The Bengal cat
Cats between breeds differ greatly, not only in appearance but also in mind and what needs they have. The Bengal cat is descended from the Asian leopard cat and should resemble it in appearance, but is as affectionate as any companion cat but has a great need for stimulation.
If you compare cats to cars, a long-haired Birman is more like a Volvo Amazon and the Bengal cat like a Formula 1 car. If you are looking for a calm lap cat, then maybe you shouldn't buy a Bengal. Admittedly, the Bengal can also lie still sometimes, but less often, at least in the first few years.
The Bengal needs attention to feel good. Play, mischief and fun. We recommend getting two bengals so they always have each other. That is, if you're not really keen on bouncing up and playing with the cat in the middle of the night. Likewise daytime. This does not mean that you have to give up work and school if you want to own a Bengal. But if someone in the family is mostly at home, that is a big plus and the Bengal will feel at home. The Bengal also thrives with other four-legged friends, so dogs can be very good company with the Bengal.
The Bengal is a very intelligent cat breed. They can quickly learn to open doors and windows, even lock and unlock doors, which may seem like fun, but it also means they can escape. A cat that is not used to walking freely outside may find it difficult to find its home.
The Bengal also learns to turn on the water faucet but is not as interested in turning it off. The Bengal likes to retrieve, which is great fun if you want a dog-like cat. Speaking of which, the Bengal is usually easy to learn to walk in a harness and leash if you want to roost them. There are also those who train their Bengal in agility.
The Bengal is also known for climbing and wanting to be close to the roof. Sitting high up on shelves or for that matter the door leaf is not unusual, so it can be good to place a cat bed on a shelf a little higher on the wall so they have a view of everything in their surroundings. Climbing is no match for a Bengal and it's smart to make a playroom if you don't want them burning around freely throughout the house day or night. Climbing trees and activity wheels are good toys but don't buy the cheapest. As I said, the Bengal is lively and quickly runs out of small climbing trees. Many say that the Bengal cat loves water and they are curious, but ours have not wanted to go for a swim anyway.
Colors & patterns
The Bengal cat is a sleek and elegant cat breed that moves smoothly. The Bengal comes in a number of different "variants", both in pattern, coat color and eye color.
The coat's pattern is divided into ice spotted or marble . Spotted means that the fur has spots that are either one color or two colors. Two-colored spits are called rosettes. There are also different shapes on the spots, e.g. round "donuts" paw-like "paws" and arrow-shaped "arrows".
Marble means that the pattern of the fur is marbled and that pattern is also available in different colors and the pattern varies greatly.
The Bengal is also known for having fur that sparkles, the browns like a shiny copper cauldron and the snow-colored ones like pearls.
There are a number of different colors on the fur. The most common is the so-called brown/black-spotted , which has a brown-red fur with dark spots.
The snow bengal comes in several variants. Snow where the lightest is Seal Lynx, on to Seal Mink and Seal Sepia which have tones in beige or nougat.
The silver bengal has a cold tone, silver gray with light and dark often black highlights.
There are also blacker varieties Charcoal and melanistic (solid) and long-haired Bengals called Cashmere .
The colors are divided into EMS codes .
"BEN" stands for Bengal. "24" stands for spotted and "22" for marble. "n" stands for black "s" for silver.
You can read more about this on the website of the Bengal Association .
