Bengal Cat Colors and Patterns  (currently still under construction) Bengal cats come in many different colors and patterns which are based on genetic lineage.  If you are interested in genetics we have some info on our genetics page.  If you just want to learn to identify what the colors look like you can find more information below. Traditional and Accepted Show Colors The International Cat Association (TICA) has only certain colors which are considered to be acceptable show colors in order for the cat to qualify and compete in the champion class.  Though all cat colors are beautiful in different ways, the bengal cat committee makes recommendations as to which cat colors are accepted for show.  Cats and kittens of other colors can compete, but only in the 'New Traits' category.    The first area we examine is basic Coloration -  Brown spotted, Silver Spotted or Snow spotted Brown (Traditional)  (Dragon is a roseeted brown spotted male) Brown spotted bengals typically have a creamy golden background with dark golden brown and black spotting.  The brown coloration is genetically dominant and is the most common color for the bengal cat.  The brown coloration comes in many different variations and tones and can be described as "Warm" (golden more reddish tones) to the "Cool" (silvery, more cooler metallic tones with less red coloration).      Silver     Kashmira is a primordial rosetted Silver                                                      Katmandu is an arrowheaed rosetted Silver Silver bengals are descended from the inclusion of American Shorthairs into the Bengal breed.  The silver coloration is due to a rare gene called the "Inhibitor" gene which inhibits the development of phaelomelanin based colors (red, brown, gold).  This results in a cat whose base coat is artic white with black spotting and contrast markings.  The Inhibitor gene is a dominant gene and therefore if a cat carries silver, it is Silver.  However, since a slver at may oly carry one silver gene, they may produce brown kittens depending on who they are bred to.  Note that there are cats whose coats are similar to silver that are not true silvers.  Please read our page on Silver coloration.   Snow Colored Cats   The 'C' gene is the dominant form of color production in the cat and it affects melanin production in the cats coat.  The 'flame point coloration gene' is a variant of the dominant C gene which has been contributed to the bengal lineage by Siamese and Burmese outcrossings.  There are three types of 'snow' genes - all are recessive to the dominant form of C (though some say they can affect coloration if present, they do not dominant coloration unless two forms of the recessive genes are present)  The dominant form for a non-snow cat is CC The three forms are as follows: cs, cs = this happens when both parents contribute siamese color genetics to the kitten and the result is a Seal Lynx Snow cs, cb = this happens when one parent contriubes a siamese color gene and the other parent contributes a Burmese color gene and the result is a Seal Mink Snow cb,cb = this happens when both parents contribue burmese color genetics to the kitten and the result is a Seal Sepia Snow   Seal Lynx Snow  The Seal Lynx Snow coloration comes from the Siamese Color Point gene which creates a kitten who is more usually pure white but which grows up with brown/black spotting on an ivory background and who has brilliant blue eyes.  Seal Mink Snow    The Seal Mink carries one flame point gene  from the Siamese and one from the Burmese lineage.  They are usually born with spots which darken with age and have aquamarine eyes. Seal Sepia Snow (still seeking a good pix of a sepia)   Non-Traditional Colors due to variations in the 'Black' melanin production   The dominant form variant for eumenalin production is BB and this results in a cat who has the ability to produce true black coloration somewhere in their coat.  Other variations include the resessive genes b (brown also known as chocolate) and b1 (cinnamon) Chocolate     Paradise Hunter is a Chocolate bengal which means he carries two copies of the b gene which is normally recessive to the dominant B (black) gene.  Although he looks similar to a brown spotted bengal, he has no actual black spotting anywhere on his coat, not even on the tip of his tail.  Hunter also carries cinnamon which add to his ruffous coloration.   Dilution of Coloration The last genetic area we will discuss is called Dilution of Color, and this has to do with the intensity of the coloration produced by the cat.  The easiest way I have heard this explained is to think about different types of glass.  If you look through a normal glass pane, colors are crisp and clear and dark without diffussion of color.  On the other hand, the same glass can be poured differently to great a hazed effect (like in a shower door) and colors seen through this diffuse glass are lighter, have less intensity and are a bit fuzzier and less dense due to the diffusion caused by the way the molecultes of glass are layerd.  This is a good way to examine how dilution impacts color in each hair of the cats coat.  Cats who have the Dilution gene have layers within the hair structure which diffuse the color making it appear lighter than it would normally.  Blacks seem slate gray and Browns seem pink or peachy.  Normally cats do not carry a diluted form of the D gene, those that do carry two copies of this gene are often called "Blues" as they appear blueish gray in the areas where they would normally be black Dilute "Blue"      Coat Patterns There are two major coat pattern types :  Spotted and Marbled Spotted : There are many types of spotting variations which we see in bengal coat patterns and I will try to describe a few of them Spotted Small spots evenly spaced across the coat Rosetted   Ziva has wonderfully primal and wild looking rosettes! Large paw printed markings with a center that is lighter than the outer ring and darker than the base coat.   Arrowheads Donuts Paw Prints Primordial blobs Clouding   Marbled Color and Pattern Enhancements Glitter Ruffousing   Whitened spotted belly