Types of Bengals

See also our Bengalpedia and About Bengals pages for more information.

The Brown spotted tabby Bengal (traditional Leopard)

Most closely resembles the Asian Leopard Cat. It will have black or brown spot variations on its torso, tummy, and legs. The body color will be in contrast, ranging from sorrel, tawny brown, bronze, copper, gold, and colors of this type. Eyes will be gold, green, or tawny. Like fingerprints, a Bengal's spot pattern is unique to each cat and have been used for identification purposes.

Marble Bengal

With marbling horizontal markings are good, vertical (up & down stripes) are not favored in show or breeder quality Bengals. A bulls-eyes pattern on the belly is not desired. You will find large rosetting or swirls marking the side torso of the Bengal. Look for contrast, not ticking (ticking are banded hairs, which gives the look of a salt & pepper very much like an Ocicat.) Ticking is good in Ocicats it is not desired or appreciated on a Bengal. Look for sharp contrast (a clear coat) and clearly sharp edges of the marble patterns. Usually the primary colors of a Marble will be black and brown, black and orange (popular), or brown and orange. The third color which varies in prominence and very important to creating a desirable look is light tan (gold) border separating the primary markings. Marbles for this reason are sometimes referred to as 'tri-colored marbles'. No two Marble Bengals have the same pattern. A Tri-color Marble's eyes may be gold, green, or tawny.

Snow Bengal (Seal Lynx, Seal Sepia, and Seal Mink)

Snows are just that, the inverse of traditional leopards and marbles. You want as little pointing as possible. Snows can be spotted or marbled.

The most prevalent are Lynx Points, Seal Lynx to be exact. Seal Lynx refers to blue-eyed snows, marble or spotted. At birth the markings are absent but by year one, the spots or marbling is well defined with stark contrast.

Next are the gold or green-eyed Seal Sepia Bengals. To call them Seal Sepia Snows would be redundant. Sepia's generally have amber eyes. The Sepia cannot have an aqua-eye color. Unlike the blue-eyed Seal Lynx, the Seal Sepia has clear to see markings from birth and maintains the contrast in pattern through-out it's kittenhood. As it matures the markings will become even darker. The coat is not supple as the Seal Lynx.

Seal Minks can only be green-eyed or aqua-eyed. Born with strong markings basically with a watermark black or charcoal look. These markings darken as the kitten matures.

GLITTER

Glitter on a Bengal is a major plus in terms of beauty. With very little light bouncing off the coat, you will see small individual hairs that literally shine like gold. This makes Bengals very special as there are no other breeds that have glitter. No one has really established why glitter occurs on Bengals. Asian Leopard Cat ancestors do not have glitter.

NON-TRADITIONAL COLORS

Blacks, Blues, Silvers & Torbies