Bengal Cat Information Page

Bengal Cat Information Page

Simba

Simba (above) was our first Bengal cat. He was born October 19, 2003 and has an awesome pedigree including many grand champion show cats. Follow the "pedigree" link in the previous sentence for Simba's Family Tree Photo Album. He was the largest of the litter of five males and one female. Simba is now two years old, and weighs about 22 pounds. He's a big boy. He loves to do "dog tricks" (sit, paw, roll over, etc.), and I have a article in The Bengal Bulletin on Bengal training (click here to read a PDF version of the article). If you would like to see more pictures of Simba, including some of him doing his "dog tricks", go to his picture page here.

Nala & Maya

In December 2005 we adopted two new friends for Simba! Both are of the "Snow Bengal" variety (Lynx point, to be exact). Nala is spotted and Maya is a marble. They were born September 28, 2005. These types of kittens are born nearly all white, and their spots come in as they age, so they will continue to darken. These kittens are related to Simba (Simba's first cousin, a champion show cat named "Hooter", is the daddy of the litter). For more great pictures of the kittens click here.

Mommy and Kittens.

Daddy and Mommy. Daddy (RW SGC Bengaland's Arctic Hooter) is a champion show cat (and is Simba's first cousin) and another picture of Mommy (Sugar):

Simba & The Kittens Having Fun


Let Me Show You Guys How to Catch a Fish	Ever Seen a Small Car Go Right Under a Mac Truck?

How Do They "Make" a Bengal?

Asian Leopard Cat

Humans have created the Bengal Cat by breeding domestic cats with the Asian Leopard Cat (above). While most people are impressed with capitalism because it brings inventions such as automobiles and computers, I personally think that the creation of the Bengal Cat ranks pretty high on that list as well! This is the "living-room leopard" that many cat lovers have been dreaming of for years. The vastly higher price people are willing to pay for Bengals with beautiful spotting has lead to rapid progress in spotting over the last few years, including "rosetted" (two color) spots, like my Simba has. In the links section below is a link to a page showing pictures of how the mix evolves by each generation from the Asian Leopard Cat. I have an article in the Bengal Bulletin telling the entire history of cat evolution, up through and including the Bengal (click here to read a PDF version of the article).

The Bengal Cat is in many ways similar to a domestic cat, while at the same time being very different. Perhaps the easiest way to think of them is as a cross between a cat and a dog. The Bengal is easily leash trained, loves water, loves to jump and climb high into the air, learns tricks easily, and is significantly more intelligent (and bigger) than a normal cat. Within two weeks of getting him he was already sitting on command, giving me his paw, jumping to my shoulder, playing fetch, giving kisses, rolling over, and walking on a leash. The Bengal is a very active and loving cat that gets along well with almost any other type of animal, if they are introduced young. By the time they are four generations removed from the Asian Leopard Cat (as all pet quality Bengals are), they are legally and genetically considered to be domestic cats and need identical food, litter box, vet, etc., as a normal cat.

Helpful Links and Information

I decided to create this page after spending hours and hours sifting through the many Bengal sites on the Internet. The web sites below are the "best of the best" in terms of Bengal information on the Web, at least in terms of being most useful to me when I was getting ready to adopt Simba.

About Bengals

Want to see how big they get? Look at this photo.

The International Bengal Cat Society Page has great info on the Bengal breed.

Bengal Cat Breed Description and Information Page.

Nice Page on Bengals and How to Introduce Them Into a New Home.

Asian Leopard Cat (ALC) Heritage

This site has a wonderful description (with pictures) of all of the evolutionary steps from the ALC to the SBT (pet) Bengal.

Page of ALC photos, including the Centerwall Project ALC's that all modern Bengals are descended from.

Here is an interview with Jean Mill, one of the Bengal Cat pioneers about how the breed was created.

Would you like to trace the ancestors of your Bengal? Try here.

Bengal Books

Bengal Cats: Everything About . . . by Dan Rice (from Amazon)