Bengal x Siamese mix?

anjayenunciates

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Mar 30, 2016
Messages
69
Purraise
29
Location
Redondo Beach, CA
This is Sir Montgomery "Monty" Hemingway.  He is almost 5 months old, and is polydactyl on all 4 paws.  He was listed as a Siamese, due to his seemingly lynx color point coat, as well as his icy blue eyes.  However, his foster mom thinks he is Snow Bengal, due to the cream stripe appearing on his back, as well as the spots on his body (they are getting darker and darker by the day--no rosettes though).

If anyone has a guess as to what breed of cat he is, please let me know.  We are concerned because he has been having some GI issues, and have been told Bengals should be on raw diets.  However, we have also been told raw diets often allow cats to get salmonella, so we are at somewhat of a loss right now.  He has seen two vets, is currently on antibiotics for his GI issues, and has been fully vaccinated.  Any information regarding breed, so that we can be better aware of potential health issues, would be very much appreciated.

No matter what breed he is, we are so happy to have him--we absolutely love our handsome boy.

Thanks so much!

 

StefanZ

Advisor
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
25,973
Purraise
10,596
Location
Sweden
Mixes are difficult to analyse.  Not least point mixes.   Most random points dont even need to have pointed parents, as you surely know.  Its enough both parents are carriers of the point gene, and voilá!  In the litter may be born a pointed kitten.   How many depends on the size of the litter. 0,1,2.... 1 in an average litter of 4.

The color of the point, and if they are tabby points (=lynx) depends on the parents, so this they get directly from them.

While their pointed ancestor may be 50 generations back.

So my own guess so far, he is a domestic lynx point, his parents could be almost anybody.   Some are less probable  because his body shape hasnt no extremes.

I myself dont see any spots. But if you being there do see them, so you see.  His point color isnt very dark, so it adds his body markings are darkening rather slowly and the spots not easy to see as yet.

If he has visible spots on the body, his tabby variation is spotted tabby.  Not that common, but not very unique.

IF he has a creme stripe for real,  I suspect he is a diluted tortie.   Not that common with males, I know. but it happens anyways now and then.

IF so, it immediately gives away what point color he has; its blue, which is diluted black.

So he has several traits which each arent common. Put in together he is an quite unique individual!!!

Cats manage salomonella much better than humans. But if he already has GI - intestinal problems, you dont want to experimentate of course.

But if you are interested in raw foods anyway.

please ask your question on our Raw subforum....  Its a subforum to our Nutrition and food forum.
 

StefanZ

Advisor
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
25,973
Purraise
10,596
Location
Sweden
I did notice that a lot of the cats that show up in my searches are Bengals.  Is it just more common for the spotted tabby variation to be confused with Bengals?
Its very common any spots on a tabby are confused with bengals.  Including the striped tabbies with some spots on the tummy.  Lotsa of treads with such tabbies here.

But a spotted tabby for real, with spots on the sides and the back, its almost unevitable folks will suspect, if not bengal for real so at least, a grandson.

Real bengals are not difficult to see, the spots are nicely refined to rosetteformed.   Even pet quality bengal will be quite clear if purebred for real.

Mixed out with moggies they will detoriate quickly.  A second generation may be confused pet quality with second generation.  In third generation its usually clear - the cat may have a granddad, but is not a bengal himself.

Spotted tabbies arent unique, and dont need to be no bengals, but they arent common either.

And a lynx point whom is ALSO a spotted tabby - begins to be rare.  MAY be an entirely common moggie, with any Ancestor 50 generations back.

But the probability begins to weigh more into near ancestry to a Snow Bengal - whom are purebred   Spotted Tabby Bengals.

So here we see a difference between books and internet. 

In books, a pic of a Bengal is because he IS a bengal, and the pic in the book is because he is a typical bengal, a good representative.

But anybody can put in a pic on Internet, with or without wild guesses.

Some of the pics will be legitime pics of representative Bengals, but others will be pics based on folks wild guesses or opinions.

Internet is a wonderful tool to find information, but you must be extra critical.   :)

(And yes, even I may be in error sometimes, it even happens now and then I must relearn.   :)  )
 
Last edited:

StefanZ

Advisor
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
25,973
Purraise
10,596
Location
Sweden
Yes, now even I do see them.  So he is a spotted tabby...  And point.   The probability of some bengal ancestry is still very open, but the chance is bigger now.

With semilong hairs the spots arent as easily visible as on a shorthair.  Watch out the tail to decide, if he is mediumhair for real - bushy tail, or if he is shorthair with somewhat longer fur.
 

StefanZ

Advisor
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
25,973
Purraise
10,596
Location
Sweden
I think we can forget about mediumhaired. He is shorthair, tail and all.  Even if his fur is somewhat longer than on some other shorthairs.

