Bengal Cat Breed: What You Need to Know
Bold, beautiful and more exotic than a Brazilian supermodel, the Bengal cat is one of the most exotic and gorgeous cats you will ever encounter. A true beauty with its lovely stripes and bright eyes, this is a captivating cat if ever there was a cat that could captivate. Despite the fact that this beauty looks more like a wild jungle cat than a domestic darling, it’s one of the gentlest and most amazing cats you will ever meet. Many do not consider the numerous cat breeds available to have, but those who do want to ensure that their family is adopting or purchasing the right cat. Some want a cat that’s more self-sufficient than others. Some want a friendly cat, a talkative cat or a cat that likes to find one person to call its own and form a strong bond. Before you decide that the Bengal is the right cat for your family, get to know the breed and all that it has to offer your family. What you see is not always what you get, and you may or may not be the right family for this particular breed.
Personality and Temperament
The old saying that curiosity killed the cat is exactly what this breed portrays. The Bengal is a very curious cat, a very intelligent cat and it is a breed that is not trying to sit down and be a lap cat. It’s big, beautiful and looks wild, and it’s a very naughty cat when it comes to getting into things and trying to find a way to be involved in the action all the time. It’s an amazing cat, and many people love this cat with abandon. They’re fun, and they’re very active. They are not the kind of cat you want to have if you’re looking for something that’s calm and carefree. The Bengal is anything but calm. It loves to play, it loves to be mischievous and it loves to see what is happening and how it can become directly involved in the action.
Bengal cats love their people, and they want to be the constant center of attention in every manner. This is a problem sometimes, because it doesn’t care what kind of attention it gets from you; negative or positive. What this means for you is that you are going to find your cat wants to jump up on the kitchen counter and lie down on top of your place mats or table runner if that’s something you really don’t like; because you give him attention when he does it. A good piece of advice for anyone with a Bengal is to give this cat positive attention for good behavior and ignore it completely when it’s doing something you don’t care for – otherwise, he’s going to become troublesome.
Bengals love to have somewhere high up they can go. If you want to keep them off counters and book cases, you’re going to want to buy them some towers and keep them near the windows. Bengals are often nosy, too, so they want to know that is going on with the neighbors and all that good stuff, too. They love to do things that foster their intelligence, too, so Bengals love to learn and to have something that stimulates their overwhelming personality to deal with, too.
Lifestyle and Expectation
The Bengal cat is one you can expect to become the center of attention as often as possible. It’s a cat that will be around for a long time, that does not need much in the grooming department and that grows larger than your typical housecat. It’s a lovely breed, and it’s very friendly. It wants attention, it wants a job to do and it needs something that will stimulate its brain to keep it on its toes.
As far as your Bengal cat’s health is concerned, you should know that this breed is prone to a few health issues, such as feline infectious peritonitis and another health issue that causes diarrhea. It’s imperative that if you suspect your cat is not feeling well that you get him to the vet immediately so that you can diagnose him and get him treated. I assure you that this might seem like an inconvenience for what you might believe is a small tummy bug, but the mess that might occur if you ignore this health problem is a much, much larger inconvenience in your life. Trust me; I don’t make these things up.
Bengals are very dog and child friendly, so it is not a problem to bring one into the house when you have either. They are also very high-energy, so it might help if the people in your house are also high-energy. They are very affectionate and they are very adaptable, so you will find that the Bengal is pretty good to go in any situation. It’s not typically uncomfortable with attention and affection, and that makes it the kind of cat that is great to have around. You will really appreciate this cat in the house if you are social and outgoing.
Breed History
There has long been an obsession over the beauty and the style and elegance of wild cats. They are sleek, elegant and so beautiful despite the fact that they really do want to kill you if you get in their way. What this means is that you can’t have one; a leopard at home might seem like a good idea until it attacks the neighbors. In the 1960s, a breeder by the name of Jean S. Mill decided that she could cross an Asian Leopard Cat with a domestic shorthair and create a cat she called the Bengal. She began doing this, perfecting the craft and finally getting it right when the 1980s rolled around. Today, all Bengals are a descendant of her breeding techniques from the 1980s. However, it was not until the early 1990s (1991 to be precise) that the Bengal was recognized as an official breed in the United States.
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