The Bengal cat Bengal colours Bengal patterns Bengal type The Asian Leopard cat

Bengal colours

There are three main recognised colours within the Tica Bengal breed standard:

Brown Bengal

Colours of the brown Bengal cat

The brown Bengal is by far the most popular and commonly bred of the recognised colours. This may be due to the brown gene being dominant to the other colour genes, or it may be due to the fact that the colours of the brown Bengal most closely resemble the colours of the Asian Leopard cat.

Generally the colour brown is either golden or cool coloured but within these colours, there are many variations and shades. All of these variations are accepted by TICA and there is no preference given to any one ground colour.

The brown Bengal has:

  • Two or three shades of colour with a lighter background and two toned markings.
  • Brown to jet black markings.
  • Virtuall white undersides.
  • A black tail tip and brick red nose leather.
  • Brown, green or hazel colour eyes.

Seal lynx, Seal mink and Seal sepia Bengal

Colours of the snow Bengal cats

The seal lynx, seal mink and seal sepia Bengals may also be reffered to as snow Bengals.

The seal lynx Bengal

The seal lynx Bengal can be easily recognised at birth as it is the only snow that is born almost all white with very little or no markings. This colour can also be determined by taking a photograph of the Bengal with the flash on. If the eye shows the red of the retina, the Bengal is a seal lynx.

The seal lynx gene is recessive so in order to produce a seal lynx point Bengal, the colour must be carried by both parents.

The seal lynx Bengal has:

  • A pale ivory background colour.
  • Markings: various shades of brown (once older).
  • Very ittle difference between the colour of the body markings and the point colour.
  • White undersides.
  • A black tail tip and brick red nose leather.
  • Clear blue eyes both as a kitten and as an adult.

The seal mink Bengal

The seal mink Bengal can easily be differentiated from the seal lynx Bengal as it has visible/darker markings at birth.

The seal mink Bengal is a combination of the seal lynx and the seal sepia, in that it has one copy of each colour gene.

The seal mink Bengal has:

  • A pale ivory background colour.
  • Markings: various shades of mid to dark brown.
  • Very ittle difference between the colour of the body markings and the point colour.
  • White undersides.
  • A black tail tip and brick red nose leather.
  • Turquoise blue colour eyes.

The seal sepia Bengal

The seal sepia Bengal can easily be differentiated from the seal lynx Bengal as it has considerably darker markings at birth. The seal sepia Bengal can often appear to be a brown Bengal.

The seal sepia gene is recessive so in order to produce a seal sepia Bengal, the colour must be carried by both parents.

The seal sepia Bengal has:

  • A pale ivory background colour.
  • Markings: various shades of mid to dark brown.
  • Very ittle difference between the colour of the body markings and the point colour.
  • White undersides.
  • A black tail tip and brick red nose leather.
  • Brown, green or hazel colour eyes.

Silver Bengal

The colours of the Silver Bengal cat

The colour of the silver Bengal is the result of the inhibitor gene that stops the production of Pheomelanin. It is not actually a colour, but a lack of.

In order to produce a silver Bengal, at least one parent must be silver.

The silver Bengal has:

  • A white background colour.
  • Two or three shades of colour with a lighter background and two toned markings.
  • Zero or as little tarnish (brown in the coat) as possible.
  • Dark grey to jet black markings.
  • A black tail tip and brick red nose leather.
  • Pale green colour eyes.

Non-standard colour Bengal

Non-standard colours are those that are not recognised by the TICA Bengal breed standard. They are a result of the variety of domestic breeds that were originally introduced into the Bengal's gene pool.

One of the most popular non-standard colours is blue and many breeders actually breed for this colour now.

Blue Bengal cat

The blue Bengal can be shown with TICA under 'new traits' and breeders are working hard to try and promote the blue Bengal to championship status.

The blue colour gene is essentially black but the dilute gene alters the colour to look blue. Thus the blue Bengal has two copies of the dilute gene. As it is a reccessive gene, both parents must carry for blue in order to produce a blue Bengal.

The blue Bengal has:

  • An off white/ivory background colour.
  • A steely blue coloured foreground colour.
  • Peachy coloured undertones.
  • Blue markings.
  • A dark grey tail tip.
  • Gold, green or hazel coloured eyes.
There are other non-standard colours that show up from time to time but we have yet to breed them.