...Or should I say " Meow! " Anyone else on here have a Bengal kitty? I know you have to actually buy these cats, but man is it totally worth it! I think the lady still has a gorgeous female kitten left if anyone is interested! LMK I can hook ya up with her. Good lady.
Brief history :
The first cat in this family tree is an Asian Leopard Cat (ALC). Keep in mind, it's called a "CAT." This is indeed a full wild cat from asia and other parts of the world. It's considered a "CAT" because it's truely a small wild animal. They don't look or weigh nearly the same as an African Leopard or Tiger. Here are a couple pictures of ALCs.
Cat fanatics found these cats extremely interesting for two reasons. They are quite attractive. Also, they have a weird temperment. ALC's fear humans because they've been hunted for ages to be treated as a delicacy at the table of asian folk as well as fur coats. They do not attack, they avoid.
So 20 years ago or so, someone decided to start trying to make a generic tabby cat have a unique look along with a different temperment. This person took a generic black tabby cat and bred it with a full out wild ALC. Many attempts failed throughout the years of trying to make this work.
The cats had to be bred all of the way down to a 4th generation before they were considered "domesticated animals suitable for house pets." Unfortunatly, most of the males that were born in the first generations of this bengal cat ( F1-F3 ) were unfertile aka, shootin blanks. So the breeders had to keep switching from stripped / marble cats and black cats to keep the coats of the ALC. Obviously the new Bengal breed has lost some of the qualities of an ALC but overall, they still have quite the resemblance and some will argue that they are even more attractive now!
Bengal cats generally (obviously depends on how they are raised as well) are very outgoing cats. They frequently treat their owner as their mother. What I mean is, they always want to be near you. It's not uncommon to have a bengal up in everyones business if you are having a party or something. The good thing is, they enjoy all of the attention! Some other odd traits are Playing fetch, coming when called, and that they LIKE water! Many Bengals will hop in a bath and play with toys or Hop in a pond while going for a walk. Playing fetch, coming when called, and These cats have been proven to be very loyal, well behaived, GORGEOUS and best of all, just great pets in general. They act like dogs but look like a cat!
This is what a good example of a Bengal looks like when they grow up. Obviously model cats are like model humans so you can't expect them all to quite look like this! There are also different colors / styles of these cats so keep that in mind if you look around on the web.
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