The Snow Bengal Cat is the coolest cat you'll ever see. Looking like a mini snow leopard, this cool cat (no pun intended!) is definitely a domestic cat you want to know about.
Resembling the oh-so-magnificent Snow Leopard, the Snow Bengal cat is a cat breed that originated from Bengal cats.
This Bengal breed was developed by cross-breeding brown Bengal cats with Siamese cats — and ta-da! — the Snow Bengal kitten was born!
History Behind The Snow Bengal
In order to talk about this gorgeous white Bengal breed, we have to go back to the OG — the original Bengal cat. In the 1960s, the Bengal cat was created to meet the desires of having a "wild cat look" but with traits of a domestic cat.
Today's Bengal cats can be traced back and accredited to a cat breeder in California by the name of Jean Mill. She started her breeding program of Bengals in 1963, where she bred the modern-day Bengal cat for the first time when she crossed an Asian Leopard cat with a domestic shorthaired black tomcat. Due to its popularity, other cat breeders started breeding Bengals. Many people, including Bengal breeders, admires the cat breed because of their range of coat patterns and colors.
Developed from Bengals, the man-made Snow Bengal cat was created in the 1980s and 1990s when two breeders were looking to expand their gene pool, crossing Bengal cats with Siamese cats. This resulted in beautiful "snowy" white coated Bengals with blue eyes. The albino gene in the Siamese gene pool is what gives Snow Bengals that beautiful and pristine base coat color.
Snow Bengal Coat Colors
One of the joys of having Snow Bengals is the coat colors and patterns they come in. While all Bengal cats have either the rosetted or spotted pattern, these mini Snow Leopards come in several gorgeous coat colors, divided into three recognized colors. The Snow Bengal colors are as follows:
? Snow Seal Lynx Bengals: having the lightest base coat out of the three, the Snow Seal Lynx Bengal (a.k.a. Seal Lynx Snow Bengal cat) is absolutely gorgeous. These felines have a light off-white base coat, like a pale cream color, and also have piercing blue eyes along with light or dark seal markings and a dark brown tail tip. These kittens start with a purely white coat and will develop color as they age.
? Snow Seal Mink Bengals: the Snow Seal Mink Bengal cat (a.k.a. Seal Mink Snow Bengal Cat) is very similar to the above Snow Seal Lynx. These striking cats also have a light base coat — they range from an ivory or cream to a light tan coat color. The only differentiating feature is their eyes: while they can also have blue eyes, Snow Seal Minks often have aqua eyes.
? Snow Seal Sepia Bengals: perhaps the easiest to distinguish, Snow Seal Sepia Bengals (a.k.a. Seal Sepia Snow Bengal Cats) are sometimes referred to as "Brown Snow Bengals". This is because their coat color is a deeper, warm cream color that ranges from pale to dark. Seal Sepia Bengals can only have gold or green eyes, and don't have blue eyes like the others.
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