Infographic showing 8 different types of Bengal cat coat

Thanks to the Royal Bengal Cattery I am able to publish on PoC an excellent Infographic showing eight different types of Bengal cat coat. I must say that it can be a little confusing to outsiders so this infographic is most welcome. The Bengal cat has come a long way since the early days when they started off with the brown background colour and a range of markings such as rosettes and arrowhead spots or the marble pattern. This is the first ‘variety’ in the Infographic below. Apparently, it is still the most popular colour and it was the first to be recognised by The International Cat Association (TICA) in 1983. Bengal cats with this colour have green or gold eyes. Nowadays the brown comes in a variety of shades from golden through caramel to honey and cinnamon.

Bengal cat coat infographic
Bengal cat coat infographic. Published here under a creative commons license.

RELATED: Picture of a charcoal Bengal cat

The Snow Lynx Bengal cat has a pale coat with almost ghost markings on the flanks. The breeder says that this is a mini snow leopard. This variety of the Bengal cat comes in three genetically different colours: seal lynx, seal mink, and seal sepia. These cats have blue eyes.

The Snow Mink Bengal Cat has a slightly deeper colour and pattern. The background colours are: ivory, cream or a light tan colour. Markings can be various shades of seal to dark seal mink. The eyes are blue-green or aqua.

The Snow Sepia Bengal Cat has a background colour of ivory, cream or light tan. Markings are in seal sepia to dark seal sepia and the eyes are green or gold.

The Silver Bengal has a higher contrast coat but it lacks colour because the inhibitor gene “inhibits” the production of warm colours and creates an almost white base coat against which are set strong dark markings. The background colour varies from white to very dark steel colour. This should be as little “tarnish” in the coat as possible. This is a reference to a yellow/rusty brown colour. The markings should be from dark grey to jet black. The eyes should be golden.

The Charcoal Bengal coat is darker. We are told that the black smoky charcoal color was particularly seen in early generation F1 and F2 Bengal cats. This trait can be seen in different colour classes of Bengal cats: browns, silvers, snows and blues.

The Silver Charcoal Bengal has a background colour which is less rusty coloured i.e. with little to no rufous (reddish-brown) coloration and is very dark spotted or marbled patterned. These cats have a darker facemask and a thick dorsal stripe. This is referred to as the “Zorro cape and mask”. I’m told that the charcoal brown Bengal cats and charcoal silver Bengal cats can have a black body with ghost markings.

The Blue Bengal is a rare one, apparently. They have a powder blue/grey coat with some cream tones. The spotted pattern is a metal grey or dark blue colour which is a diluted black. The dilution gene is recessive and so both parents must carry the gene for blue to be manifested in the phenotype. The eyes are gold, green or hazel. The background colour is a steel blue.

The Black Bengal cat is described as a solid black with black patterns on a black background. This is a melanistic cat in which you have faint ghost markings against the dark charcoal background. You’ll see this coat type in the famous melanistic jaguar (black panther). The spots can be dark brown to black and you will see them more clearly in sunlight.

Below are some more pages on the Bengal cat.

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