# Mister Zenith Strikes a POSE



## fancidots (Jun 17, 2005)

I know I often jump in and show favorite photos of my pets..
But I took this shot last night - and have been grinning, every time I look at it.

This is Mister Zenith. He is my F1 Bengal, and he just turned 6 months old, last week.

WHAT A LITTLE HAM !!!









Hope someone else thinks this pose is as cute as I did (grin - blush)

LaVon 
"fancidots"


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## ForJazz (Dec 30, 2003)

I knew he was an F1 the first time I saw him -- I think I even told someone that. icklemiss maybe? Anyway -- how could he not be? That face is amazing, and he has the fattest tail ever. He is wonderful! And yes -- the grin is adorable.


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## fancidots (Jun 17, 2005)

Thanks Julie  
The most interesting thing to me, about his FAT FAT tail -- when I had only seen photos of the F1's -- I always thought the FUR on the tail was just a lot longer than it is on the rest of their body - but NOOOOOOOOOO
When YOU PET him, and run your hand to the end of his tail, it FEELS much *thicker* than any of my other cat's tails.
Even the cats with really "pouffy" long haired tails, the actual structure of the tail doesn't seem all that thick. But his really IS !!!

I just ADORE this little guy -- he is SO INTENSE and IN MY FACE... very social and fearless. Quite funny to watch him interact with all of my full grown cats - who he is catching up with, in SIZE... VERY QUICKLY !!!

Again Thanks 
LaVon
"fancidots"


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## reeeeka (Jun 27, 2005)

oh he's so handsome! I love his spots and that grin is so cute


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## AllergyCat (Aug 7, 2005)

Can someone explain to me what the F(followed by a number) means when talking about pure bred cats?

I have seen this but don't really understand it.


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## fancidots (Jun 17, 2005)

I'll be happy to explain, in simplified detail.
The* Bengal *cat was developed from breeding domestic cats with Asian Leopard Cats. It is a relatively new "breed" in the history of cat breeds.
Originally they used other breeds of domestics to breed with the Asian Leopard cats. In todays breeding programs, they use SBT Bengals as the domestic in the breeding pair.

The "F #" is a designator of "Early Generation Hybrid" cats.
F1 = one parent a domestic and one parent *Asian Leopard cat*.
F2 = one parent F1 and one parent domestic Bengal
F3 = one parent F2 and one parent domestic Bengal
SBT = one parent F3 and one parent domestic Bengal.

(SBT) means Stud Book Tradition (fully domestic) and is the first generation that is NOT considered a HYBRID and can be shown in the TICA show halls.

If you would like DETAILED explaination of this information the TICA or TIBCS websites have a lot more detail, if you're interested in how the numbers were developed.

http://www.bengalcat.com/aboutbengals/foundation.aspx

I hope this helps 

LaVon
"fancidots"


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## AllergyCat (Aug 7, 2005)

Thanks for the lesson!

Okay.....now for another one.

What type of domestic cat do they look for when breeding to the Asian Leopard Cat?


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## fancidots (Jun 17, 2005)

copied from the TIBCS website --

What is a Foundation Bengal Cat? 
The origin of the Bengal breed began with the cross between The Asian Leopard Cat (ALC) and the domestic cat. *Some of the early felines used in these matings include Egyptian and Indian Maus, Burmese and non-pedigreed domestic cats. *

As the breed progressed, *SBT Bengals were taken back to the Asian Leopard Cat instead of the misc. other breeds.* The first three generations resulting from the ALC x Bengal are considered "Foundation Bengals". The terminology regarding the early generation Foundation Cats can become somewhat confusing for even the most experienced Bengal enthusiast. 

I know all of this seems a little confusing - but I don't know of ANY Bengal breeders working with Asian Leopard Cats who still use any other breed. All of the ones I know use BENGAL cats when they breed back to their Asian Leopard Cats.

I got my little "Mister Zenith" from a wonderful breeder on the west coast.
I am attaching a link to her website, also 

http://www.cocoaspride.com/

Her site is both VERY educational and she has some beautiful photos of her animals on the site, as well.

Have fun learning about our wonderful "helper cats" -- I've totally fallen in love with the breed 

LaVon


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## DesnBaby (Apr 18, 2004)

Beautiful!  How is his temperament? Is he gentle?


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## fancidots (Jun 17, 2005)

He has a very interesting temprament. He's still SOOO Kitten -- so it's hard to tell how he will turn out, in the long run.
He is SOOO intense about EVERYTHING. His PLAY is INTENSE. His "luvvies for mommy" are SO Intense, that when he gives me morning kisses and makes biscuits on me while he's giving me kisses... he sems almost FRANTIC with his LOVE.... His kisses are* WET *- which is different than ANY of my other cats. It makes me laugh out loud -- even being awakend by them. He licks my chin, lower lip and nose till I start scratching his head, ears and neck, then he settles down a little and just seems to REVEL in the scratching.
When he plays with the older MUCH bigger cats -- he is RELENTLESS... 
When he LOVES on the older cats -- he is the same way with them that he is, with me.
When I trim his nails, he carries on like I'm KILLING him -- but I somehow manage to get them trimmed (and with all that biscuit making in the mornings - I HAVE to trim them. LOL)
His CRY is very different than all the other cats - it is a much WILDER sound. He HATES being confined, and he occasionally "traps himself" in my bathroom, playing behind the door -- and even if I'm in the kitchen or living room watching TV... I can hear his cries LOUD AND CLEAR !!!
His purr motor is very loud, and he loves to lay on my clothes hamper near my computer, when I'm online - and when I reach over and scratch his chin, and talk gently to him -- he strides over my desk onto my chest and head butts me and it's time for MORE biscuits - PURRING like an outboard motor. After a minute or so - he will walk back over to the hamper lid and lay down, curled up -- watching me with his front paws hanging over the edge of the hamper. 
I think he will mellow a little, as he matures -- but it is SO much fun, getting all this very INTENSE love and interaction with him.
CAN YOU TELL I'M CRAZY ABOUT THE LITTLE GUY ??? lol

LaVon 
"fancidots"


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## xilt (Aug 7, 2005)

Oh LaVon - Mister Zenith is awesome!! He's very handsome!!


