# Does my kitten have any bengal in her?



## EmmaFay (Nov 27, 2012)

Grim doesn't have any papers, so I know that technically she's a mutt. And I am totally fine with that  She's gorgeous and I love her, no matter what her breed.
I just think it'd be kinda cool if she had some Asian Leopard Cat in her. That way I could nod, and mutter "wild blood" whenever she's tearing through our house and attacking the furniture.

She has uber sketchy origins. I wanted to give a kitty in need a home (so that I would feel less guilty about getting kitten #2 from a breeder), so I answered an ad saying "Moving: selling all pets". It turned out the woman was a compulsive liar (she kept changing her story, and lying about the oddest things), so I didn't really believe her when she claimed Grim was a purebred Ocicat. She claimed she'd bred her, sold her, and had her previous owners give her back. She actually said they'd put her in the garbage can in front of her house....what?
She did have other cats in her house, but no Ocicats, just domestics. I found that odd. It's possible she already sold them, but there were no ads for them on kijiji. And more than once she switched her story, and told me she'd just found Grim wandering behind the veterinary building where she works as a secretary. Or, in one story, in the garbage can behind her vet building (though that could have been added for dramatic effect).

So, Grim's background is a mystery! And I'd like to unravel it a little. Because she doesn't really look like an Ocicat, to my untrained eye. But then again, Bengal's have a pretty distinct head shape, and I'm not sure she has that either.

Here's her physical description: 
- Very thick tail, striped
- Huge round eyes
- Medium size ears
- Hind legs longer than forelegs, gives her a rolling walk (like a tiger!)
- Tan underbelly
- Odd variation on classic tabby pattern, where the black is blurred and marbled together
- Orangish fur inside the stripes on her back, and tan fur outside
- Square muzzle
- Very soft, thick fur. I didn't realize how thick it was until she got shaved for her spay! It's almost like rabbit fur. And it's so shiny, too
- Pretty whitish tips on the end of her fur
- Very long and lean, and very muscular
- Short neck

So, what do you think? Ocicat? Bengal? Or just a pretty moggie? I know she's technically a moggie, but this is just to satisfy my curiosity 














































She's such a little beauty. I love sketching her, with her huge alert eyes!


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## EmmaFay (Nov 27, 2012)

Here's another Grim doodle:


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## Tiliqua (Jan 22, 2013)

Love the doodles! 

She's very beautiful. My two look a bit like wild cats as well, but they are very handsome mutts.


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## Stribe (Feb 24, 2013)

*DNA test*

My daughter talks about having a DNA test done on her dog, but I don't know if it is through her vet,or if she has to send the saliva sample herself. I don't know if they do the same with cats, though. The price for dogs is around 100$. (She wants to know how much Border Collie is in him, because they do agility and she wants to join a certain class)


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## megga1886 (May 4, 2013)

Beautiful cat


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## EmmaFay (Nov 27, 2012)

> She's very beautiful. My two look a bit like wild cats as well, but they are very handsome mutts.


I actually love mutts, because you never get two that look quite the same  In my neighbourhood, there's about a million purebred golden retrievers, and though they're gorgeous gorgeous dogs, I have a really hard time telling them apart.



> My daughter talks about having a DNA test done on her dog, but I don't know if it is through her vet,or if she has to send the saliva sample herself. I don't know if they do the same with cats, though. The price for dogs is around 100$. (She wants to know how much Border Collie is in him, because they do agility and she wants to join a certain class)


Aw, I love border collies! Whenever I see them they always seem to have one ear up, and the other flopped down. It's completely adorable.
I'm a starving art student, so I don't if I'd be willing to shell out that much to satisfy my curiosity I never know what to ask for though, for birthdays and stuff, so that would be a pretty cool gift from a generous friend or family member. 



> Beautiful cat


Thanks! Haha, I'm always telling her that  I think she's starting to get a big ego.


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

She's very pretty, but I don't think she's got any Bengal in her.


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## Jakiepoo (Jan 5, 2013)

Yeah, I would also say she has no bengal in her just due to her origins, though there's a slim chance, I highly doubt it! She's awfully gorgeous though!

She sounds a lot like my boy, tearing through the house and attacking anything that moves!

Either way, all cats have "wild blood" if you think about it, some cats just have more wild blood than others! (Savannahs and Bengals) That's what I love about cats, they just seem so much more wild then most dogs I know!


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

I have no idea, I'd say any breed sounds unlikely due to the back story, even if she thought she was an Ocicat, that could have just been what she was told from some other person. Ocicats can have classic coats, too... but then, so can any cat.

Love the ink (?) drawings!


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## EmmaFay (Nov 27, 2012)

> Yeah, I would also say she has no bengal in her just due to her origins, though there's a slim chance, I highly doubt it! She's awfully gorgeous though!


There is another odd thing about her, though. The reason I was looking for a purebred or half-breed was that my sister, who I live with in the summer, has pretty bad allergies and my roommate, who I live with during the school year, has mild allergies. I'd heard that bengals and ocicats were better for people with allergies, which is why I honed in on Grim. And, lo and behold, she doesn't cause the slightest reaction in either my sister or roommate  Even I'm a little bit allergic (usually if I pet a cat and touch my face, I'll get really itchy red eyes), but with Grim I'm perfectly fine.

Course, she could just be an individual with lower levels of allergen. And I've heard that spayed females aren't as bad, allergy-wise. This isn't really proof that she has anything in her....could be that I really just lucked out!
I really don't think she has any Ocicat in her. Her head shape and body type don't look anything like the pictures online. When she was younger she looked a bit more like an Ocicat, but that was mainly because of her oversized kitten ears. But she does look a bit like some of the bengal pictures I've seen



> Love the ink (?) drawings!


Thanks!


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## bluemilk (Oct 3, 2005)

EVERY kitty has a little tiger in her! Bengal (the domestic breed)? COULD be!


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