Bengal cat: Nutrition, character, training and much more about the Bengal cat

By Roswitha Berger

The spotted coat and also the physique are reminiscent of the wild ancestors, which were crossed into this line of pedigree cats only towards the end of the 20th century. Despite the wild heritage, Bengal cats are very affectionate and strongly attached to humans.

The book explains what you need to consider if in the future you will share your home with a Bengal cat. It answers the frequently asked questions:

Should Bengal cats be kept as apartment cats?
What should I pay attention to when caring for the cat's coat, claws and teeth?
What do I feed the cat?
What precautions are important for the health of the cats?
Do Bengal cats need water to play?

Something else we would like to reveal. In the book you will find tips on how to educate and train the cat, because the highly intelligent animals need activity and should be encouraged.

Contents:
- Breed characteristics
- History of the ancestors and the breed
- Character
- Demands of the breed
- Outdoor or indoor cat?
- Healthcare and vet visits
- Selection of the animal
- Preparation for moving in
- Education and training
- Sudden behavior problems

In addition, there is an appendix with detailed instructions and valuable tips.

Become a team with your Bengal cat and learn how to deal with it lovingly!

• Language: English
• Publisher: XinXii
• Release date: Apr 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9783986469269

Book preview

RACE CHARACTERISTICS

The coat pattern is certainly the most striking feature, but the head and build also point to the wild ancestor.

APPEARANCE AND PHYSIQUE

The medium-sized cat (males weigh about 5.5 kg and females on average 4 kg) is characterized by a robust bone structure and muscular body. The croup is slightly higher than the shoulders and hind legs are slightly longer than the front legs. The large round paws resemble paws. The thick tail runs pointed at the end and has a rounded tip.

HEAD, NOSE, EYES AND EARS

The head, which seems small in relation to the body, reinforces the impression of having a mini leopard in front of you. The old German name of the breed Leopardette fits perfectly.

The head resembles a wedge with rounded contours. Puss cheeks can make it appear rounder in adult males. The prominent profile runs in a gentle slightly concave curve from the forehead to the bridge of the nose. The large broad nose has a slightly prominent nose leather and a bridge that reaches above the eyes. High cheekbones and the full broad muzzle with large pronounced whisker pads enhance the impression of a wildcat.

The widely spaced ears elongate the face when viewed from the front. In profile, it can be seen that they are tilted forward. The oval to almond-shaped eyes are large without dominating the face.

FELL

As mentioned, the coat is the most prominent breed characteristic. The breed standard allows a short to medium length coat with dense unusual soft texture.

Depending on the breeding association, different color varieties are allowed. However, the coat of a Bengal is always spotted in the construction area, in black varieties the spotting is only visible in sunlight. The coat should remind of leopards by its pattern. Here many varieties are allowed. Generally all Bengals have a dark tail tip. If this feature is missing or if the coat is hard or too long, the cat is not recognized as a Bengal.

Currently, however, there are efforts to include the long-haired variant as Cashmere Bengal in the breed status.

HISTORY OF THE RACE

All domestic cat breeds can be traced back to the African dun cat, which is proven to have been kept as a domestic cat in Cyprus as early as 7,500 BC. The Bengal cats have a wild ancestor, which was only crossed in the 20th century.

THE WILD ANCESTORS

Family of cats (Felidae) is divided into the subfamilies big cats (Pantherinae), like lions or tigers and small cats (Felinae) to which ocelot, the serval, the leopard cat or lynxes belong. Within the subfamilies, crossbreeding is possible, but similar to horses and donkeys, it leads to infertile offspring.

The breed of Bengal cats is based on a cross of domestic cat with an Asian leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis), known in English as Asian Leopard Cat (ALC). The wild cat is very shy and not aggressive - it prefers flight to attack.

The nocturnal solitary animals are good climbers and swimmers. They have therefore also colonized small islands at some distance from the coast. They also often catch part of their prey, which consists of reptiles, fish and crustaceans, in addition to rodents, in the water. Unlike domestic cats, they form a strong bond with a partner and are often monogamous.

In nature, cats prefer to defecate and urinate in flowing water. For this reason, the first Bengal cats often used washbasins or water bowls to defecate. This kind of uncleanliness hardly ever occurs in today's breeding cats, but it can certainly be used to get the animals used to a toilet.

BREED OF THE BREED

Image 1: Bengal kitten

In 1963, Jean Sugden (now Mill) mated an Asian leopard cat to her black domestic male. This resulted in a spotted girl cat, which she christened Kinkin. Kinkin was raised by a domestic cat and later mated to her father. The offspring of this union had the desired spotted coat, but they were mostly infertile. Because her husband died, Sugden suspended breeding for several years. At about the same time, Bill Engle, Pat Warren, Dougles Engler, and Virginia English, to name a few, made similar matings. The goal was not primarily to breed a new breed of cat, but to research Feline