The head shape could have an bengal ancestor, but he isnt not screaming: bengal, look out, its a bengal...

So I must say the same as earlier, he is definitely an spotted tabby and lynx, spotted lynx point.   Exactly what point color Im not sure. Sorry.

It may be he has a bengal ancestry, quite possible, but he may be the result of more common spotted tabbies too...  We cant know.

anyways, he has more than enough of unusula features, including his paws, to make him practically an unikum.   :)

Why, he can even bark almost alike a dog!    I myself heard it on that film sequence!     :)   Merry laughing.  :)
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #10

anjayenunciates

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Mar 30, 2016
Messages
69
Purraise
29
Location
Redondo Beach, CA
Thank you so much for your help with everything!  I really like the genetics part of breeds and coloring, so it has been really interesting to hear from you!
 

lisahe

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 23, 2014
Messages
6,145
Purraise
4,965
Location
Maine
Monty does look like a lynx mix of some sort, he's a very cute!

Since you mentioned Monty's GI issues, I'll add that our vet told us that Siamese mixes (we have two) tend to have digestive issues and highly recommended feeding a wet, grain-free diet of high-protein and low-carb foods. We feed the cats a combination of commercial raw and canned foods and they're doing very well on it after having some minor issues when we adopted them at ten months. There are several brands of raw food that are treated for bacteria to eliminate salmonella and other bacteria. There's a forum on raw and home-cooked food in the Cat Nutrition section of The Cat Site that you might want to check for ideas if you're interested in feeding a diet that includes raw foods.
 

StefanZ

Advisor
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
25,973
Purraise
10,596
Location
Sweden
Looking again on some of the pics, I see the body color is two colored. The forepart and legs is créme, the hindquarters are really whitish, its not the fair  light brown color of points.

And its not a big splotch of white, because the spots wouldnt be visible. Not in normal light at least.

With that white, the suspicion he has an near ancestry of a snow bengal gets stronger.  Perhaps even one of the parents?

Now Im not a true expert on snow bengals, its mostly I googled recently on them, so I wont say anything more here.
 

ghiblithecat

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Messages
233
Purraise
81
Location
Oregon
I have a kitty that looks exactly the same :) He looks like many young color points I have seen. He will get darker with age. He really looks like a spotted tabby colorpoint lynx. Also, Bengals do not need a special diet. All cats (including bengals) do the best on high quality, limited ingredient wet food or raw.
 

kittylove53

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
May 15, 2015
Messages
339
Purraise
178
Location
Orange County New York
I think he is a lynx point spotted tabby, with beautiful blue eyes and very unusual coat.Monty is adorable no matter what he turns out to be as he matures. Please continue to post pics of him.He is wonderful, enjoy him.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #19

anjayenunciates

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Mar 30, 2016
Messages
69
Purraise
29
Location
Redondo Beach, CA
We are awaiting results from UC Irvine for Monty's ancestry.

He's changed SO much in the past 2 months.

We really do feel as though he is bengal at this point.  He has so many characteristics of the breed--wedge shaped head, set on sides of head, large paws, tapered and black-tipped tail, glittery, velvet fur, loves water, very talkative--almost like a chirpy bark, back legs longer than front legs, fetches, always climbing, muscular, high energy!

Below are pictures from today for coat reference:


         
 

yobroski

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 6, 2015
Messages
33
Purraise
8
Location
Casper, Wyoming
He may very well have some bengal in him. My cat is a bengal mix, and while he doesn't look much like your cat (mine has yellowish fur and leopard spots, stripes, and rosettes) I notice that your cat has an M on it's forehead, which my cat also has (it is a trademark marking in bengals, but also just the tabby coat pattern in general) Also, your cat's ringed tail looks like that of a Bengal. However, if he has Bengal in him, it's probably dilluted, because his markings are very faint. And if he does have Bengal, maybe a Mink Bengal, because his eyes are a deep vibrant blue (Very beautiful by the way) and mink bengals tend to have blue eyes. Mink Bengals also have a base coat color similar to his: Creme colored, to a whitish color, but of the pictures I've seen, their markings are far more distinguished. Hes such a pretty kitty! His eyes are especially mesmerizing. You are very lucky to have him.

Also, in regards to diet, Bengals don't need any special diet, as far as I am aware. Mine does just fine on generic cat food we also give to our other cat. I remember from one of your posts however that you were talking about how he was having something like diarrhea? (Liquidy stools anyway) I doubt that has anything to do with his breed, it's probably the structure of his individual stomach itself. I know this forum is old though, so hopefully you've found a good diet for him by now.
 
Last edited:
Top