With so many Bengal cat variations, you may not know where to begin when searching for your dream cat. That’s why we’ve put together this illustrated guide to Bengal cat colors and patterns.
Photo by Bengalcats.co-Laurent Jaccard
Bengals come in many different colors. But strictly speaking, there are only three basic breed-accepted colors: Brown, Silver and the three Snow colors (Seal Lynx, Seal Sepia and Seal Mink Point). Within each color category, there are two accepted types of pattern: Spotted and Marble.
Photo by Bengalcats.co-Laurent Jaccard
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. The coat is covered in random, diagonally or horizontally aligned spots on the torso, tummy and legs. Large dark spots on a light ground color is usually preferred. Of course, there are variations to the spotted category and there can be many different types of spots on a single Bengal cat.
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
Photo by Bengalcats.co-Laurent Jaccard
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.
Donut rosettes are spots that are darker than the background’s coat color and outlined with an even darker color.
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.
Clouded rosettes are large, full rosettes that appear to fit together like a puzzle with little spacing (acreage) in between.
Chain rosetting describes a connected row of donut rosettes linked together horizontally and running parallel on either side of the cat’s spine.
Cluster rosettes are small spots forming clusters around the center color.
Photo by Bengalcats.co-Laurent Jaccard
The marble Bengal cat has four official types—reduced horizontal flow, horizontal flow, chaos pattern, and sheet marble patterns.
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.
The standard Bengal colors are:
- Brown
- Snow
- Silver
Non-recognized colors are:
- Charcoal
- Blue
- Melanistic (Solid Black)
Photo by Laurent Jaccard -www.bengalcats.co
