Does he have some Bengal in him?
@netspionage I don’t think so. Maybe
I glanced at some of your other pics, and he has some of the markings, but not so much by way of rosettes: Bengals coats tend to have rosettes on their backs & stomachs, while having stripes on their legs, tail, and what is informally called "mascara" (the striping by their eyes). Note other breeds can have the striping & such as well, so...not exactly definitive.
He has some of those, though not all from what I can see. Was merely curious.
Another way of confirming if a cat is a Bengal or at least part-Bengal is observing and listening closely when they think you aren't around to see if they're fluent in HellSpeak, and if they often summon & consort with demons.
It's a solid litmus test, and the effects are *DRAMATICALLY* noticeable rather soon after allowing them into one's home. 😺😈
He's pretty chill and quiet. I work from home and we are keeping him separated from the dogs for now (he's only about 4 mos and he's small for his age).
Those belly spots are only strengthening the case (besides being super cute) 😍
@netspionage here's another side shot. He's small even for a regular cat though and his mom was pure black. There was another boy and a girl in his litter they all looked very similar to him. They only way they could tell him and his brother apart was that his brother was slightly bigger.
His coat looks oddly Bengal-ish, though more like there's something else in the mix. Someone more expert in cat breeds than I might be able to say.
Here's a picture of Singha The JumboCat™ (can kinda see the belly spots).
Of course, the entire house is these guy's bedroom and playroom, so they flop out & sleep...pretty much anywhere.
Slothful creatures 😹
OK, I figured you wouldn't mind my showing these pics to someone more knowledgeable than I, and they said he looks, at the least, like he's got some "marbled pattern Bengal" in the mix. Are his eyes yellow?
Also, where did you get him? Was he a rescue? From a litter you know of?
If you don't mind me asking, that is. Just curious.
@netspionage mother and kittens were surrendered to a humane society. My sister was taking care of the kittens until they were spayed/neutered. His eyes are yellow with green rings around the pupil.
In the event he does have some Bengal in him...buckle up: they're prone to mischief, believe me.
Though I love their personalities, and they're *usually* crazy smart.
That said, he's a gorgeous cat, regardless of heritage. I'm not a cat breeder or breed snob or the like.
Holy Hydrargyrum I just looked online and Melanistic Bengals can cost around $10k (!).
"That's *outrageous*, and I would NEVER pay such a price for an animal," he said, deliberately ignoring the countless thousands of dollars spent for healthcare, food, toys, etcetera over a lifetime of having cats and dogs. 🙄😹
@netspionage we have two Shiloh Shepherds that cost in the low thousands each. As they are large-chested dogs, gastropexies are recommended to help ward off death from bloat. We've also had pricey vet bills for random things, like removing a (tiny, benign) skin tumor and an overnight stay for hemorrhagic gastroenteritis. On top of all that, we raw-feed them, which is about $2-$2.50/lb- they eat 5 lbs per day.
And yet, my reaction to purchasing a pet for $10,000 would exactly the same as yours
@netspionage that said, cats live a lot longer than dogs, especially large breed dogs (Shilohs live 10 years on average), so maybe 10K would be worth it :)
To veer slightly off topic...
Your dogs are gorgeous, and I'm now curious about the breed: how would you describe them? (e.g., are Shiloh Shepherds like German Shepherds re: energy levels, intelligence, etc?)
@netspionage The breed was started in the early 80s by a woman who wanted GSDs more like the ones she grew up with in Europe (larger/no sloped back). She picked mostly european GSDs, some Swiss white shepherd (which look like long haired white GSDs) and some lines have malamute.
They are bred to be about 20%-30% larger than GSDs with a much calmer temperament. My dogs greet strangers at the door like they are family. They'd make terrible guard dogs, except their size makes people wary.
@netspionage Tank weighs about 100 pounds (110 when he's fat). Rocket is still a puppy, but he's taller and longer, so we expect he'll be close to 120 when full grown (at around 2 years).
@netspionage they need exercise, but they also tend to be fairly lazy. They are amazing with kids and good with cats and other dogs, though they need time to get used to both.
@netspionage smart, but not like border collie smart. They have both learned how to open doors though.
@netspionage random comment that illustrates our nerdiness (if Vigo the Catpathian didn't already clue you onto that)
Tank's registered name is:
Gen Ulysses S Grant
Rocket's is:
Gen Don Carlos Buell
these are the Union Generals who won the battle of Shiloh. There's a WWII Tank named after Grant. We couldn't fit in any Civil War reference to Rocket. We just liked the name.
@H3athers @netspionage They're so pretty.
@H3athers
While Black Bengals exist (IIRC, you said the mother was black), they're so rare, per those more expert than I, the odds of one ending up in a shelter or the like is 'highly unlikely'; could have had a Bengal father, though, as based on those pics, even looks Bengal-ish to me.
Note: I am not endorsing this breeder, know nothing about them, and just grabbed this link for the pics: looks like a chaos marble.
http://www.kingsmarkfarms.com/bengals/kingpattern.htm