Bengal cat history begins in 1961 in the USA. A Geneticist Biologist named Jean Mill who was also called the mother of the Bengal cat played a role in introducing the Bengal cat to the world. She has an interest in breeding cats. She was the first to support Himalayan cat breeding.
She grew up with a love for animals which is the main reason for her interest in animals. Jean Mill aims to introduce a cat that has a wild appearance but a friendly nature. She worked hard to accomplish his aim.
At that time She had a cat named Malaysia who was wild suddenly one day Malaysia interbred with a black Domestic cat. This was a surprising interbreed.
Then After this interbreeding in 1963, a puppy born with mottled markings named Kin KIn which was a shocking result to Jean Mill. Then Jean MIll stopped research due to his husband’s death. During that time Kin Kin died due to pneumonia and Malaysia was adopted by a zoo.
Over time then she again decided to continue working on cat breeding. She got a wild cat with a patchy orange-golden style.
She met this cat in the zoo in New Delhi India. She name this kitty Delhi. This cat was without a tail. She registered this cat in the CFA (Cat Fanciers Association)
Then this kitty starts growing in the home environment And this cat becomes a suitable groom for all Jean Mill cats. She then starts breeding this cat with her domestic cats Egyptian Maus, Burmese cats, and Abyssinians. As a result of interbreeding Delhi with other cats Jean Mill got all kittens shiny with glittery wool. So here is the complete Bengal cat history we know so far.
Purpose of interbreeding
Her main purpose in breeding these alternative hybrids is to get a cat with a wild look, a soft and friendly nature, a marbled and spotted pattern, and with muscular body. She carefully selected the traits which are according to her vision.
By the 1980s, Jean successfully gained success in her aim, the results started showing according to her interest a wild look like a leopard, Marbled, rosettes, spotted patterns, and an affectionate, playful, and soft nature.
In 1983, Jean’s efforts were uplifted when she started collaborating with Dr. Willard Centerwall. Dr.Centerwall started research on interbreeding wild and domestic cats to get their disease resistance and genetics coat patterns. These two well-known personalities together gained popularity and were also skilled in breeding cats.
In 1974, Bill Englar gave Bengal cats their official name. In 1991, Bengal was officially accepted by TCIA but it wasn’t official until 2006 when cat fanciers accepted their registry.
Certainly, Bengal cats are found in various patterns, colors which make them unique and attractive among cats Here are some of the main varieties of Bengal cats:
Some patterns are described below,
SPOTTED
Bengal cats with spots on their skin coat may vary in size and shape it may give the vibes of a wild leopard which increases the beauty and attraction of these cats.
MARBLED
This variety of bengal cats has a marbled covering on their coat that looks like a marble stone and is in diagonal and horizontal patterns.
They also have amazing contrasts with their base color which enhance their amazing personality
ROSETTE
These Bengal cats have open and close rosette-like patterns on their coat and these rosettes have amazing eye-catching contrast with their ground color.
These cats have two tones of color the rosettes have an outline of dark color and the surroundings are of lighter pattern.
Here are color varieties of Bengal cats
There are many variations in colors of bengal cats like black silver blue, and charcoal but except for others, It is a little confusing to tell the difference between snow bengal variations as these come in snow larynx, snow sepia, and snow mink.
SNOW LYRNX (Cs color genes)
It comes with the crossbreeding of leopard cats with Siamese cats. The pattern of this cat is not visible after birth but slowly shows visibility while growing.
A snow seal larynx bengal has;
- White cream ground color.
- Markings are of dark or light seal colors
- Always have blue eyes.
- Dark seal tip of the tail
SNOW MINK ( Cb Cs color genes)
These are the mixture of snow larynx and snow sepia as these are darker than the larynx cats but lighter than the snow sepia these cats have;
- Ivory, light tan, or cream ground color
- Seal mink to darker seal mink markings
- Aqua or blue-green eyes
- Dark brown tail tip
SNOW SEPIA ( Cb Cb color genes)
This variation has different gene colors from the snow larynx as these have seal sepia to darker seal sepia markings.
- These cats’ ground color is Ivory, light tan, or cream.
- Seal mink to darker seal mink markings
- Gold or green eyes
- Dark brown tail tip
BLUE
Blue bengal cats are also known to be royal cats due to their royal color. This one is also a rare breed. But the breeders are now working on promoting these cats as these are beautiful eye-catching souls. These cats have;
- The ground color contains a pale blue-grey shade.
- The markings are dark blue.
- Eyes colors are green, gold, or Hazel.
- The tip of the tail is grey.
To get a blue bengal cat, both parents must have a blue color as it is a recessive gene.
BROWN
This is the most popular bengal cat among others and this was the first to recognize the association. These Bengals have;
- The ground color contains all shades of brown.
- Markings of brown color to jet black.
- Eyes colors are green or gold.
- The tip of the tail may be black.
SILVER
Silver bengal is a new breed and has hypnotic and amazing traits due to its silver color with bold marbled and spotted pattern. These cats have;
- White to dark steal ground
- Dark grey to dart black markings on silver surface.
- Gold or green eyes
- Dark black tail tip
SMOKE CHARCOAL
These Bengals are one of the unique variations as well as these have amazing color combinations. This is genetically a melanistic bengal. Smoke Bengal cats Have.
- Greyish, brownish, or carbon-colored ground
- Zorro markings
- White Google lines around the eyes
- Dark charcoal mask
BLACK
This variation of bengal cats is rarest and less known among others as these are also not accepted by association. These cats have features like;
- Black ground with black spots
- No warm tones
- Ghost like markings
- Hazel, gold, or green eyes
CONCLUSION
In the world, Bengals are gaining popularity day by day. In the 1960s and ’90s, their history began when Jean Mill showed interest in breeding domestic cats with wild ones.
She achieved her goal after a lot of struggle in 1980 and successfully got a cat with a leopard look and different varieties and colors of Bengal cats along with a human-loving nature these cats started gaining attention globally among cat lovers due to their human-loving bond, marbled, rosettes, spotted, shiny fur, and energetic traits.
