Bengal Cats are highly intelligent, extremely friendly, very vocal, gorgeous domesticated cats. They have the wild look of the jungle with the sweetest temperaments. They love people and especially children. Like children, Bengal Cats are lively and curious. They love to run, jump, climb, chase and sometimes even fetch. Bengal Cats have impressive, glittering, velvety rosettes and marbles. These markings are exquisite. The appearance of the Bengal cat is similar to the Asian Leopard Cat and its genetic makeup contains a contribution from this wild cat species.
The Bengal Cat originates from the breeding of the domestic shorthair (or other common house cat) and the Asian Leopard Cat (also known as the Felis Bengalensis) in the 1960s. The Asian Leopard Cat is a small wild leopard cat weighing between 13-16 lbs. Bengal Cats of today are descendents of this wild ancestor. Crossing the domestic cat to the Asian Leopard Cat has resulted in a fully domestic cat with an exotic look.
The Bengal Cat breed was initially registered with TICA in 1983 and first shown in 1985 under the New Breed/Color class.