Coat Development
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The coat of the Bengal takes time to fully develop. Sometimes kittens are born with rosettes. Sometimes they are born with solid spots and some of these spots will rosette later. Additionally their color is usually much cooler in tone during young kittenhood, but will warm up with age. Seal lynx point (snow) Bengals are born very light with almost no pattern at all! Their pattern will come in as they grow. Almost all Bengals go through a stage called the "fuzzies" where their pattern starts getting fuzzy and loses its definition. It usually starts around 6 weeks of age and starts clearing around 9 weeks, but sometimes it starts earlier or lasts longer. The following galleries show the coat development of several of our kittens.
Jasmine - Brown Spotted
Parents: Zhara & Tyler
This is Jasmine (formerly Joplin) from Zhara & Tyler's "Legends" litter. She had a nice vanilla background color and great contrast as a newborn, but her spots were mostly solid. Over time her rosettes developed and her color became more golden.
Beny - Seal Lynx Point Spotted
Parents: Lyra & Roux
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This is Benito "Beny" (formerly Caiman) from Lyra & Roux's Predators litter.
Beny is a seal lynx point snow which are usually born either solid white or with a very light pattern. Beny did had a very light pattern as a newborn. His spots got darker as he grew and later the centers lightened to form rosettes. By the time he went to his new home at around 3-4 months old, his pattern was definitely quite visible. However it wasn't til he was almost a year old that his coat reached its full contrast. Beny is a very nice example of seal lynx point coat development!
Luna - Brown Spotted
Parents: Stella & Tyler
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This is Luna (formerly Pichu) from Stella & Tyler's "Pokemon" litter. Her pattern didn't look like much at first - mostly small spots and kind of mucky contrast. She started looking better for a bit and then she got the worst case of the fuzzies I've seen! She stayed in the fuzzies for longer than most too. Finally she started clearing up and I was surprised to see some of her small spots ended up being pawprint rosettes! Her color improved as she grew too.
Dolce - Seal Lynx Point
Parents: Lyra & Kade
This is Dolce (formerly Norte) from Lyra & Kade's "World Winds" litter. He is a seal lynx point snow which are usually born either solid white or with a very light pattern. Dolce did had a very light pattern as a newborn. His spots got darker as he grew and later the centers lightened to form rosettes. I need to ask his new owners for more recent photos. Snows take a long time to develop their coats and often do not have their full adult color til 5-7 months old or even later.
Kylo - Silver Spotted
Parents: Stella & Tyler
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This is Kylo (formerly Joey) from Stella & Tyler's "Js" litter. Silvers are still sort of a mystery to me since I have only been working with them about 2 years and only have a few silver kittens each year. Their coats lose and regain contrast sometimes as they grow which makes it hard to know when/if they will stay contrasted. Kylo definitely had great contrast as a newborn and even hints of rosetting. As the centers of his rosettes lightened, the rest of his coat seemed to lighten too and for awhile he appeared much lighter overall. But his contrast came back and is quite stunning on his adult coat! Kylo does have some "tarnish" which is what we call the warmer coloring that silvers sometimes have, usually showing the most on their faces and down the spine. It's common in silver Bengals who have a brown parent. I plan to get to a point in the future where I can breed exclusively silver to silver.
Nola - Brown Spotted
Parents: Zhara & Hunter
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Nola started out very cool-toned and with some slight rosetting, but as she grew the centers of her rosettes lightened, her color became more golden, and she ended up with one of the most crisp/clear coats I have produced! We kept her for our program and are hoping she will have some gorgeous babies of her own soon.
Sevyn - Smoke (Solid Silver)
Parents: Nova & Hunter
This is Sevyn (formerly Squid) from Nova & Hunter's "Sea Creatures" Litter. Sevyn's color smoke is the result of the silver (inhibitor) gene combined with two copies of the non-agouti (solid) gene. The smokes are similar to a melanistic Bengal which is basically a solid brown/black Bengal. What makes the smoke different from a melanistic is the white undercoat that is caused by the addition of the silver gene. Both smoke and melanistic Bengals often show pattern when they are babies. However, as they grow up, their coat darkens and the markings fade into the background. As adults they usually appear solid black with "ghost" markings that can just barely be seen, often only in sunlight. The smokes will keep their white undercoat which gives them that smokey look like Sevyn has here. I generally price them lower than our cats with more striking contrasted coats, but they are definitely beautiful in their own way!
Yuki - Seal Lynx Point (Snow)
Parents: Maeve & Hunter
This is Yuki (formerly Fiona) from Maeve & Hunter's "Irish" Litter. I suspect that she is a silver seal lynx point snow rather than a regular seal lynx point snow, but sometimes it is difficult to tell the difference, especially with kittens. Yuki was born with pattern, but it intensified as she grew. Whether or not her small spots would turn into arrowhead rosettes is not something I was able to predict. Her blue eye color went through some stages too but ended up gorgeous!
Kane - Silver Spotted
Parents: Stella & Tyler
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This is Kane (formerly Chespin) from Stella & Tyler's Pokemon litter. This guy's coat went through so many changes in color/contrast that he really kept me guessing! I knew he would be rosetted, but his contrast was always in question. As a newborn he had lots of contrast but his color was warmer than silver kittens usually are. As he grew his rosettes developed but he lost his contrast while going through the fuzzy stage. It had just started coming back when he went to his new home. The last photo shows him on the right (sister Roxy/Eevee on the left) at around 6 months old.
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