Bengal Information

Bengals, like other cats, come in all different temperments. However, as a breed, Bengals typically are much more active than you regular domesticated house cat. Not only that - they are incredibly smart. I sometimes feel like I have a 5 year old at home instead of a 2 year old bengal! I try to outsmart her, but she always manages to outsmart me so we continue this game that she keeps playing.

The temperments are varied dependent upon the individual cat and how well they were socialized. Bengals, in general, are very curious, outgoing, intelligent and want to be involved in everything! They think that everything belongs to them and they love to play! A bengal needs play time to be pychologically happy.

Do you have other cats? If so, are they active? If not, you may want to consider two, or investing in many toys for your bengal. Mine can be aggressive at times when she plays and sometimes terrorizes my other cats. I often have to break them up because she won't back off.

The further removed the bengal is from the F1 generation the more domesticated and less wild traits will be exhibited. Also, their size will be more along the lines of a regular cat.

A bengal is a very interesting breed. Often I have watched mine and their hearing is incredible. She listens and reacts more like a dog than a cat. So I always tell people I have a dog with spots.

They often will bond with one person and once they do - they are very loyal. Don't get me wrong...they will always interact with others, but they are always drawn to that one person they pick out. Despite Keira being aggressive at times, she can be absolutely loving and wanting attention all the same.

I hope this helps you out some.

I think that is one of the BEST posts I have ever seen about the Bengal breed. Do you breed them or have a close friend who does?

Yes, an F5 Bengal tends to be more like a "normal" cat. As previously stated just make sure you are prepared for a very active cat. But in my opinion they are not hyperactive like Savannahs. I own an F3 Savannah and while he is sweet he is hyperactive. I have done Bengal rescue and have worked with and rehomed/foster F1-F5 Bengals.

I think Bengals are a great breed of cat ! I would just make sure your kitten is well socialized. Since the Bengal is a descendant of the ALC (Asian Leopard Cat) the higher generations are prone to shyness. But I have seen many ill socialized F5-SBT's as well.

Lastly some lines of Bengals are prone to IBS in my experience with rescued ones. But that does not mean they all are.

I have an aunt who breeds them and I learned a lot from her before picking out mine.

What generation Bengal do you have? What generations does your aunt breed? Does she breed F1's? If so could I have her contact information? Or could she recommend a good F1 breeder?

Keira is an F6 and beyond. She does not breed any F1's and I think everyone she knows breeds the same as she does. She never mentioned any F1 breeders to me.

Okay thank you very very much . I am sure she would mention having F1 babies or at least you would see a male ALC .

Could you post photo's of your Keira in the cat lounge subpart/subset/section photo area of the message board when you have time? I would love to see photo's of your cat.

Lastly if you do not mind could you just post a link to it in this thread? I am notoriously bad at finding anything in that section .

A bit off topic but I have to ask.. Are you getting a moggie from a backyard breeder or are the kittens going to be properly registered and bred? I don't recall DSHs being an allowed outcross in Bengals anymore? (Correct me if I'm wrong).

I wish I could help, but I do not think she knows of any F1 breeders as she only communicates with those that share her similar interests. Besides, because she shows her cats they have to be F6 or beyond to even be in the show hall.

Here are some pictures of Keira...here are some of when she was younger.

PLEASE PLEASE tell him not to breed. There are so many cats out there that already need homes... Even Bengals...

To be specific, some people so much want a 'different' cat that they don't do any research. So the cat either ends up being returned to the breeder, or if it ends up in a shelter, is usually scooped up by a rescue specifically for that breed. http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/bengalrescue.html http://www.greatlakesbengalrescue.com/ http://northeastusbengalrescue.homestead.com/ etc etc

Your cat is GREAT looking. Thank you for sharing those photo's with me. Your aunt breeds an awesome looking lower generation cat .

I am not sure if Canada is different with T.I.C.A., but I am fairly sure your friend could still register the litter if he wanted. But if the cats are just going to good pet homes it hardly matters. Could you post picture's of your cat when you get him/her?

