BENGAL BREED STANDARDS
  UNITED FELINE BENGAL BREED STANDARD 

Written by Mario Zarragoitia

HEAD			15 points
EARS			10 points
EYES			5 points
BODY			20 points
LEGS/FEET			5 points
TAIL			5 points
COAT			10 points
COLOR/CLARITY			10 points
PATTERN			15 points
CONDITION/BALANCE			5 points

BENGAL 

General:   The goal of the Bengal Breeding program is to as nearly as possible replicate the conformation and the appearance of cats found in the wild ( Asian Leopard Cat, Snow Leopard,  and the Marble Cat ), while maintaining the loving, dependable temperament of the domestic cat.  Keeping this goal in mind judges shall give special merit to those characteristics in the appearance    of the Bengal, which are distinct from those found in other domestic cat breeds.  The Temperament must be unchallenging.  Any Bengal showing signs of a definite challenge shall be disqualified.  Bengals should be confident, alert, curious, and friendly cats.
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Head:  The head shape should be a modified wedge with rounded contours and should be slightly longer than it is wide.  It should be slightly small in proportion to the body, but not to be taken to the extreme.  It should appear to be an extension of the neck without a noticeable break.  Allowance should be made for jowls in adult males.  The profile shows a gentle rising from the forehead to the bridge.  The bridge of the nose extends above the eyes and is slightly rounded like a Roman nose,   or straight.  The bridge of the nose does not curve inward; there is no stop or break.  The chin is round, giving  the head an egg shaped appearance in profile.  The nose is large and wide with a slight puffed nose leather.  The muzzle should be full and broad with a definite whisker break.  Prominent whisker pads and high pronounced cheekbones, giving a “puffy cheek” appearance.
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Ears:  Ideally small to medium ears with wide base and rounded tips.  The smaller the ears the better.  Small ears are lost quite rapidly the further away in generations from its ancestor ( the Asian Leopard Cat ), therefore, special merit should be given to Bengals exhibiting smaller, wide base, rounded ears.  They should be set as much on the side as on the top of the head, following the contour of the face in the frontal view.  Set far back on he head and pointing forward in the profile view.  White or light colored thumbprints or “Ocelli” on the backs of the ears are very desirable.  Lynx tipping and pointy ear tips are undesirable.
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Eyes:  The eyes may be oval or slightly almond-shaped.  They should be large and expressive,  giving a “nocturnal look” to them, but not bugged.  They should be set wide apart and back into the face, and on a slight bias toward the base of the ear.  The eyes should be lined in black with light spectacles.  For the Brown Spotted tabby; any color excepted blue or aqua.  For the snows: any color, including blue, aqua, and gold.
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Neck:  The neck should be thick and muscular.  It should be long and in proportion to the body.
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Body:  The body should be long, lean and substantial, but not oriental or foreign, wedge shaped  with prominent shoulder blades.  The front quarters are smaller than the hind quarters.  The size is medium to medium large.  Proportion must be maintained regardless of size.  The body should appear elegant, never extremely heavy.  the boning should be robust, but not excessively large,   never delicate.  The Bengals should be very muscular, especially in the males.  Allowance should    be made for smaller size in females.  The muscle structure enables the fluid motion unique to the breed and its ancestor ( A.L.C. ).
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Legs:  The legs should be muscular, like the body.  They should be medium in length, and slightly longer in the back than the front.  The boning should be large and substantial.  the front legs may appear to be thin and delicate.  The hind legs are more robust.
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Feet:  The feet should be large and round.
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Tail:  The tail is medium in length, and medium-large in size.  Preference is given to a thick tail that may or may not be tapered at the end with a rounded tip, with rosetting, spotting or distinct ring bands.  All Bengals must have black or brown tail tips.  The tail should be carried low to the ground.  There should not be any visible or felt kinks to the tail ( withhold awards );  ( Minor fault by point reduction ); small, hardly noticeable cartilage bend at the tail tip.
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Coat:  The coat should be short in length with allowance to be made for slightly longer coat in young kittens.  The texture is thick, luxurious, smooth and unusually silky soft to the touch.  Preference is to be given to a close lying coat, except on the tail ( which may appear large and thick ).  Do not fault for an undercoat.  Gold or clear “glitter” is highly desirable, but not required.
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Color Description:

Brown  Spotted Tabby:  All variations of the Brown Spotted Tabby are allowed, including gray  and tawny.  However, a high degree of rufism yielding a yellow, buff, tan, golden, orange or mahogany ground color is preferred.  The ground coloring should be consistent and clear with little  or no black hairs.  The Spots come in a full range of colors.  They may be black, brown, tan, or various shades of chocolate, cinnamon or reds on any of the above ground colors.  A white ground color on the whisker pads, chin, chest, belly, and inner lets, ( in contrast to the ground color of the flanks and back ) is desirable.  White, or very light color spectacles encircling the eyes are very desirable.  Preferably, rims of eyes, lips and nose should be outlined with black, and the center of  the nose should be red, but a black center is not considered a fault.  Tail tip must be black or dark brown, unless the tail is spotted.  Light thumbprints on backs of ears are desirable.  Eyes can be    any color except blue.
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Snows:

