One Of The Most Stolen Cat Breeds Has Some Of The Rarest Features

If you were to do an online search for cats available for adoption, you would probably find dozens within a 20-mile radius of your home. Expand your search area, and the number will multiply. With millions of felines available at shelters and in foster homes all over the United States, finding and learning how to adopt a cat is relatively easy, but unfortunately, some cats still get stolen. And naturally, certain breeds get stolen far more than others. Case in point, the Bengal has become a popular target for theft because of its rare rosette pattern and monetary value.

The rosette pattern is more common in leopards and jaguars, as opposed to the more traditional tabby cats with striped or swirled coats or the tuxedo, tortoiseshell, and other patterns seen in domestic cats. On a Bengal cat, this pattern typically features spots with a black or dark-brown outer ring and a lighter color in the center. The ground (background) color of a Bengal cat can be brown, cream/ivory, light tan, light gray, dark gray, pale blue-gray, or even black. Because of its uncommon, exotic appearance and this breed being relatively rare, a full-bred Bengal kitten can cost thousands of dollars.

The rosette coat pattern is usually the first attribute everyone notices when they see a Bengal cat for the first time. However, that's only one of this breed's rare features, compared to standard domestic cats. This breed's head, eyes, ears, and build also stand out, with these rare features stemming from the cat's hybrid origins.

Although many people assume Bengal cats are named after Bengal tigers, the breed actually gets its name from the scientific name of its wild ancestor, Felis bengalensis, more commonly known as the Asian leopard. Interestingly, the exact timeframe that this species was created is debated. Some say that breeders crossed wild Asian leopards with domestic felines in the late 1800s to create the hybrid Bengal, while others say the breeding didn't begin until the mid-1900s. Regardless, this is a relatively new breed of cat.

The Asian leopard is a small wild cat breed, weighing only between 8 and 15 pounds, like most domestic cats. However, the Asian leopard's small, round head; large, golden eyes; rounded ears; muscular build; and long body are distinctive to this species. These traits mirror many Bengal cat breed characteristics due to their Asian leopard DNA.

As if the existence of the Bengal cat weren't enticing enough, the breed features more than seven color combinations. The most common is the brown ground color with brown and black spots, a black-tipped tail, and green or gold eyes. Other varieties include the silver Bengal (gray and black colors), the snow mink and snow sepia Bengals (cream and tan colors), and the black Bengal (black and dark-gray colors).

The rarest Bengal ground color is blue. No, it's not the same shade of blue as the sky; it's more of a pale blue or slate-blue shade of gray. The spots of a blue Bengal are a darker shade of these blue-gray colors, and the tail is dark gray, while the eyes can be hazel, green, or gold. Blue Bengal cats can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 due to their rarity.