F2 Bengal Cats & Kitten Guide – Half Bengals
If you are interested in finding and keeping an F2 Bengal cat, you must first understand that doing this is going to be extremely unlikely to happen. This is mainly due in part to the United States Government’s Fish & Wildlife Service putting some very heavy restrictions on this particular breed of cat, as all Bengal cats originate from the cross-breeding of an Asian Leopard Cat and a domestic cat.
The breeders of these Bengal cats have been lobbying and fighting this for many years, trying to have these restrictions removed, but with not much success. The one loophole that they have been able to use, however, is to breed several different generations past the very first one, or F1 Bengal cat. If you are interested in getting a domestic Bengal cat as a pet, it is more than likely going to be one that has a minimum of 5 generations since the wild Asian Leopard Cat was bred.
While this may not be necessarily what you want to hear, at the same time, it also isn’t necessarily a bad thing either. In fact, this is simply the reality of becoming a Bengal cat owner. You are still going to be getting an exotic looking cat that has a very unique personality, but they will just be a few more generations away from the Asian Leopard Cat than you would like. But on the plus side, it will help you avoid many of the restrictions that have been placed onto this cat, depending upon what start you are in.
F2 Bengal Cats, What Are They?
If you are just hearing about an F2 Bengal cat, you may think that it sounds like some type of fighter jet or something like that. However, to truly understand what the F2 means, you are going to first have to take a look at the F1 Bengal cat. An F1 Bengal cat is a cross between a domestic cat and an Asian Leopard Cat. The litter that comes out is going to be considered F1 Bengal kittens. The F1’s parent Asian Leopard Cat is on the smaller side and is not aggressive at all with a coat that is covered in smaller sized ‘rosettes’. They usually weigh-in around about 13 to 15 pounds and are found in the wild in East and South Asia. While they are notoriously shy, they also love the water.
An F2 Bengal cat simply means that one of the females of F1 cats (which is going to be half Asian Leopard Cat and half domestic cat), was bred with one of the male domestic cats in order to have a litter of kittens. These kittens, referred to as F2 kittens, are going to be ¼ Asian Leopard Cat, and ¾ domestic cat.
As for the term ‘F2, the breakdown is actually very simple. The ‘F’ is going to be short for the word ‘Filial’, which means ‘befitting a good daughter or son.’ The ‘2’ is going to refer to the fact that this liter is going to be the very first generation that was underneath the Asian Leopard Cat. The ‘Bengal’ name, is derived from the parent Asian Leopard Cat, is simply its scientific name, the Prionailurus Bengalensis.
When you look at the family line of a Bengal cat, It is normally going to be broken down something like this:
- Asian Leopard Cat + domestic mother cat = F1 Bengal cat
- Domestic father cat + F1 Bengal mother = F2 Bengal cat
- Domestic father cat + F2 Bengal mother = F3 Bengal cat
- Domestic father cat + F3 mother cat + F4 Bengal cat
Along with the F1 male Bengal cats, the F2 males are also born infertile. While the females are able to retain their ability to reproduce, the males are not so lucky and do not contain this genetic capability. Even though they are born infertile, they will still act as though they are a fertile cat, mounting females who are in heat and spraying, at least until they get neutered.
The reason behind the male Bengal cat’s infertility is due to the cross breeding of two species who are completely different but are also very similar genetically. Because of this, male Bengal cats are typically going to be infertile until the F4 generation past the Asian Leopard Cat. This entire phenomenon actually produces an infertility rate of 98% in the F1, F2, and F3 Bengal cat males. It is believed that this is due to a lengthened Y-chromosome that is held by domestic cats, but not Asian Leopard Cats.
How Much Does an F2 Bengal Cat Cost?
While there is going to be much less Asian Leopard Cat in their genetic makeup, an F2 Bengal cat is still going to have all of the amazing traits that you love this particular breed of cats for. While they do contain less of the original Asian Leopard Cat, which will dictate a much lower cost for you, there are also some other factors that will play into deciding the final cost of your F2 Bengal cat.
The female F1 Bengal cat is not able to get pregnant very easily. In fact, it will normally take several tries with the stud cat before any type of pregnancy will ever occur. And once they are pregnant, they only give birth to smaller sized litters. This makes the available number of F2 Bengal cats much lower when compared an F1 for example.
Because of all the difficulty in getting pregnant and the smaller litter size, the price of an F2 Bengal cat is going to be very similar to that of an F1 Bengal cat. Typically, an F2 Bengal cat will start at a price around $2,000 a piece, going up to as high as $10,000 depending upon the traits they have. These higher prices are going to be dictated by the color of their coat, their breed variety, what their temperament is, the specifics about their F1 parents, and how much training they have had.