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

Ive learned alot from this thread. Mr Zenith is incredible.


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## fancidots (Jun 17, 2005)

Thanks - He IS quite the little character - and I think he's awfully handsome 
I have a house FULL of cats -- and each one gives me *such joy*, in different ways. 
It is so entertaining to watch them interact.
I have a HUGE photo album, here under "fancidots" and there are a lot of photos of Zenith and all his "furry family members" on it, if you're interested in seeing him with his "family" (grin)
I have always enjoyed animals. I've had indoor cats for almost 30 years, now... and each one has added something special to my life

Have a nice evening and day on Sunday 

LaVon
"fancidots"


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## reprot (Nov 11, 2004)

Oh so that's a Bengal. Gorgeous gorgeous GORGEOUS! I love his marking and you say that they're active huh, I'd love to be a fly on the wall at foody call. :lol:


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## Stanky (Feb 28, 2005)

How could you not go crazy for him, he's beautiful!


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## fancidots (Jun 17, 2005)

My house at food call is MANIC !!! ROFL :lol: 
All of my cats are free fed dry food - which only Hatter and Casper truly seem to like. (The others only nibble occasionally between wet food feedings.)
I provide more than one dry food. The bengals and Casper prefer Royal Canin Siamese 38 (which is a wonderful food, by the way)
Hatter prefers Mazuri (which is also a good food) and when I can't locate it - he likes the Max Cat foods - which are a little easier to find.

They get canned food twice a day - once in the mornings (before I go to work) and then mid evening between 7 and 9 pm) Either Pro Plan Kitten Chicken and Liver (for Zenith) and Pro Plan chicken, beef or lamb, for all the others. I occasionally give them Fancy Feast - they ALL love the fancy feast canned, or SHEBA CHICKEN (also a favorite, with all)

At least once a week - sometimes more often, I boil whole chickens and de-bone them, and dice the meat, to give ALL the cats fresh meat treats.(
(The others don't seem to like raw that much - except for Victoria and Lightnin -- who LOVE chunks of raw turkey neck - to gnaw all the way to the bones.)

Mister Zenith gets RAW once a day. Chicken drumsticks are his FAVORITE, but I also give him clean cuts of beef (never ground beef raw)
I buy inexpensive steaks, or roast and dice them and freeze it in portions.


I have to share another photo or two. Not quite as recent as some of the others I've shared, but to me, VERY COMICAL 

I always give him the chicken in the kitchen - but he runs off into other rooms to "devour his kill" LOL

Here, he's saying MY DRUMMYSTICK!








This was a chicken "drumette" -- he LOVES his chicken 











I also supplement his diet with products from a company called APPERON who provide suppliments for exotics 

LaVon
"fancidots"


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## kitkat (Sep 22, 2003)

He's got the cutest grin in that 1st picture, makes me laugh


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## shazino (Mar 27, 2005)

cute pics


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## Stephie (Feb 4, 2005)

Mister Zenith is such a handsome poser  

You wouldn't want to get between him and that chicken drumstick


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## fancidots (Jun 17, 2005)

You're right about *NOT* getting between him and *"his drummystick"*
In the FIRST photo, you get somewhat of a view of his *DEATHLOCK* on the drumstick. 8O 
He can actually *pull a drumstick out of my OR my son's hands*, if we hold on to the small end and allow him to get his jaws locked on the "fat" end of the drumstick. (Which we have to do, occasionally, for amusement and strength testing.  )

I TRY to always "marinate" his Drummysticks in APPERON Suppliments - but have to be careful to not put TOO much - I think their sense of TASTE is very attuned and he can be picky if too many vitamins are rubbed into the meat.

I gave him some beef liver last night - and you would have thought he was a LION who hadn't eaten in a month. :lol: 
While I was near the sink, using a cutting board, to cut the liver up in pieces - HE was standing with has BACK legs IN the sink -- repeatedly putting his front paws on the cutting board, and sticking his FACE in my way. 

The others came up - sniffed the liver - and looked at me as if I had offered them something TOTALLY NASTY -- and strolled away !!! 

He is VERY posessive of his food, and the others have learned to NOT mess with him, when he has his raw food (which really isn't a big deal, since they don't seem to like raw, anyway) And whenever I try to take photos of him eating his raw -- he will "run off" with it, every time I approach him with the camera. (grin) I was lucky to get shots of him that close. :lol:

LaVon 
"fancidots"


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## DesnBaby (Apr 18, 2004)

Wow, he really does look like one of those wild kitties w/ that raw food he is eating! 8O


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## fancidots (Jun 17, 2005)

ForJazz finished my siggy file -- and I LOVE IT !!!
She has captured the essence of each of my cats... and put lovely graphics with each "set" of photos...

I'm simply THRILLED !!!

LaVon
and the 
Fancidots Pride


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