If you show me pics and pedigree's of the sire and dam, I can tell you what patterns he would most likely get (or better yet, if he is going to breed cats he should know it himself already). No need to breed because of that. And obviously he isn't out to make a bunch of money, it's quite rare that anyone would pay $$$$ to get a DSH kitten.

Please do remind him to do all the necessary tests before breeding. It shouldn't be an issue if he's not in it for money. Does the breeder of the real Bengal know about this?

Duchess15, your kitty has gorgeous rosettes!

Yes, as household pets, but not as Bengals.
This is from TICA's registration rules:

Will an F4 Bengal bred to a regular DSH produce "Bengal-type" kittens? I guess I don't know enough about Bengals to know that. I know that if you breed a Siamese to a DSH, you sometimes end up with very un-Siamese-like kittens (although they're usually noisy, lol). It would be a shame if he just ended up producing normal-looking kittens and ended up not being able to find homes for them.

And this is where the genetics step in. What marks are we talking about here? Marbled, regular spotted, rosettes? Brown (black), silver, snow (tonkinese or burmese lynx point)?

The sire being an F4 makes me assume there are some 'random' cats (DSHs or other breeds) in his pedigree which were used in his lines. The dam being a moggie could have basically anything in hers. This means there are no guarantees that the kittens will have strinking patterns and glitter. The kittens could even be just solid black (maybe even blue) or look like your average brown tabby DSH or DLH.

I hope your friend knows that it's very expensive to breed..tests for Bengals include FeLV, FIV, bloodgroup, HCM and PRA, perhaps even some others which I'm unaware of since I'm not into Bengals (Brits are 'my thing').

Oh, he's young still! Probably still under a year old? Does your friend know about the tomcat behaviors and characteristics he'll start to develop as he gets older? Is he prepared to deal with that? I would hate for his kitty to lose his home or his life because he starts doing what comes naturally to toms.

Before anyone says that they can find a specific breed in a rescue they need to be aware it depends on what part of the world you are in. In other words just because a breed is common in your area/state does not mean this is world wide. I know that for a fact.

My question is if you getting a kitten does not pan out can you "just pay" the shipping fee's on a F5 or below Bengal to get it into Canada? Since there are many F5 and SBT Bengals for adoption in the USA.

Thank you for the information.

He is a very handsome looking boy. I can not wait to see his babies .

I would hope the breeder knows a Tom Cat/whole cat sprays.

Without knowing their pedigrees, I'll say that the kittens would likely be spotted tabbies unless the sire carries blotched (classic) tabby.
(Basically I came up with 56 different possibilities when assuming what the parents carry..)

This guy isn't a breeder. Even if his breeder friend says "oh, tomcats spray", he might not understand the extent or severity of what exactly that means. Your average pet owner is going to freak out when the tom starts peeing on everything in sight, when the stove smells like a litterbox (I don't know why sprayers like stoves so much), when their house smells so bad nobody will visit them. A lot of casual breeders end up getting rid of their toms for this reason, and of course most of them end up dead because nobody else wants a sprayer either.

I just hope he's prepared to deal with that so he doesn't end up getting rid of the cat.

Exactly why all my kittens are altered before placement

Has the breeder been consulted? I doubt they would allow a pet to be used in a moggie breeding program and if they are allowing it should be reported to their registering body

Oh, he'll do it more if he's not neutered. He was probably just practicing that time .

Oh, oops, I didn't realize you weren't from the US. :P My bad.
Other countries don't have the issues that the US does with strays/unwanted cats, but still I wouldn't encourage the type of behavior that started it all.


Yea, idk, breeding a half-Bengal with another only slightly bengal sounds like a perfect way to end up with all regular cats and no homes for any of them.

That's great and all that you would tell him how you feel, but that doesn't fix the fact that he would be told Afterwards when there are already kittens born and without homes, proper care, etc.

Yea, it wasn't mentioned till now but his cat will not be able to live in the house soon. When you bring females around, he'll start spraying everywhere and if your friend has as much money as you made it sound like he has, he probably has some pretty nice things he wouldn't like to be ruined with cat pee...


Sorry to ruin the fun and what-not, but breeding should be taken seriously and not just because it'd make 'cool cats' and because he thinks he has homes for them all. I just see a disaster waiting to happen..