What Determines Quality?

Often I get asked this question. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I will try to answer this with my version of quality. While TICA has its own standards it uses to judge what is a champion and what is not, I feel that the Bengal was bred to look like a Leopard. With the Leopard standard in mind, the more spots a Bengal has and the less stripes makes it more appealing. Keep in mind, however, that a lot of the little "imperfections" in Bengals arose because naturally in all Leopard species there are imperfections.

Let us go over the more common traits in Bengals:

the Face:
The face should have "Mascara markings" which are like the letter "V" that outline the eyes. This is a classic Bengal trait. Since Bengals are also considered a type of Tabby, they should carry the Classic Tabby "M" markings on the forehead. A lot of times you can tell at birth between a Silver and a Brown by looking at the face. Silvers will lack any brown in the face. The face should carry a wild look and contain lots of stripping.

Spine:
All Bengals are born with three stripes down the spine. Sometimes, these stripes are so wide that they bleed into one large black patch down the back, known as a "Cape". Over time, the Cape can thin or fade or remain the same. The middle stripe down the spine never really goes away and is considered rare indeed if they ever develop into spots. The 2 stripes down either side, however, may stay stripes or they may eventually develop into individual spots. This usually starts occurring around 4 weeks and if you don't see a development towards this by then, then chances are slim it will ever happen. I would say that only 40% of the time these stripes become spots and more spots means better quality.

Rib Bars:
Right behind the arm where the ribs are located is often times a stripe, known as a "Rib Bar". Sometimes it's a thin line barely noticeable unless the arm is stretched out, sometimes it's a thick line or even two lines, and sometimes they are multiple spots that are connected to form strange looking blobby line. Obviously, no Rib Bars means less lines and better quality. Rib Bars can be found within up to 80% of all Bengals.

Spots/Rosettes:
There are spots and then there are rosettes. Spots are a single color and rosettes are two colors. There are many types of rosettes, like paw-print, doughnut, arrowhead, ect. For more information on this, please view the part of my website that goes over colors and patterns in the About Bengals tab. I find that paw-print rosettes are more natural to the the Asian Leopard Cat but that doughnut rosettes cater to the larger Leopard look. Doughnut rosettes with bold black circle outlines give greater contrast, produce a larger "wow" factor, and are more rare. The rounder a rosette, the more attractive it looks. Many times, two rosettes can be close enough to connect with each other and create an interesting sometimes globular look. It can also remind me about the part in cell division when one cell is in the middle of dividing into two cells. You can also get multiple rosettes that bleed together to form a single line.

Does Size Matter?
Let's talk about the size of the Rosettes. Some people love the large rosettes that are common among Jaguars, while others like more plentiful smaller rosettes. I try to cater to all desires by acquiring my Breeding Bengals with all types of patterns and colors to create unique and attractive kittens. I personally like the combination of plentiful rosettes along with spotting in between the rosettes to break it up a little.

Lines
The more spots/rosettes there are and less lines there are, the more of a Leopard look you have. That being said, there are naturally stripes on the face, legs, arms, tail, and down the spine. In rare instances, there will be two color rosettes along the tail instead of stripes.

Wings
On the back of a Bengal where the shoulder blades are is a unique swirling pattern known as "Wings". Sometimes they are simple circles and sometimes they are very intricate.

Color
When Bengal kittens are born, the best way to predict their looks is by their parents and by previous litters. Spot patterns and color can be very genetic, to the point that the same looking spots and stripes are occurring in the same places. Even a grandparent's looks can creep into the mix sometimes, thus why I include pictures of all my Breeding Bengal's parents.

That being said, one trait you want to look for in young kittens is very dark black spots. This insures that the black ring in the rosette stays while the middle fades into a brown color. If you have the spot too light the black ring can fade altogether. You also don't want the background color, the color in between the black spots, to be too dark because then the rosettes will not "pop" out and will instead be competing with the background. So it's alright if the background color is initially very light. The brown in the rosettes can be very dark instead.

Often, although not always, the color of the kitten will change over time and will darken in some areas and lighten in others. Occasionally, I will get a kitten that was born one color that drastically changes into a completely different color. We fondly call these kittens "turn coats" for the rebels that they are. We have had a light Brown kitten loose all of its brown color and turn Silver and have had a Silver kitten turn into the darkest Brown I've seen.