Q- Are Bengals dangerous to have around children?
A- Not at all. Bengals that are raised with children, love them. The Asian leopard cat that was used in the development of the Bengal breed is a small (7-8 lbs.), shy, forest-dwelling cat that prefers to simply avoid people. Just because it’s wild does not mean that it’s “vicious” or aggressive in any way. And Bengals have been bred specifically to have the more confident temperaments of the domestic side of their pedigree. Because males (and sometimes even females) of the early generations are infertile, the 4th generation (SBT) Bengal has mostly domestic genes. Of course, even cats of completely domestic pedigree may prefer to avoid children if they haven’t been raised around them; children move faster and make more noise than adults and a cat used to a quiet adult home may find this disturbing. Very young children should never be allowed to play with any animal unsupervised because they are often too rough and the animal may react defensively to pain.
Q- Why are Bengals so expensive?
A- Because they are the most beautiful domestic cats on the planet, and you have to expect to pay for the privilege of looking at that beauty every day. :^)
In all seriousness, although raising and selling Bengals may appear to be a gravy train to an outsider, buying breeding stock, keeping up with health requirements, feeding a quality diet, advertising, buying equipment, kitty litter, show entries, and travel expenses quickly bleed any profit out of selling kittens. One queen that needs an emergency C-section can turn a litter from a break-even proposition to a dead loss. Raising show cats or dogs is just another expensive hobby. We do it because we love the animals and because breeding is an expression of art for us, much like painting or sculpture, but involving living flesh.
Remember that the purchase price is the least of the expense involved in owning a cat over the cat’s lifetime, and a free random-bred cat will cost as much to feed, buy litter and toys for, and take to the vet. Isn’t it worth a little more initially to have a true thing of beauty to delight your senses daily?
Q- Do I need to feed my Bengal something different from my other cats?
A- No. I would recommend a premium diet for any animal – look for ingredient lists that have meat as the first two or more ingredients and as few cereal products as possible. This is especially important for cats, as they are obligate carnivores and their bodies don’t utilize the nutrients in grains and vegetables well. There is some evidence that the Asian leopard cat requires a higher level of taurine (an amino acid) in his diet than do domestic cats, but this doesn’t seem to be the case with his Bengal descendants.
Q- What should I expect from a Bengal if I’ve only owned other breeds, or mixed-breed cats?
A- The differences aren’t large. Bengals are generally fairly active, sometimes talkative, and they like high perches and playing in their water bowls. Some will play fetch with their toys. These traits can, of course, be found in individuals of other breeds and non-breeds, but are common breed traits in Bengal cats.
Q- What colors and patterns do Bengals come in?
A- All Bengals are tabbies. The color that most people think of when they think of Bengals is black (brown) spotted tabby, the typical leopard color. These are referred to as BST. There can be a great deal of variation to this color, with backgrounds of pale gold, tawny, bright orange, deep mahogany, and more. Spots can be large or small, numerous or few, single or rosetted (two distinct colors). Rosettes may be shaped like donuts, arrowheads, or paw prints. Then there are the marbles. These have swirls and streaks of color rather than spots. They should show three colors – a lighter background with darker markings and outlines to the markings that are darker still.
There are also silver Bengals, both spotted and marbled. These have a pure white undercoat with darker tipping that gives the silver look. Their markings are darker silver with black outlines.
Bengals also can have albino series genes. These cats are pointed with blue eyes like a Siamese (seal lynx), darker seal with gold eyes like a Burmese (seal sepia), or Mink, which is a combination of the seal sepia and seal lynx and has aqua eyes. The seal color is a very dark brown where non-albinos would be black and patterns are like those above.
Occasionally there are blue, chocolate, cinnamon, and melanistic (black on black) Bengals born. These are not recognized for show, but can be very beautiful pets in their own right.
Q- How large do Bengals get?
A- House cat sized. Some males can be fairly large, but seldom anywhere near the size of a Maine Coon cat. Females generally weigh 7-9 lbs., males 12-15 lbs.
Q- Do Bengals get along with other cats? Dogs?
A- Certainly. All animals that are strange to one another should be introduced carefully and gradually, but Bengals love to play and make friends quite quickly, as a rule.
Q- Why shouldn’t my Bengal be allowed outside?
A- Cats that run loose outdoors have a much shorter life expectancy than indoor-only cats. They may be killed by cars, dogs, other cats, coyotes, foxes, or raccoons. They might also be stolen by those who appreciate their beauty but don’t want to pay for their own. Outdoor cats are also exposed to diseases and parasites that indoor cats never have. You paid a lot for this cat – why risk it?
Q- Why don’t you recommend declawing?
A- Declawing involves amputating the last joint of each toe – like cutting off your fingertips. This can be painful, prone to infection, even deadly. Claws are a natural part of cats and when they are removed some cats go through personality changes. If protecting your furniture is the concern, claw cutting, done weekly, will prevent damage. You can also glue rubbery claw covers onto their nails periodically.