The Marble Bengal Cat

"Natures art work"

There are several colors and patterns available in the Bengal breed.

 WHERE DO MARBLE BENGALS COME FROM?

Most people searching for a bengal are looking for spots ...one that looks like a little leopard.

I have found that a lot of people that don't like the marble pattern in bengal because they are under the impression that there are no marble cats in the wild. and after all most people what a bengal cat because the are a domesticated house cat with a wild look.

An example of marble wild cats.

The Clouded Leopard is a wild medium-sized wild cat found in the forests of Asia. Little is known about the wild behavior of clouded leopards due to their extremely secretive nature. Much of our understanding of this cat’s natural history and behavior is a result of observations of them in captivity.

The Clouded Leopard is not related to the marble bengal, it is just an example of a wild marble cat.

 

An example of a marble bengal cat

 

We think that the marble pattern is one of the most spectacular patterns in the bengal breed and in nature. The marble pattern develops more slowly and can take up to 2 years to see the final end results of the intricacies of the pattern and it is well worth the wait.
We are dedicated to further improve this marble pattern in an attempt to recreate the exotic patterning found in great cats such as the margay, ocelot, king cheetah, clouded leopard and of course the marbled bengal cats.

 

The marble pattern is named after a small species of cat native to Asian jungle habitats called the "marble cat". A true marble should NOT look like a classic or 'blotched' tabby, which has a circular flow to the pattern and solid markings. Instead, the markings on a marble Bengal should have three distinct colors flowing in a horizontal, diagonal, or random, chaotic pattern.

	An example of a "marble cat" Marbled cats of Asia have been compared to small clouded leopards Neofelis nebulosa, as both bear the distinctive marbling pattern on their coats, with the combination of large, irregular shaped dark blotches, margined with black.

 

According to various articles written by Jean Mill, the very first marbled Bengal appeared in 1987. The parents were Millwood Silk n Cinders (a beautiful cat who had the glitter gene from "Tory of Delhi", Jean's rescue domestic kitten from the New Delhi zoo, plus Cinders also had an unusually clear, non-ticked coat, with very large, dark spots) and a cat named Torchbearer. This first marble kitten was a female, and her coloring was very soft and rust-colored, with a pattern described by Jean as looking like "drizzled caramel".

When the classic tabby pattern combines with the leopard cat's tendency toward horizontal alignment, it produces a very beautiful horizontally flowing pattern that is unlike that of any other domestic cat. It is called the marble pattern, after the wild species Marbled cat which it resembles.

There are large swirled patches or horizontal streaks or brown, black and cream on the body. The three colors within the Marbles pattern is not associated with the three colored tortishell gene. Instead, it seems to be related to the presence of rosettes, which may appear on the shoulders and on the rear quarters of well marked marble. Descendant s of unrosetted leopard cats are two-shaded in both spotted and marbled patterns

The typical "bulls-eye" pattern seen on the sides of the classic tabby is undesirable in a marble Bengal. Traditionally, breeding two classic tabbies will result in the circular bulls-eye as seen on the American Shorthair. However, with the Bengal having the horizontal influence from the pattern of the Leopard Cat, we hope to avoid the circular tendency. Preferred marbles also lack heavy vertical rib markings, as they would tend to carry over to the spotted pattern. 

The use of a marble in the spotted Bengal breeding program will result in offspring with more random spotting rather than mackerel. Additionally, it tends to have dramatic impact on the clarity and definition of pattern on the resulting leopard spotted kittens. 

The Marble kitten is born displaying two basic colors, usually black and gold, or brown and orange. As it matures, the third color emerges within the swirls of the pattern, giving it a very distinctive and captivating image. 

This is Ace at 4weeks old.