The Silver Bengal Cat & Kitten

Bengals were originally created in 1963 and displayed beautiful variations of brown with rosette patterns. The Silver Bengal however is still considered fairly new, as it took another 40 years for this color pattern to come into play. By the 1990’s, Silver was finally brought into the program. The color and pattern were at last recognized by TICA (The International Cat Association) in 2004. Since then these beautiful Silver Rosette Bengals have captured a huge audience and have gained a lot of attention throughout the world.

What makes the Silver Bengal Cat and Kitten pattern so unique? It all comes down to genes and genetics, or in this case: The lack there of! Silver is not an actual true color. Instead, it is the result of the presence of the silver inhibitor gene (i). This Silver Gene inhibits the genes that give Bengals the more commonly seen brown base coat (agouti) to Bengal cats.

What then makes this pattern rare or harder to work with in a program? Silver in itself is not rare per-say, as it only requires one parent to produce a Silver kitten or cat. Nonetheless, not all Silvers are created equal as there can be different tones, hues, and variations of contrasting. Like sterling silver, Silver Bengals can be prone to tarnish. This tarnish however affects the quality of the coat and isn’t something that can be polished. This is why it comes down to genetics. The best Silver Bengals are ones with a cool silver coat vs warm and earthy, or with peachy hues. Although some Bengals can really rock their peachy blush, cat associations do not recognized it as a true Silver.