Seal Lynx Point:  A Bengal with two Siamese genes is referred as a “Lynx Point”.  The ground color should be Ivory to cream, or almost white. The pattern may vary in color from charcoal to  dark or light brown with light colored spectacles, whisker pads and chin.  Eye rims, lips and nose leather should be outlined in black and the center of the nose should be red.  Paw pads have rosy/pink undertones.  The tail tip must be dark brown or charcoal.  Pearl dusting  ( a lighter or clear equivalent of gold glitter ) is very desirable. ( Withhold Awards ); Any Seal Lynx exhibiting excessive pointing, like the Siamese, ( face, feet, ears, etc. ).  Do not fault for dark tail.  Eye color in shades   of  blue only.

Seal Mink Spotted Tabby:  A Bengal which has a Siamese and  a Burmese gene is referred to    as a “Seal Mink Tabby”.  The Seal Mink Tabbies have a ground color of Ivory to cream, or light   tan with pattern clearly visible.  The pattern may be various shades of Sable to Sable brown to bitter chocolate.  Ivory cream spectacles encircling the eyes, whisker pads, and chin are desirable, giving the wild appearance allowance to be made for slight shading on the face, legs, tail and legs.  Eyes  can be of any color except blue.  Tail tip should be bitter chocolate to dark Sable brown to black.
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Seal Sepia Spotted:  A Bengal with two Burmese genes is referred to as a “Seal Sepia Tabby”.  The ground color should be Ivory, cream, or light tan with a pattern clearly visible.  The pattern may be various shades of  Sable brown to dark chocolate.  Ivory cream spectacles encircling the eyes, and Ivory cream whisker pads and chin are highly desirable.  Allowance is to be made for slight shading on the face, legs and tail.  Eyes may be of any color except blue.   Usually they range in shades of green to gold.  Tail tip should be bitter chocolate to dark Sable brown to black.

Note:  The difference between the Minks and the Sepia Snows are impossible to see.  Only by studying the pedigrees and breeding the cat in question can you know truly know if it is a Mink or     a Sepia.
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Pattern:

Spotted:  Spots shall be random or aligned horizontally.  Rosettes formed by a part circle of spots around distinctly redder center as well as donuts rosettes and arrow shaped rosettes are preferred to single spotting, but not required.  Contrast with the ground color should be maintained regardless of coloring of the spots.  Strong, bold chin straps, necklace’s and mascara marking are desirable.  Blotchy horizontal shoulder streaks are desirable.  The belly must be spotted.  ( Withhold Awards ) extreme Mackerel alignment.  Do not fault for 1 stripe on each side, ( any after that should be penalized ).
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Marble:  Markings, while derived from the Classic Tabby gene, shall be uniquely different with as little “Bulls Eye” similarity as possible.  The pattern shall, instead, be random, giving the impression  of  marble, preferably with a horizontal flow when the cat is stretched.  Vertical stripped Mackerel influence is undesirable.  Preference should be given to cats with three or more shades, i.e. ground color, markings and dark outlining of those markings.  Contrast must be extreme, with distinct  shapes and sharp edges.  Belly must be spotted.  Rosettes can be found on enclosed patterns.   Many of newer marbles are exhibiting blotchy chain-like flowing swirls that have enclosed to form circles, rectangles or odd shaped patches with rosetting within the marbling pattern.  Special merit should be given to these marbles for they are the cutting edge of the future.
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The colors and patterns combined make the following varieties.
 
Brown Spotted Tabby:  Black to very dark brown to medium to light brown to shades of orange spots and rosettes on gray, yellow, tan, golden orange, or mahogany ground color.

Seal Lynx Pointed Tabby (Spotted):   Charcoal to dark brown to brown to tan spats and rosettes on Ivory or near white ground color.

Brown Marble Tabby:  Black or very dark brown to medium brown, tan, chocolate, or cinnamon combined with one more of these colors; beige, yellow, buff, light tan, gold, orange or mahogany, into a marble pattern.
 
Seal Mink Marble and Seal Sepia Marble:  One or more shades ranging from dark Sable brown to tan combined with pastel shades of brown and tan and Ivory to near white, into a marble patter of soft colors.
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Condition and Balance:  The overall appearance should radiate good health, eyes should be clear and coat and body tone should reflect health sustenance.
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Penalize:  Spots on body running together, vertically forming a Mackerel Tabby pattern, white lockets on the neck, chest, belly or any other part of the body ( not referring to Snows ).  Minor tail fault at the tip of tail.
Withhold Awards:  Aggressive behavior which threatens to harm.  Belly not spotted.  Tail kink which can be seen a felt.  Lockets the size of a quarter or larger on any part of the body.

Note:  Do not fault for very light belly’s to white with distinct markings.  These are characteristic of their ancestor ( Asian Leopard Cat ).

 

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