Silver Bengal Cats: Rarest Color Of A Little Domestic Leopards
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You know Bengal cats, elegant, athletic, gentle.. Silver Bengal cats have all of these characteristics; in addition, they have rare and striking silver colors.
The Silver Bengal cats are endowed with great sensitivity and are very attentive to the mood of the people around them. These characteristics, making them excellent pets, allow them to adapt quickly to any domestic environment and to form friendships with people of all ages. Thanks to their very friendly temperament, they will adapt to the master who will appreciate them and will succeed in making them "little domestic leopards". They need a lot of movement and are also fond of his freedom. You should not ignore them.
The origins of the Silver Bengal cat
The Silver Bengal cats can boast of having wild blood in their veins. He descends from the Felis bengalensis; the Asian wild cat also called the leopard cat. Its story began in 1963 when Joan Sugden, breeder of Yurna, took possession of a female specimen which she then mated to her cat (black). From this union was born Kinkin, a magnificent female very similar to her mother and with a wild appearance. Joan Sugden, faced with the beauty of this subject, then planned to give birth to other identical kittens; however, due to family and economic problems, she was forced to abandon her project.
Towards the end of the seventies, she discovered by chance that a Californian researcher, William Centerwall, was researching Felis bengalensis because it was believed to be immune to feline leukosis; the researcher, to study the immune defenses of this animal, crossed the leopard cat with an American domestic cat. This represented an opportunity for Joan Sugden to resume the project she had had to abandon years earlier: to create a domestic cat that looked like a leopard. She contacted Dr. Centerwall and managed to obtain eight hybrid breeders (from the first generation), which she mated to cats of different breeds, including the Egyptian Mau.
The first specimens appeared in 1983 and were presented by Joan Sugden to the International Cat Association TICA (The International Cat Association), which accepted them in the section "New Breeds and Colors" under the name of Bengal, in honor of their ancestors. The official recognition of the breed dates back to 1991, and since then the Bengal has been accepted into the championship.
The ideal cat
The Silver Bengal cats are very elegant. They have a strong and athletic body structure. He has a long and sturdy build and his size can vary from medium to large. Their frame is robust and their musculature powerful (especially in males).
The head is ample, he has a rounded triangle shape and is a little small compared to the body; the neck is long and in proportion to the head. The nose forms a concave curve and is tall and broad; the muzzle is ample and full, with prominent, wide whisker pads and pronounced high cheeks.
The ears, wide at the base and rounded at the tip, are short and placed at the angles of the head. The eyes are large, slightly sunken, and angled towards the base of the ears (they may be slightly almond-shaped). The legs are of medium length (the hind ones a little longer than the front ones) with large, round feet. The tail is long, moderately large, and thick at the base; he tends to become thinner and rounder at the tip.
The coat is shiny, supple, and full and the length of the hair varies from very short to medium. The male experienced rapid growth and quickly reached 15 pounds. The female grows slowly and is lighter: her average weight is about 13 pounds.
The coat of the Bengal cat is particular in terms of design and color. Two types of designs are allowed: spotted and marbled. In the spotted design, the spots (spots) are randomly arranged or lined up horizontally, creating a sharp contrast to the base color. In the marbled design, the arrangement of the spots is also random and horizontal, but the contrast created is different; in addition to the base color and the spots, there is a dark line of demarcation of the spots, which creates an extreme contrast, with distinct shapes and precise contours. For the color, three different shades are allowed: brown tabby, seal tabby point, seal sepia tabby, and seal mink.
In the seal sepia tabby, the basic color is ivory, cream, or light leather. The design is visible and can have different shades, from sable brown to chocolate. The "spectacles" around the eyes, the mustache pads, and the chin are cream ivory in color. There should not be a big difference between the color of the marks and the color of the dots. The pads of the feet are dark brown, and a pinkish shade is admitted. The tip of the tail is chocolate-colored. Eye color can be blue in seal tabby point, aquamarine in seal sepia tabby and seal mink, and gold to green in brown tabby and silver tabby.
The brown tabby variety authorizes all variations of the brown spotted tabby; a strong russet tone is preferable because it brings yellow, warm cream, light brown, or orange tones to the base color. Around the eyes appear clear "spectacles", and the base color of the whisker pads, chin, chest, belly, and inside of the legs is almost white. The edges of the eyes, lips, and nose are circled in black, and the center of the leather of the nose is brick red. The pads of the feet and the tip of the tail should be black.
The base color in the seal tabby point variety is a shade between ivory and cream. The color of the markings can vary from dark shiny brown to light brown, leather, or warm cream. The difference between the colors of the markings and the color of the dots is minimal. The tip of the tail is dark shiny brown.
Products For Silver Bengal Cats
The character Of Silver Bengal Cats
The Bengal cat has a wild appearance and a very gentle character: under a leopard skin, it hides the docile nature of a domestic cat. Its sociable character comes from a careful selection, continued during the program of "construction" of the breed: it has retained the appearance and the independent character of the leopard cat and has acquired the gentleness and gentleness of the domestic cat.
Whoever decides to welcome a Bengal into his home can only fall in love with his gentleness and sensitivity: he is indeed able to adapt to the mood of his master. Cat with a gentle and quiet temperament, he is friendly, intelligent, enterprising, very lively, and playful. He is not pushy or intrusive precisely because he can grasp and respect the moods and demands of those who take care of him. He likes to be praised and caressed, offering very gentle and affectionate outpourings in return.
The Silver Bengal cats are also great hunters, an instinct that he expresses mainly through play. In addition, even if it is a characteristic contrary to the nature of felines, he loves water very much, like the Abyssinians. It is not a cat that meows a lot, and his voice is reminiscent of a wild animal (another characteristic inherited from its ancestor the leopard cat!).
- Cuddly: This cat can be cuddly during his hours, hours which often correspond to his periods of rest. This is a cat who undoubtedly prefers play to pet, but who will appreciate a few cuddles when he decides.
- Player: The Bengal is known to be extremely playful. He will need several daily play periods (minimum 2). He will be very happy to participate in all household activities and will have fun with most of the toys you give him, but he will probably prefer moving toys to stationary toys.
- Calm: At first glance, one might think that the words calm and Bengal do not go together given his very high energy level. He is indeed more active than the norm in cats, but after he has been sufficiently stimulated, he will also need some well-deserved moments of relaxation.
- Clever: The Bengal is a cat with great intelligence. To keep him stimulated, training him to do things like jump in a hoop, fetch the toy, shake the paw, etc. is recommended. You will be amazed.
Good to know
The Silver Bengal cats are hybrid cats; that is to say, it comes from the crossing of a wild feline with a domestic cat. There are several generations (from F1 to F5), but F1 to F3 are not allowed to compete. Fascinating fact: the leopard cat of Bengal (eastern region of the Indian subcontinent) was used for research on feline leukemia. It would seem that this feline is immune to this disease which is normally fatal in cats. Through hybridization, the researchers could track the immune system's genetics.
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