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When it comes to Bengal kittens it can be a difficult task to try and explain what they look like since there is such a huge variety. In this post, we will try to give you a few examples of what they commonly look like so that you can get some idea of what to look for. In this post we will cover:
To the dismay of a lot of first time breeders, they soon discover that most Bengal kittens will go through what is known as a fuzzy camouflage stage. This is a stage much like their ancestors in the wild went through. They will begin this stage when they first start going out and exploring their surroundings.
Both their colors and patterns will be muted on their coats. This is genetically designed for their coats to hide the kittens from possible predators. You will see this being most evident on their bodies and tails where their hair is a little longer.
Even though the kittens are still adorable, as all kittens are, this would be the time of their lives where they actually look their worst. This fuzzy camouflage stage usually happens during the ages of 7 to 12 weeks.
When you look at a Bengal Kitten the first hint of their true background color can be seen between their eyes and their ears and then on their foreheads. As a Bengal kitten begins to get older their colors will begin to show up on the shorter hair of their legs and then starts down their spine. Eventually, their colors will begin to spread over their entire bodies.
Check out these cute Bengal kittens in the video below:
There are a vast variety of different color combinations that a Bengal kitten can end up developing but we’ll try to keep it as simple as possible. Listed below are just a few of the more common colors that are used to identify a Bengal cat:
The Brown Spotted Bengal kitten can develop a coat that has brown to black patterns with warm golden tones in the background. Some may have a bright copper brown marbling that should have a nice flowing horizontal pattern that has irregular shapes. The shapes shouldn’t be in a bullseye pattern. You should also find outlining that goes around the different shades of the kitten’s background color. This type of pattern will continue to change for a few months as they shed their black hair and the marbling will become more intricate.
Some Bengal kittens will have what is called a Charcoal color and this is still considered Brown Spotted Bengal because if you lift up the Charcoal colored hair you will find a reddish under coat. However, if you find white hair roots the kitten is actually considered a Silver Spotted Bengal.
Here are some examples of the colors that brown spotted Bengals eventually achieve:
When it comes to the lighter shades which are often given the slang term of “Snow Leopard” you will find the Seal Lynx Point which can be spotted or marbled and the Seal Mink/Sepia which also can be spotted or marbled.
The Seal Lynx Point kitten usually will be born all white and the spots will come at a much later date. As they age their Points often get a lot darker. You will also find that it is only the Lynx Point variety that will retain their blue eyes all their life.
A Seal Mink/Sepia version of Bengal kitten will usually be born an off-white color with some brown markings and these markings will get much darker as they grow up. The Mink version usually will have a medium brown pattern with their eyes becoming either an aqua or green color.
The Seal Sepia version of this Bengal will have much darker brown patterns than the Mink and their eye colors will tend to go from yellow to gold.
The Silver Spotted Bengal kitten will have a nearly all silver to white base coat that will have black markings and has become an extremely desirable color in recent years. This particular color does not appear anywhere in the wild, it was introduced to the Bengal world by crossing them with the American Short Hair cat.
Finally the Blue Spotted is considered a diluted color. This means that there is an absence of black in their genes to create dilute colors. All standard Bengals will have a black tip on their tails, but when they don’t this means they are a dilute color. The Blue Spotted is the most common of the dilute colors.
Here are some examples of the colors that the lighter Bengals will eventually achieve:
The patterns that are found on Bengal kittens and grown cats are what truly makes them different than all other domestic cat patterns. There are rules to what the spots must look like on a Bengal that makes them so different because their spots are not just spots they are called rosettes.
Often you can find a variety of different type of rosettes on one Bengal. One pattern is called a Paw Print Rosette and this has more than one dark spot with brighter colors in between the spots. They can also be shaped like arrowheads or they are fully shaded rosettes or they can be single spots with different shades of color in the one spot.
The development of some rosettes will begin when the Bengal kitten is as young as two weeks old but the true design is hidden by their fuzziness. At five weeks, old some of the baby fuzz is starting to wear off and the rosettes become a little more apparent.
When the Bengal kitten is about three months old is when you will finally be able to tell exactly what their coat pattern pretty much will be for the rest of their lives.
So, did this help make it easier for you to know what a Bengal kitten looks like and how their looks develop? Please let us know what you think by leaving your comment below.
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