Blue Bengals by Zoe Cullerton

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Blue Bengals

Bengals, not a single Bengal breeder can deny it, they are unique! They have the strangest of traits, they are different to any other breed and they are without a doubt beautiful to the touch and to the eye.

Blue Bengals, not a single blue breeder can deny it, they are unique! They have the strangest of colours and they are different to any other Bengal colour but they are beautiful to the touch and the eye.

Look at the three photographs, what’s the difference?

Brown Spotted Bengal

Blue Spotted Bengal

Snow Spotted Bengal

Ok so they all have slightly different ears, nose shapes, eyes, etc, etc, etc… But the main difference is their colour! Do we treat them any differently? No! They are all kittens, they all play with everything they can get their paws on, chew everything in sight, have little accidents when they can’t find the litter tray, have little miracles when they first use the litter tray, look adorably cute when they sleep! But they are all Bengals. They will all grow up with those wild looks and tendencies, those unique water loving, key hiding, intelligent little personalities! And they all deserve just as much respect, dignity and love as each other.

When I made my first visit to a Bengal cattery, I saw browns, snows, and blues in all colours, patterns and varieties. And I had one of the most valuable things when judging anything for the first time… the benefits of a first impression! The first impression a Bengal paw prints on your heart is its looks - STUNNING!!! I have learnt a lot since then and I still have much more to learn, but when I first stepped into that cattery I was in complete awe at the beauty of each and every Bengal, each and every colour, I was truly astounded at their striking wild beauty and amazingly affectionate little personalities.

I was like a child in a sweet shop; I wanted to try everything at once, every cat I saw looking just scrumptious as the next one. I had the added bonus of naivety. “This is a brown spotted male” I was told “he’s our champion, and here’s our beautiful blue eyed snow girl only a few points away from champion status and finally here is our blue spotted little beauty of a boy” WOW!” was my reaction… “Such a beautiful hazy coat!” how shocked was I to find out next that this unique and beautiful creature was one of many blue Bengals not accepted, not able to be promoted to championship status, frowned upon… and why? For being beautifully blue! To understand why the blue Bengal deserves his respect and acceptance just as much as the next Bengal we have to learn about Bengals as a whole.

No two Bengals are the same. Browns being the most common type come in all shades, colours and patterns, with a range of possible eye colours. There are different types of snows! With different eye colours, shades and colours of fur. Take the Bengal pictured in the middle below, a snow spotted blue-eyed girl, or a seal spotted lynx (tabby) point Bengal, take your pick. There are many different names and terms to understand which type of snow is which, but we don’t let that stand in our way, they are a beautiful example of a beautiful breed and we don’t hold the different confusing terms against them. Promoting the Blue Bengals would open up the door to even more colours, names and possibilities than the snow, but this is not a bad thing! They too like the browns and the snows have their own little unique features. They come in many different beautiful shades, colours and patterns, with a range of dazzling eye colours ranging from a brilliant emerald green to a beautiful turquoise (pictured above), like the silver Bengals.

The aim of breeding Bengals is to produce a cat of wild looks and type, resembling that of its ancestors (The Asian Leopard Cat or ALC), with the loving affectionate personalities of a domestic housecat. All colours of Bengals can look wildly beautiful, all can have the wild looks and type of an ALC and all can have the loving affectionate personalities of a domestic housecat. The only real advantage the brown spotted has over the other colours is its larger resemblance an ALC due to its colour. But if this is a requirement for a Bengal to be accepted, then why allow snows and silvers to be put up there with the browns, and the blues to not?

Look at the photographs below and tell me why the blue Bengals are any less deserving of championship status than the browns or snows? Can you tell me that because the Bengal on the right is blue it looks any less wild than the brown or snow? Or even that his personality is any less loving or affectionate than that of the brown Bengal?

Brown Spotted Bengal

Blue Spotted Bengal

Snow Spotted Bengal

They are no different to other Bengals, they have all the same tendencies, they need just as much love and return it in just as much affection. As far as the blue Bengals are concerned they are Bengals, they are bred from Bengals to be Bengals and they are just as unique and beautiful as any other colour Bengal.

Zoë Cullerton