Early Generation Cats

What exactly are early generation Bengal cats?
Bengals can be registered with TICA as domestic Bengal cats once they are four generations removed from the Asian Leopard cat with only Bengal cats being used in the breedings beyond the original out cross to the Asian Leopard cat.  That leaves us three generations between the Asian Leopard cat and the Bengal.

So what are the first three generations called?  The first three generations are considered by TICA to be a Bengal/ALC cross.  These first three generations are called foundation cats, filials, or early generation cats.
The generation of a cat is determined by the closest relative to an Asian Leopard cat.  You will often see their generation marked on websites as:
  • F1, the cat is just one generation from the ALC
    (meaning one of the cat's parents is an Asian Leopard Cat)
  • F2 the cat is two generations from an ALC
  • F3 the cat is three generations from the ALC
However, using the filial abbreviation isn't completely accurate as a F2 is technically the offspring of two F1s.  Since that is not possible due to male infertility, the accurate denotation would be to say second generation or G2, third generation or G3.  This indicates that each subsequent generation down from the original hybrid.

Do early generation cats make good pets?
It depends on the individual cat and on the household.  Perhaps I can best explain by using two early generation Bengal cats from my household.

My F2, Independence, was my cat and my cat only.  I had her before I had children.  She wasn't an active member of the entire family unit, she was not likely be around when we have company over, and she didn't sit in my lap as the kids romped around the house.

However, no other cat has ever loved me more passionately than Inde.  When it was Inde-time, the biscuiting was intense; the rubs on the back of my legs were deep; the grooming of my hair was thorough.  The connection we had was like no other.

On the other hand, Inde's F3 son, Foot Attacktor, known as Footsie, makes for a great family pet.  He rolls his eyes at the kid noise, deals with the pets that are just a little too rough, and has no plans of disappearing when company is around.  Footsie is the type of cat that many Bengal cat websites claim early generation cats are not.

Don't let the generation of a Bengal cat factor into your decision making about which kitten to get.  Go and meet the cats, meet the breeder, and see for yourself whether or not an early generation cat is the right fit for your family.

If you decide that you want the stability of the Bengal cat temperament with the look of the early generation cat, then come visit us at Quality Bengal Kittens.  While we do have EGs, our specialty is getting the EG look onto the SBT Bengal.

 
Examples of our Work

In the collage to the left, the cat on the left is a second generation cat born at Solana Ranch Bengals in 2005.  On the right is a fifth generation Bengal cat born in 2015.  Due to ten years of a stringent selection process, the fifth generation Bengal, in many ways, surpasses the second generation cat.  This is exactly what we are working to do - bring you the look of the EG with the stable temperament of the Bengal.









In the collage to the right, the cat on the left of this due is the first generation hybrid behind the cat on the right which is a fifth generation Bengal.  We will continue to work tirelessly to bring the beauty of the Eg cats down into the Bengal breed.