Clouded Bengals.

CLOUDED BENGALS. How it all started....

THE CLOUDED BENGAL.
In 2013 I saw a Bengal kitten that had the most incredible pattern, and one that resembled that of the Clouded Leopard, a smaller and more stocky variety of wild Leopard. It gave me an idea... and after checking that no other breeder had thought to do this, I registered the cattery name 'CloudedBengals' internationally, and also registered 'Clouded' with GCCF here in UK and started building my Clouded Bengals breeding programme, to run alongside my current ‘Suntouched Bengals’ breeding programme that had been running for around 13 years at the time.

Six years on and we now see many cats out there described as being 'clouded' when they are actually just a standard rosetted pattern, so perhaps it is time we had a written (unofficial) description of the Bengal clouded pattern. I hope it may serve to aid breeders recognise the traits that qualify a pattern as being 'clouded' rather than the more usual 'rosetted'.

This unofficial pattern style is a variation of the spotted (rosetted) Bengal pattern. Whereas with the usual spotted/rosetted Bengal patterns that have random, more circular spots/rosettes on a rather larger area of background (or 'acreage'), the rosettes on the clouded Bengal must be very close together, covering the body with a full and tight pattern that shows little background. Colours and contrast should be good, and the 'standard' the same as the official TICA Bengal Standard.

FEEL FREE TO SHARE THE DESCRIPTION BELOW:

THE BENGAL CLOUDED PATTERN. (Description)
Rosettes medium to large in size, fitting closely together in a clustered 'jigsaw puzzle' style pattern. Rosettes should have a thick, dark, 'clouded' edge formation, and be angular in shape rather than round. Small spots inside clouded style rosettes are highly desirable, as are horizontally aligned clouded patterns showing chain-linked (horizontal) flow. Exposed background must be minimal, with the pattern being clear and distinct with good contrast.