To improve the Bengal breed and to reach your own objectives, information and knowledge is essential. Each breeder has their own objectives that should fit in the Bengal cat standards. Some breeders focus more on pattern, while others will work a lot on the ears, or the tail, the body in general, or even just the expression of the face. That’s why there is no perfect Bengal cat either.

From my experience, there are 2 kinds of breeders, the ones willing to share information and the ones that are absolutely jealous of the knowledge they have acquired. I am the kind of breeder that likes to share information, as I believe in my objectives, each breeder has their own objectives, and in case we share objectives, I hope we can go together and learn from each other.

Why would you not share the information of the parents of your kittens?

When crossing 2 Bengals from different lines, we expect to improve some characteristics, meaning that some of the kittens should have already something that you were searching for, and this is a plus. In case you have clear objectives and you cross with consciousness, some of your kittens might be much more valuable than the parents, at least from what you are trying to search for. This means that going back to the parents’ lines would not make any sense, because with the crossing you got something better to offer.

Knowing the pedigree of the parents it gives you the opportunity to avoid inbreeding, check for the characteristics that you might be searching for (as parents might be carriers of these characteristics and not showing them in the phenotype), gives transparency and trust, and some breeders might avoid some lines also for personal reasons.

Breeding a cat breed is and should be a hobby and a passion. In case you make it for business, it is when all kind of issues and jealousy start arising.

Because of this, today I am sharing a comparison of the Bengal breed standard scores depending on each component of the Bengal cat. This gives you a bit the sense of what is more important or less important to focus on when trying to set our goals in the breeding program.