Bengal Cat Rikku Tub Drinking

Rikku Tub Drinking
Bengal cats like water! - Photo by Michael Carian (Flickr)

Lots of cats drink from a tap or from the bottom of the bath or a puddle etc.

But Bengal cats are known to be particularly fond of water.

Actually it goes wider than that. The wildcat hybrids are fond of water and it appears that the more wildcat they have in their blood the more they are likely to like water. Kathrin Stucki who breeds Savannah cats including F1s says they join her in the shower.

Rikku is an SBT as far as I know but he strikes a classic pose in the bathtub drinking from the tap.

Nice shot because the photographer has frozen the action.

Marbled Bengal Cat

SUNDOG

The marbled pattern on the Bengal cat is the classic or blotched tabby pattern. It can be spectacular on a high contrast coat on a Bengal cat.

Perhaps the pattern of coat that we are most familiar with in relation to the Bengal cat is the spotted and rosetted spots but there are many wonderful marbled coated cats and Sundog is the most famous and spectacular perhaps. You can see him on the left on this page.

His coat is symmetrical and this is not that unusual as far as I can tell.

Not only is his coat symmetrical, the dark marbled areas are raised like a reverse embossing.  You can see a picture showing that on this page.

Click on this link to see pics and description of the Bengal cat coats.

The photo on this page is protected by copyright ©. Violations of copyright are reported to Google.com (DMCA).

Bengal Cat Rescue

There are quite a few Bengal cat rescue organisations. I have a page that contains a decent sized list of links to rescue operations where you might find a Bengal cat that needs a new home.

Please click on this link to go to Bengal cat rescue. This page is still good but some links may not work in time and some operations may close in time.

Infertile F1 and F2 Bengal Cats

It is almost common knowledge that the first generation (first filial "F1) male wildcat hybrids such as the Bengal cat and Savannah cat are infertile. Almost all the F2 cats are infertile and some F3's are infertile. This makes the breeding of these cats more complicated obviously.

The question I have is, why are these higher filial wild cat hybrids infertile? In the wild inbreeding between say Siberian tigers has caused infertility. I know that. But I am not sure why cross breeding a wildcat such as the Asian leopard cat and a domestic cat (American Shorthair) causes the male offspring to be infertile.

For the natural processes of an animal to be impaired something has to be wrong - correct? I can only conclude that it is unnatural to cross breed a wildcat with a domestic cat. If it happened in the wild (and it does occasionally apparently) the male offspring would not be able to procreate.

A Google search does not throw up an answer. All the breeders sites refer to infertility in F1s etc but don't explain why.

See an F1 Bengal Cat.

Beware of Cat Flea Treatments

Beware of cat flea treatments. Some time ago a cat caretaker asked for advice about her sick cats. It transpired, as far as I could tell, that she was using a spot flea treatment designed for dogs on her cats. The product was Advantix. You don't even have to put it on your cat to kill him or her. If you use it on your dog and keep cats too, your cats can get ill by licking it off the dog or simply by the cat being in contact with the dog and then licking her fur when grooming herself. If you keep cats and dogs don't use Advantix.

Flea treatments for dogs can make cats very ill or kill them. Advantix for dogs contains Permethrin, which is extremely poisonous to cats. It damages the cat's nervous system causing fits and seizures etc. There is no antidote apparently.

I would like to make two points. First, it is easy to get confused between Frontline Spot on Cat, the spot flea treatment for cats and Advantix for dogs.  Even now I am not sure if you can get Advantix for cats. And I have searched the internet.

I haven't found Advantix for cats. But these products are similar in appearance and in their application. Also people may automatically think that what is good for their dog is fine for their cat. Unfortunately that is not true.

We just have to read those damned instructions in small print and be super cautious when using insecticides of any kind on a cat companion. The appearance and labeling of these products is not helpful in avoiding a mix up. This problem is compounded by Bayer making "Advantix" for dogs and "Advantage" for cats - similar names. While Frontline make similar products with the same name for dogs and cats - confusing.

Insecticides are poisons and dangerous chemicals. They are poisonous to us too! If you read the instructions for Frontline spot treatment for cats, you will see warnings about how we should handle the stuff. For example, ""Avoid contents coming into contact with the fingers".. "..contact of the product with your mouth and eyes should be avoided..." And yet we are putting it on our cat's skin! The product is meant to be used monthly. I use it very, very sparingly indeed and only as a last resort. Frontline's active ingredient isFipronil 10% w/v.

Incidentally, it is clear (in my opinion) from the Frontline packaging that this product has been tested to destruction on kittens under 8 weeks of age. The manufacturers say, "No adverse effects have been seen in cats and kittens aged 8 weeks and older...treated with five times the recommended dose for six consecutive months..." I think we should digest that statement. Personally I hate animal testing.

Here are a couple of posts on flea treatments:

1. Flea Treatments Can Kill
2. Cat Flea Treatment

Drawing by Kate*