases. Various tests conducted include hypertrophic cardiomyopathy(HCM), pyruvate kinase deficiency, and progressive retinal atrophy.

A breeder conducts these tests to ensure a healthy generation of Bengal cats is created without any diseases. This often happens if one or both parents have any genetic diseases, which they tend to pass on to their following generations. Therefore, reliable and responsible Bengal breeding results in the production of physically fit cats.

Shedding And Grooming

The Bengal cats are a costly breed of cats. Made by crossing wild Leopard cats with domestic cats, these cats have a majestic appearance.

They are domestic cats and can be kept at home as pets. The breeders must conduct various breeders' tests upon the breeding cats such that their offspring come as a healthy generation without any diseases. Bengal cats come in multiple colors with patterns on their coats. This coat is very beautiful and makes these cats unique and expensive. Cats often suffer from various allergies from various plants, but in the case of Bengal cats, the situation is different. Bengal cats usually do not cause allergic reactions in most people.

As a result, they are considered to be a hypoallergenic breed of cats. Scientifically it has been proved that these cats produce a lower level of allergens, which is even lower than the average level for most cats. This was supported with proper experiments conducted in the year 2020. However, Leslie Lyons of the University of Missouri's Feline and Comparative Genetics Lab has waived such controversies away, saying that cats are never hypoallergenic. It can be that Bengal cats have a lower level of causing allergies, but they can't be hypoallergenic. She claims further that alleged hypoallergenic breeds too might still cause allergies.

Ethics Of Keeping A Bengal Cat

The Bengal cats are known for their uniqueness and appearance. You might possibly get attracted to a Bengal cat and get tempted towards adopting one. Due to the merging of two blood types, the variation produced is quite unique.

Bengal cats are known as excellent climbers, and they are very energetic and need constant exercise. There are many differences between a typical domestic cat and a Bengal cat. It is to be kept in mind that Bengal cats require much more attention than regular cats; otherwise, they may behave in a destructive way. Often you might adopt a Bengal cat as a companion for your children. Being energetic, they will play with your children, but it's a suggestion not to adopt Bengal cats in pairs because they will then only play with each other. These cats need to be introduced to your home and need to be given constant love and care.

You must ensure that your cat has items to play with and litter boxes to pee. This is because kittens have small bladders and therefore need to pee repeatedly. Teaching your kitten to use the litter box will help your cat pee in a specific place and avoid accidents. As Bengal cats are highly energetic, you must be prepared for their constant jumps and climbs. Bengal cats will constantly scratch furniture as they have big nails, so keeping a nail trimmer close is handy. It's also advisable to keep the litter box clean as a kitten does not like to use a dirty litter box. These guidelines can be helpful while raising a Bengal cat.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Bengal cat colors, then why not take a look at female vs. male cats or Bengal Cat Facts.