Is he Bengal?

We had the good luck to find this little guy (not so little anymore) at the local shelter. His markings look like the marking of a marbled Bengal cat (which is a breed of a cross bet and asian leopard cat and a domestic cat-but I guess anyone who doen't know that won't be able to answer this question anyhow) These cats go for like 1500 dollars first generation. They at the shelter had him listed as a "tabby". I have a tabby too and she most def does not look like him. All the research we had done on Bengal cats led us to believe he is part Bengal. Plus his personality is a bit different from any cat I've ever encountered. Anyone know if he is or not?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9831130@N08...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9831130@N08...

His paws and ears are huge and his mannerisms are strange. He does look a lot like a "classic" tabby, but many Bengals also have the marbling pattern as opposed to the rosettes. Also, he has "leopard spots" on his belly. I guess there's no definitive way to tell, is there?

It's hard to tell with a mix, but the exotic cat breed group on yahoo may be able to tell you more accurately. Similar to bengals, but with different wild heritage are savannahs which have much larger ears than do bengals. My suggestion is to post on the abovementioned group site for their input. They were able to help me when I had a question about my latest acquistion a year or so ago. I know you love him no matter what the outcome, and that is what is important.

I highly doubt it. This coat does not resemble a Bengal's coat nor does the cat's head resemble a Bengal's.

The reason this cat's tabby coat doesn't look your other tabby's coat is probably because your other cat's coat is "Mackerel" tabby with vertical striping. This cat's coat is "Classic" tabby which has the similar "M" on the forehead and striping on the legs but the body pattern is a series of whorls. Note how your cat looks nearly identical to this cat with a "Classic Tabby" markings - http://www.cc.ysu.edu/~helorime/TabPat.h...

Does your cat look anything like this? http://www.bengalkittens.org/posie.html The answer would definitely be no.

Edit: WHY does this matter so much? 97% of the cats on this PLANET are of no particular breed. I've seen HUNDREDS of Bengals in two years of competing in cat shows and your cat is most definitely NOT a Bengal. But that doesn't make him any less a cat - love him - period! "Huge" ears? Bengals have medium to SMALL ears with rounded tips. If you want to educate yourself on what a Bengal's traits are read here http://www.ticaeo.com/Content/Publicatio...

I don't think so, what you have is what is referred to as a Brown Tabby. The background fur is brown and the stripes are marbled. I have a cat that looks just like this guy and he is most def not a Bengal. I also have a friend that has a cat with the same markings. It is not as common as it once was and is a characteristic of the Bengal breed, but he lacks the Bengal ears and size for one. You can google image brown tabby and find lots of kitties that look just like yours.

That cat does look like it's part Bengal, I watched a doc. about Bengal cats on animal planet, and your cat looks very similar to the Bengal cats that they showed.

He is just a Tabby
He doesnt have the right face of a bengal.
Its liek sayign a cat that has marking of a siamese is one but its be and fat( my mum bred siamese cats) '
but anyway. No he is not a Bengal and you would not b able to sell him for over $200 because u have no proof he is one and have no papers.
He is a tabby/

EDIT:
Males tend to b bigger and heavier than females.

He looks a lot like my tiger-lily gonzales

She had bigger bat-like ears

does he run down the hall jump on the wall turn 180 degrees and run back in the other direction?

She and he look like bengals
very very silky fur too