Thanks for reading :

I've just been to visit the owner of some kittens. I found her advert after scouring kittenlist.co.uk for a few weeks and after some email ping pong with a seller I decided to pop over and put down a deposit on a kitten.

Can you have a look at the following photos and please give me your opinion on whether the kitten shown is infact a Bengal ? I was told that it's parents were both Bengals, but it doesn't really look like any other Bengals I have found photo's of on the 'net. I'm no 'cat expert' by any stretch of the imagination and so I thought I'd post the pics I took this afternoon and get some advice.

The kitten is approx 2wks old - To be fair, you can't really see many markings in the pictures, but in the flesh he has a thick stripe running down his back.







The rest of the kittens in the litter were black, is this possible if both of the parents are Bengals, as I was told ? Pictures with Mum below.





I'd really appreciate peoples opinions - Thank you.

Hi

Sorry, but the mother is a mackeral tabby and not a Bengal. See the vertical stripes on her.
Bengals are spotted/rosetted or classic tabbies (marbled).
Silver Bengals can have black/melanistic kittens, but most likely the neighbourhood tom.

If you truly want a Bengal kitten, look at the list of Bengal breeders on the Bengal Cat Club kitten page http://www.bengalcatclub.co.uk/availablekittens.asp
or
the Bengal Cat Club of Great Britain breeders advertisements http://www.bengalcat.org.uk/
or
the Bengal kitten list http://www.bengalkittenlist.co.uk/kittenlist-chronology.htm
or
the Bengal Classifieds
http://www.bengalclassifieds.com/uk/UK_kittenlist_sort_location.htm

This is not your fault, well done to you to question the truth of the matter.
These BYB/kitten mills really make me angry.

Elsa

Hi, cute cats!

From your pictures, i would hazard a guess that the mum is a tabby.

If both parents were Bengals, i'm positive that they couldn't produce black kittens, as i'm sure there would be at least one dominant Bengal gene (snow/marble/spotted etc) that would appear in the resulting litter.

Bengals have spots/stripes/marble patterns running in all sorts of directions on the body.

However, there are always certain things to look out for - the 'necklace', which is a line running vertically across the neck. The pads are black, The feet are webbed. The belly is usually spotted.

The key with Bengals is usually to not have symmetrical patterns, as you'd get in a tabby.

Sorry - though i have to say the kitten is rather sweet, if not what you were told he is x

Thanks for the replies. I thought something was up, I'll do some reading now I think !

When I replied to the kittenlist advert the seller sent me the following picture :



It must be lifted from the internet, because the kitten in the pictures I took today looks nothing like it.



Thanks again for the replies ..

Hi

Spotsnstripes - symmetrical is not really a problem in Bengals. If you have a cat with a wonderful horizontal pattern on one side and the same on the other then that is great.
Vertical patterns are the problem, there should be minimal vertical lines.
The aim is to have spots/rosettes in a horizontal flow, like the ALC.
Tabby cats don't have any rosetting.
The belly of a Bengal is always spotted apart from in some marbles where the spots can coalesce into lines.

HTH

Elsa

I'm so sorry, how disheartening.

You're right, the kitten you put a deposit on looks nothing like the one above.

Are you able to get your deposit back...?

Thanks Elsa - you explained it better than me

The deposit was only a tenner. I'll contact the seller and see what she has to say, but I wont hold my breath !

You'd probably go a very blue colour, if you did hold your breath

We may be wrong though.

Hi Elsa & Spotsnstripes,

Any Bengal is capable of producing melanistic offspring as it is a recessive gene that can be carried in all lines. When combined with the silver inhibitor gene it produces the smoke colour.
In other breeds it is responsible for self coloured cats as opposed to non self. Both parents have to carry the gene for it to be produced but it is possible to have a whole litter of melanistic kittens in puebred Bengals.

Regards

Liz

hi liz
I do not really know much about Bengals either, but I do know that they are expensive cats. I noticed that you only paid £10 dep, that may be a clue, I paid £100 dep for my kitten. How much was she asking for in total?

oops, sorry liz, that last post was meant for the person who posted the question

I agree, not a bengal. Mom is a tabby.

As for melanistic, my silver has had two litters (both with a bengal sire) and she's had one black one in each.

Hi Ali,

The woman who was selling was only asking £130. I realise now this is very very low & when questioned the seller said that as this is going to a 'pet only' home she would let the kitten go for less than usual.

Anyway ! I'm in touch with another lady, she's sent me a few pictures of some Bengal Cross kittens she has for sale, ready end of May. She seems nice, and has offered to show me the female mothers certificate when I visit. She also sent me some pictures today, so ...

Do you think these are Bengal Crosses ! I'm afraid that I dont know what the other cat was, neither does the owner (Bengal escaped!)

Any opinions are appreciated. Thank you !













Are they going to look ... 'Bengalish' ?! They do look very cute !

Hi,

To tell the truth, not really, look at http://www.bengalcatforums.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=777 - Paddy's kittens in the gallery, or look at some Bengal kittens on breeders websites.

The ones you have found are lovely little kittens though, two are classic tabbies and two are tabby and white. I particularly like the tabby and white ones.

You obviously want a Bengal but are for some reason trying to get a cheap lookalike.

If it is a question of money, then I see your point paying £300-£600 or more for a pet cat is not affordable for everyone.

If I were in your situation then I would have one of these lovely kittens, look after it, love it and forget the maybe/maybe not Bengal element.

Or

Contact Bengal rescue and see if you can find a purebred Bengal who needs a home, many through no fault of there own, some are retired breeders, some are cats whose owners have had a change of circumstance, moving abroad, divorce etc. Many of the posters on this forum have rescue Bengals. Bengals needing homes are all up and down the country so there is bound to be some near you. Many rescue cats are just desperate to find a home to call their own.
(Don't be put off by homing an adult cat, kittens are only kittens for a very short time, an adult cat will love you just as much, if not more than a kitten, kittens often have their own agenda and spend their time finding out about the world and not really thinking about you, whereas an adult cat will seek you out and snuggle up to you.)

If it is not a question of money, then get yourself off to a good breeder and buy a proper Bengal kitten.

Elsa