Bengal Breed Information

Bengals were developed initially by Jean Mill breeding a domestic cat to an Asian Leopard Cat.  The offspring were called a Bengal Cat.  The word Bengal came from the genis species name for the Asian Leopard Cat  which is Felis Bengalensis.   Originally, Jean Mill was trying to breed for a wild leopard look, not a wild asian leopard cat look.  But the only wild cat with spotting and rosetting that could breed to domestics successfully was the Asian Leopard Cat.

Asian Leopard Cats successfully bred with domestics through lots of trial and error.  Sometimes losing litters and sometimes never conceiving at all.  When kittens were produced, litters were small.  Lucky was the breeder who had more than one live kitten survive.  Those kittens were beautiful but wild unless removed from mom and bottle fed.  When those kittens reached maturity, again lots of hearbreaks occurred when it was determined that males from these early breedings are infertile.

After many generations of trial and error, it was determined that once in a while an F4 can be fertile, but more reliably, fertility is experienced at the F5 generation.  Some level of infertility still exists, but it is less frequent at these lower generations.  We strive, as responsible breeders, to raise quality, healthy, loving and beautiful kittens to share with the world. 

But if you think this is a money making operation, think again!  Lots of vet bills quickly eat into any profit you make think you made.

See lots of Health information on the Begal Cat at our sister site here!

Debbie Anderson

debbie@officialbengalcat.info

For even more pictures and information, visit our sister site:  Nitewindes Bengal Cats