Breed Guide: Bengal

Bengal Cat

The Bengal cat is probably the cat that every prospective cat owner falls in love with at first sight these days. That look, that coat – those eyes! Stunningly showcased on social media and in glossy magazines, these little tigers truly are a feast for the eyes. They seem mysterious and exotic, embodying the nonchalant elegance of cats like few other breeds. On top of that, they have prominent fans such as Justin Bieber. Bengals are graceful, agile, beautiful, and thanks to extensive breeding, now affordable for the average person too. So everything's simply wonderful – or is it? Anyone who knows us knows that LucyBalu carefully examines every aspect of a topic, and animal welfare plays a special role for us. The same goes for this Bengal cat breed guide. We'd like to emphasise here that we're not judging anyone, let alone any particular cat breed. And yet this particular cat is a very special case in its own right.

How It All Began

Unlike other cat breeds, the Bengal cat wasn't created by crossing two domestic cats with each other, but through the pairing of a domestic cat with an Asian leopard cat. In the 1960s, a geneticist in the USA carried out the first documented crossings of these two species. This makes the Bengal breed a very young one, and compared to other pets, you can't really speak of a long domestication phase. It must be stressed here that Asian leopard cats are wild animals, which were forcibly paired with domestic cats at considerable risk to the latter. Under natural circumstances, this breed would therefore never have come into existence. This is also referred to as a hybrid cat. Interestingly, something similar exists in dog breeding too – there, people speak of wolf hybrids. After a brief pause in the 1970s, breeding of these hybrid cats continued, including further crossing with other cat breeds. Today, however, reputable breeders only pair Bengals with other Bengals. Because demand for kittens was, and still is, enormous, massive inbreeding has repeatedly occurred. In Europe, the Bengal hype arrived later: it was only from 1999 onward that they became truly well known there.

Appearance and Character of the Bengal Cat

The Bengal cat's distinctive look is also a clue to its inner qualities. Because they usually look truly wild and beautiful! Their coat is golden, brown or silver-grey. Bengals are often patterned in marbled, tabby or spotted variants. They're short-haired cats with an easy-care coat and an elegant build. Today's Bengals are slender and not particularly large, weighing around 4–5 kilos for females and only slightly more for males. In keeping with their looks, the character of these velvet paws isn't entirely without its rough edges. Most Bengals are affectionate, cuddly animals that shower their owners with just as much affection as other cats do. They're considered intelligent and chatty, and are extremely active and curious.

Even so, we come to a potential problem here: even today, you can still see the wildness of the original leopard cat in Bengals. Their hunting instinct far exceeds that of other breeds. At home, this shows up, for example, during play and rough-and-tumble. When allowed outdoors, these cats display an enormously high hunting success rate. Bengals are likewise known for their very strong urge to move. Relaxing and chilling out – sure! But before (and after) that, it's full throttle. So what exactly do we mean by problem? Playing and romping around is great, isn't it? Don't we all secretly wish for a true little tiger of our own?

The Price of Breeding

House tiger is a term you can take quite literally here. Due to their characteristics, Bengal cats simply aren't suited to being kept exclusively indoors. Unless you convert an entire house into climbing, play and running areas, the space in a typical flat isn't enough to truly satisfy these animals' urge to explore and move around in the long run. Even with the perfectly ordinary domestic cat, the European Shorthair, countless individuals make it very clear that they want to go outside. With Bengals, this is the case as standard! Fine – then let's just let these beauties out into the open. That shouldn't be a problem. Right? Unfortunately, it is. Cats are already blamed (mostly unfairly) for declining bird populations and seen as relentless hunters of small rodents and other wildlife. Domestic cats, which have been accustomed to life with humans for millennia and have lived alongside them for just as long, still hunt in gardens close to home. However, they can be fairly easily distracted, fed, or otherwise at least partly kept from hunting – we've put together more information on this HERE for you. Bengals, however, tend to hunt noticeably more actively – and more often – than 'ordinary' domestic cats. They're more restless and quite a few members of the breed are also more aggressive toward other cats than their relatives without wildcat ancestry. These character traits mean that unprotected outdoor access isn't so easily possible. As already mentioned – we at LucyBalu love Bengal cats. Nevertheless, potential buyers of these animals should really be informed comprehensively, and without rose-tinted glasses, about the potential problems involved.

Breeding Bengal Cats from an Animal Welfare Perspective

The origin of the breed has already been explained. But what does that actually mean? And why should it still matter to us today? Well – because, unfortunately, animal welfare plays a particular role in this breed. The origin of the breed is marked by cruelty: the much larger wild tomcats were paired with domestic cats. Because the males were so clearly superior in size to the females, fatalities or serious injuries to the female during mating were very common, especially in the early days of breeding. Likewise, the kittens were too large for the delicate female cats – difficult births were the result, and not infrequently the mother cats died too. Today this hardly ever happens, since wild cats may no longer be crossed in. Nevertheless, such crossings with wilder animals still occur among disreputable breeders! Because the Bengal bloodline keeps getting more and more 'diluted'. To preserve the wildness, some people resort to unethical methods. That's also why, to this day, many Bengals turn up that, strictly speaking, shouldn't exist anymore at all. Wait – what exactly do we mean by that?

The So-Called F Generations

In science, generations are often labelled 'F'. In our case, F1 refers to the first offspring from crossing an Asian leopard cat with a domestic cat. F2 denotes the second generation after that, F3 the following one, and so on. Incidentally, all hybrid cat generations up to F4 are prohibited from being kept, bred or sold in Germany. If you now assume that only high F-generations are paired with each other, since crossing in wild animals is no longer permitted, everything should be fine and breeding could carry on smoothly. Unfortunately, reality is different. Time and again, shelters and rescue centres take in Bengals that are simply not tame at all – far too large and far too wild to credibly be an F5 generation or higher. These wild hybrid cats pose an enormous threat to many small habitats; they hunt mercilessly, and other domestic cats are not infrequently seriously or even fatally injured in territorial fights. In Germany, we're currently talking about hundreds of such animals that have ended up in shelters and specialised facilities. Where do these wild animals come from? Lawmakers have also recognised this problem – and responded with the ban mentioned above. These hybrids are considered not only a case of torment breeding (see mating above) but also so-called potential fauna contaminants. In other words, they're more wild than domesticated.

Impossible to Keep? Not at All!

If your head is spinning right now – so was ours. Such a beautiful cat, so affectionate, so clever… and THIS is supposed to be dangerous and wild? Are these animals supposed to be aggressive, troublemakers, and maybe even bird killers too? No – they're not. At least not the majority of Bengals! Reputable breeders make an effort to breed animals with a calmer temperament and place great value on balanced bloodlines. What does remain, however, is the cats' urge to move and their strong hunting instinct. These traits are part of the animals' charm. And anyone who loves their pet keeps it in a way that allows it to live a good life. In this case, that definitely means outdoor access. This outdoor time shouldn't be unsupervised; a large fenced enclosure or a securely fenced garden, or even a fully enclosed, spacious roof terrace with enough features for climbing, romping and hunting, is paradise for Bengal cats. Anyone who can afford to create such a home for these animals will be rewarded with a true little house tiger. These animals are fascinating and distinctive – they deserve a good life.