I got the orange tabby, Thomas from a “foster mom”. We had to be interviewed and it was agreeable and we adopted him. His mom got scared away and left the kittens. Thomas was one of them. He’s a sweetheart - real marsh mellow personality but he will stand his ground.
Debbie, our Bengal is too much! I’ve had to train her NOT to climb the walls and NOT jump in the shower with me. I’ll fill the bath tub and she’ll swim around in there and play with toys. She loves water! She also sounds different - she chrips. She’s VERY active. When it comes to food SHE is the aggressive one.
Another way to tell a Bengal is the body type - they are significantly longer. They’re very soft - pelted and come in various shades. They should have “black boots” and a black and cream tail. Of course they should have spots and some have “glitter”. Debbie doesn’t have “glitter” but she is beautiful - she’s a “blondish” coloring. Light coloring with dark spots and mint green eyes that are more oval. The eyes are another give away. They’re different in shape.
Next year I hope to get a male Bengal with “glitter”. I don’t like having them all the same age. As they get older ... like people they start declining ... I went through that before and it was hard to deal with ... one lived to be 20 years old and the other two died within months of each other at 18 years old.
I’d highly recommend Bengals - they’re smart, fun and beautiful. It’s the closest I’ll ever get to a “wild cat”. Selectively mated domestics and Asian leopard is what makes them more unusual.
Thank you for the Bengal info. I’ve read that Bengals like water; ours doesn’t. She’s just too refined. She dips that little foot of hers in it and says, no sirree, not for me! Our orange tabby (Arancia—Italian for orange) gets in between the shower curtains when we shower. The inside one is clear and he can watch without getting wet. But he watches the water at the bottom instead of us which I’m sure is a lot more interesting! Sometimes he falls in, but just climbs out.
Luna likes to jump. I have an open bookcase that is in front of a little corner of our window (I have to put my books wherever I can find a cranny). Both of our cats have emptied parts of several shelves (yes, books just come crashing down) so that they can jump and have a place to lay and watch out the window. Luna jumps all around. And she also has a longer body type. She’s very soft and is largely black with cream in between the stripes. She’s closer to a marbed pattern, but does not have well-defined rosettes.
She is our dominant cat. Arancia is mostly just a pussy-cat push-over. Although not entirely. We find that the two of them have mellowed each other some.
Mine is mostly bengal but she is none of the above. She's not affectionate but will lie on your lap. She doesn't like to be held or carried does like to be around me. I can let her out all day on the back deck and she will not wander off. She wandered off one time last summer but I found her in front of my next door neighbor's house and scolded her all the way home. She never left the deck again.
However, she knows that I allow her to stalk any birds at the feeder which is about 25 feet off the back deck but once she makes a move on the birds, they're gone and she dashes back onto the deck.
She can't meow but rather kinda squeeks so I named her squeek. She's not playful in any way but occasionally plays with her squeeky mouse when I'm not present. For whatever reason, she is constantly putting it in her water bowl then the thing squeeks nonstop till it dries out.
She's not mischevous or destructive in any way. She is allowed on furniture but very seldom gets up on them.
She is just a good all around cat....
For reasons unknown, Hawaii forbids bring a Bengal into the state. Dunno what the big deal is. My brother's wife has a couple and loves them dearly.