Bengal cats have a variety
of
colors & marking
Color
The brown Bengal cat (C,C color genes) is the most popular of the Bengal cat colors and it was also the first to be recognized by TICA in 1983.
The traditional brown colored Bengals have green or gold eyes.
The ground color can range from a gray-tawny tone to a vivid orange-gold.
The spotting, rosetting or marbling color can range from black, light brown to a darker or reddish brown.
If you have a brown furry friend, you probably know that brown come in a variety of shades like: Golden, Cream, Tawny, Honey, Taupe, Tan, Beige, Caramel, Cinnamon.
All shades of brown are accepted but an orange-brown is preferred for ground color.
As you can see, there’s virtually every shade of brown available for the Bengal breed.
Now, with a brown Bengal, you can find these characteristics:
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Brown to jet black markings
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A black tip tail
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Red nose
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Brown, copper, gold, green or hazel eyes
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A white belly is preferred
Silver (I, i or I,I inhibitor genes) is more a lack of color. This gene inhibits any warm colors and gives an almost white base coat contrasted with striking dark markings.
The silver color was added to TICA championship in 2004 for the Bengal breed.
Silver Bengal cats come in different shades with backgrounds varying from white to a very dark steel color.
Silvers can also be found in any other color combination: Silver Snow, Silver Charcoal, Blue Silver, etc…
A silver Bengal also has:
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As little tarnish (yellow/rusty brown) in the coat as possible
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Dark gray to jet black markings
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A black tip tail
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A brick red nose
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Green or golden eyes
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.
The blue color (d,d dilute genes) is very rare but some breeders are working hard to try and promote the blue Bengal to championship status.
Blue Bengal cats have a powder blue/grey coat with some cream tones. The spotted or marbled pattern is a dark blue or metal grey color.
As it is a reccessive gene, both parents must carry for blue in order to produce a blue Bengal cat.
Blue Bengals also have:
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A steely blue ground color
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Peachy undertones
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Blue markings that will never turn black
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A dark gray tail tip
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Gold, green or hazel eyes
Solid black Bengals (a,a agouti genes) have black patterns on a black ground color that remind us of the melanistic color variant of leopards and jaguars: the black panther.
The colors of the background and the pattern are the same on a melanistic Bengal. Their patterns are called “ghost markings” or “ghost spots” because they are barely visible. But you can still see the pattern in daylight like you would on a black panther.
Black colored Bengals are rare and less popular amongst breeders because this color variation is not approved by the associations.
As for the spots, they can be faint dark brown to black and can sometimes only be seen in natural sunlight.
A smoke Bengal is the silver variation of a melanistic.
If you’re looking for a mini black panther, this color of Bengal would be your best bet!
The Snow Bengal cat
Looking for a mini snow leopard? Then this is the cat you’re looking for.
Bengals also come in a range of cream, ivory colors associated with a form of albinism that comes from Siamese and Burmese cats ancestry.
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):
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Seal Lynx
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Seal Mink
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Seal Sepia
It can be tricky to tell the difference between the three seal colors. A genetic test is always the best method to differentiate the 3 snow Bengals. Alternatively, eye colors can help determine the snow Bengal color one has.
A Snow Seal Lynx Bengal (Cs, Cs color genes) has:
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A very light white cream color
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Dark or light seal markings
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Dark seal brown tail tip
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Blue eyes. Always.
A Snow Seal Mink Bengal (Cb,Cs color genes) has:
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Ivory, cream, light tan color
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Various shades of seal mink to dark seal mink markings
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Dark seal brown tail tip
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Blue-green or aqua eyes
A Snow Seal Sepia Bengal (Cb, Cb color genes) has:
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Ivory, cream, light tan color
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Various shades of seal sepia to dark seal sepia markings
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Dark seal brown tail tip
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Green or gold eyes
Not too bad, right? Shouldn’t be too hard to determine what color Bengal you’re after.
Markings
The Spotted Coat
A spotted coat Bengal cat is the most popular style of coat.
The brown spotted tabby was recognized for Championship status (TICA) in 1991.
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.
This pattern style appeared when breeders believed that larger and sparser spots were more desirable.
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.
Single-Spotted
Single-Spotted means the spots are monochrome. It’s just solid spots splattered in droplets on a contrasting background, similar to those of wild cat like Cheetahs or non-hybrid spotted cats (Ocicat, Egyptian Mau, Spotted Shorthair or Australian Mist).
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
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Paw-print
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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.
In 1987, Jean Mill (Millwood cattery) produced the first Marbled bengal kitten in a cat named Millwood Painted Desert:
She was a spectacular little female with an odd soft, cream-colored coat and weird pattern that looked like drizzled caramel. At the Incats show in Madison Square Garden, and all over the country, she was a sensation!!
In her first standard for the Bengal breed, Jean Mill hadn’t intended to include anything except spots. But Painted Desert was an instant success with both judges and the public and thus the marbles were included in the Bengal registry.
The descendants from these early marbled Bengals contributed the outlining gene and horizontal flow which produced the first ‘rosetted’ spots in the 2000’s.
