Hi! Our family and I have been searching for a Bengal for a while, and we finally found one. He's 12 weeks on this Wednesday. But, I don't know if he's really a Bengal. He didn't come from a breeder, just someone we found online and she had a few left when we went and picked ours. I'll post some pictures, but how else can I tell if pictures won't show?

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First of all, welcome to the forum! Your kitty is beautiful. It's always difficult to tell from photographs unless you get every single angle of the cat. A lot of people try to pawn off spotted tabbies as bengals because they can be similar -- and they know people want an exotic cat. If they cannot provide pedigree papers, then your kitty is probably not a purebred bengal. All bengals resemble tabbies since the breed was started with an asian leopard cat and a domestic tabby. There are some owners who claim they have a bengal by the way it behaves (very vocal, highly energetic), but that can be any cat. Your kitty currently has the fuzzies which he will lose over time. This not to say your kitten isn't part bengal -- it's just not going to be a purebred bengal without registration papers, regardless of what the person trying to sell the cat to you might say. Purebred bengals are not cheap. Enjoy your little munchkin.

Going to disagree slightly with Sherry on this (though she's spot on with most of her post). There are definitely purebred Bengals without papers out there, and that number is growing as the breed gains popularity. Often, people who have litters of kittens who aren't registered breeders are referred to as "back yard breeders" and this term is usually negative because those "back yard breeders" often don't properly nurture and raise their kittens before they are sold.

There are two different families in my area of Missouri that have posted small litters of Bengal kittens for sale on signs at local pet stores and even Craigslist within the last year. I was curious, so I went and looked at the kittens even though I am at my max of 3 Bengal boys. The kittens were being "rehomed" as pets for $250-$500 without papers. I saw both parents at both homes and they were all very clearly purebred Bengals and 3 of the 4 had papers. The "breeders" in both cases had the intact females first then added the males to their homes. In one case the male had just been neutered but I guess it takes a few days before neutered males are no longer fertile. In the other case the family got the male cat then had him neutered two weeks later but he'd already done the deed. Most of us would consider such "accidents" irresponsible, but both homes took excellent care of their cats and the kittens. They simply didn't care about getting them registered and knew there were plenty of people who would give the kittens good homes but not care about papers.

So, all that being said, there is a chance you have a purebred Bengal. But it is more likely you have a Bengal mix or a really handsome domestic shorthair tabby.

I'm not sure why a legitimate breeder would not want to register a litter or the kittens, especially if they come from registered parents! It's not an expensive thing and only ensures that the kittens are purebred! I'm not saying there aren't unregistered purebred bengals -- but if you're going to advertise (and I can't stand Craigslist) kittens as bengals, you might want to offer some proof that they are. I registered Raiden for $12 and it took about 3 weeks to get the paperwork from TICA. Without those papers, I can't go around and telling people, "he's a bengal." People can post whatever they want in an ad and even going and looking at the kittens, who may appear to be bengal is no guarantee they are. You're still paying a good chunk of money for a cat that may or may not have any bengal in them. Just my opinion! We can't keep supporting these backyard breeders if we want to keep the bloodlines of the bengal pure.

Sure, it may be $12 per kitten to register them, but some people simply don't care about pedigree. If they know the parents are Bengals and they aren't breeding for money but can find the kittens great homes and make a few hundred bucks they without registering them then why bother? Not saying I agree with that, but I know that was the thinking in the two situations I posted about. Situations like that happen whether we like it or not and the only real solution is for the people who buy those kittens to neuter them and give them great homes. If good people don't buy the kittens the kittens end up in bad homes or being killed.

If you feel the only way you can call your cat a Bengal is if it's registered that's fine. But if your kitten's parents are both registered Bengals your cat is a Bengal, papers or not. It's genetics, not paperwork.

Also, Craigslist has both good and bad. I've seen total scams there, but I also got my incredible purebred Boston Terrier from Craigslist when her first family suddenly could no longer care for her.

I totally understand that you're concerned with the purity of the Bengal bloodline. But there will always be great breeders and there will always be back yard breeders.

That is very true! I just see on other bengal sites, forums, etc. people posting pictures of their bengal and it's obviously NOT a bengal! They believe it is probably because they were told it was. Perhaps someone paying a couple hundred dollars for a cat they are told is a bengal, is fine, but many people pay $1,000 and up for a purebred bengal and I personally would in no way part with that kind of money and not get papers with the cat. I registered Raiden when he was six years old -- his previous owner handed me the papers two years ago when I took him and they were blank except with the parents pedigreed names and TICA numbers. I guess it was just important to me to go ahead and register him. Yes, the pedigree ends with him since he's neutered, but it gave me the opportunity to research his pedigree all the way back to the ALCs (there are five different ones). I realize a lot of people don't care about that and that's fine. I was fascinated by the breed and took three months of my spare time to research hundreds of cats in his pedigree. We get the question "is my cat a bengal" constantly here. And what can you tell them? Maybe the pictures looks like a bengal. But how do WE know for sure? We don't! Someone will say, "bengal" and someone will say, "looks like a bengal mix". Someone else will say "looks like a regular tabby". Nobody knows for sure without knowing the parents of the kitty and we basically confuse the member who asked the question in the first place. If these kittens came with registration papers, there would be no need to ask the question in the first place.

Sherry, you're awesome and I love reading this board and having conversations like this because there are people like who you are so passionate about the Bengal breed!

Aww thanks. I can get on my soapbox at times, especially when I'm suffering from back spasms, which I am at the moment!!! I need to tone it down!

Not a purebred Bengal.

Torrio, it's nice that you've come back on here to post only in the topics asking if a cat is a bengal. It would be nice if you also stated why you think the kitty is not.

I would tend to agree probably not a pure bred Bengal - The ticking on the hind quarters / round the base of the tail looks too distinctly part of the coat to be considered 'fuzzies' to me. The tail markings are also too blurred - Bengals normally have more definition to their rings. He is gorgeous, and I think probably half Bengal, if not slightly more, but not full.
I would be more than happy with him, though - What a face! Cuteness personified......

beautiful tabby kitten, but not a pure breed bengal....it might have some bengal in it...or maybe not...
beautiful kitten anyway....i hope he didn't ask you any money or you've been "robbed"