Domestic Leopard - The Bengal Cat

Three years ago, I bought myself a Tonkinese cat. Now, I say 'bought myself' a cat, as my partner was very against the idea. He even went as far to say he was allergic to cats... but I knew that he would grow to love the cute little guy, so picked the cat up while he was away in Sydney :P

Enter Prince - the most nutso, stubborn but loyal cat. He is known to fetch, roll over on command, bite his own tail, comes away on holidays with us and chills on his leash like a dog. He is also very photogenic....



So now, three years on and I figure every cat needs a friend, right? Cue my new obsession: The Bengal Cat!

Derived from breeding Asian Snow Leopards with the domestic cat, they carry leopard spots (rosettes) or marbled markings and grow into massive cats! The closest thing you will get to a wild cat. Amazing.

As long as they are three generations down from the original cross with a wild leopard, the Bengal will have the  loving nature of a domestic cat.

                                              

Check out this picture, to get the idea of scale:

Snowy kitten

This is the Asian Snow Leopard the Bengal is bred from:

Of course, with any elite breed of animal, the price is high for Bengals. You will be looking at between NZ$750-1200. Sadly, they are also one of the most stolen breeds of cat (probably due to the high price people are willing to pay for them)

So maybe for now, adopting a kitten in need from the SPCA might be the best option :)