ABOUT BENGALS

Chain Rosettes

Chain rosetting describes a connected row of donut rosettes linked together horizontally and running parallel on either side of the cat’s spine.

Paw Print Rosettes

Doughnut Rosettes

Donut rosettes are spots that are darker than the background’s coat color and outlined with an even darker color. The most popular marking.

Our queen, Seraphina, and our pet, Crypto, have these.

BENGAL CAT PATTERNS

Before we look at Bengal cat colors, the first thing you should know about Bengal cats is that there are 2 coat patterns:

Spotted
Marbled

THE SPOTTED COAT

A spotted coat Bengal cat is the most popular style of coat. Odds are, if you’ve seen a Bengal cat or are learning about what a Bengal cat even is, you’ve seen this cat in spotted form.

The spotted Bengal has characteristic, small to medium-sized spots all over their coats. Large, random, two-tone rosetted markings are particularly prized. AKA they’re the house cats that look like mini leopards.

The most popular spotted coat for a Bengal cat is the “Rosetted Bengal“. Spots are called rosettes when the spots are two-toned contrasting colors distinct from the background color. The Bengal cat is the only domestic cat with rosetted spots!

The 3 most important types of rosettes are:

Arrow-head
Paw-print
Donut

THE MARBLED COAT

The marbled coat pattern is derived from blotched tabby stripes that swirl. The ideal marble Bengal cat has a horizontally flowing, random, asymmetrical pattern made up of swirls of two or more colors.

The marble Bengal cat has four official types—reduced horizontal flow, horizontal flow, chaos pattern, and sheet marble patterns.

BENGAL CAT COLORS 101

Let’s take a look at Bengal cat colors.

Like other breeds of cats, Bengals come in a variety of colors. There are about 6 Bengal cat colors, divided into standard and non-standard by The International Cat Association (TICA).

The standard Bengal colors are:

Brown
Snow
Silver

Non-recognized colors are:

Charcoal
Blue
Melanistic (Solid Black)

Non-recognized colors can be bred and registered with TICA, but cannot be shown.

With a normal brown Bengal, you can find these characteristics:

Brown to jet black markings
A black tip tail
Red nose
Brown, copper, gold, green or hazel eyes
A white belly is preferred

THE SNOW BENGAL CAT

Contrary to what the name suggests, they are not pure white Bengal cats.

In fact, the snow Bengal cat comes in 3 genetically different colors (and names):

Seal Lynx
Seal Mink
Seal Sepia

A Snow Seal Sepia Bengal (Cb, Cb color genes) has:
Ivory, cream, light tan color
Various shades of seal sepia to dark seal sepia markings
Dark seal brown tail tip
Green or gold eyes

A Snow Seal Lynx Bengal (Cs, Cs color genes) has:

A very light white cream color
Dark or light seal markings
Dark seal brown tail tip
Blue eyes. Always.

A Snow Seal Mink Bengal (Cb,Cs color genes) has:

Ivory, cream, light tan color
Various shades of seal mink to dark seal mink markings
Dark seal brown tail tip
Blue-green or aqua eyes

THE SILVER BENGAL CAT

A silver Bengal also has:

As little tarnish (yellow/rusty brown) in the coat as possible
Dark gray to jet black markings
A black tip tail
A brick red nose
Green or golden eyes

THE CHARCOAL BENGAL CAT

A charcoal Bengal (Apb, a or Apb/Apb agouti genes) is darker than the traditional recognized Bengal colors. The black smoky charcoal color was particularly seen in early generation F1 and F2 Bengals.

The charcoal trait is inherited independently of color and can be seen in each color class: browns, silvers, snows (lynx charcoal, mink charcoal, sepia charcoal), and even in blues.

Charcoals have a dark greyish/brownish or carbon colored backgrounds with very little to no rufous (reddish-brown) and a very dark spotted or marbled pattern.

Charcoals can also have a darker face “mask” and thick dorsal stripe commonly referred to as the “Zorro cape and mask”.

The mask resembles an upside-down “Y” or a peace sign without the circle around it.

These charcoal masks can be very dark and eventually match the color of the black to black body markings.

The tail is dark brown/black or grayish black with stripes and a black tip.

Glitter

While Bengals are the first domestic cat to have glitter, not all Bengals have it.

You can see the glitter by the shimmering, sparkling effect on your cat’s coat. Even in low lighting, you’ll be able to see the sheen of the glitter on the Bengal.

But what is glitter, exactly? “Glitter” is a translucent hollow hair shaft that catches the light and reflects it. It is present throughout the fur of your cat.

Arrowhead Rosettes

Arrowheads can be solid and monochrome in the single spotted group or they can be rosetted with different colors fading into the background. Well-defined arrowhead rosettes are rare and sought after by Bengal cat owners and breeders.

The arrowhead rosette is not the most common one but it is probably the easiest type of rosette to identify. Arrowhead rosettes are shaped in a triangular form similar to the tip of an arrow or a drop, with all tips pointing to the back of the cat.

Our sire, Valerian, has this type

Paw-print rosettes are shaded spots open on one side with smaller and darker spots on the edge. A paw-print rosette is never entirely enclosed by the darker, surrounding color.

Inspired by the Leopard’s coat, paw-print rosettes earned their name as they often look like little paw prints walking across the cat’s coat.