Jean Mill is a tall, gracious woman who lives in California, USA, where she breeds Bengals from four different Asian Leopard Cat lines. Although she has been involved with hybridising Asian Leopard cats from as early as 1963, there are no surviving cats from these early efforts. Instead, the modern Bengal originates from Jean’s breeding programme of 1975. This began when she married engineer Bob Mill, a dapper and genial man, now retired, with whom she moved to the Covina acreage, which was planted with fruit and oak trees, with no close neighbours to disturb......

...... interview with Jean Mill, the founder of bengal breed

Editor: Can Bengals only be kept outside in these zoo-like habitats?

Jean Mill: No, Bengals are ideal family pets to be kept in the home, unless you are allergic to cats! I feed my felines commercial cat food. They welcome and beg for attention, and allow me to hold and hug them, returning kisses with purrs. They are majestic cats; they aren't crazy up the drapes, but they are into things and actively attentive to what's going on. When you bring in the groceries, they want to see what's in the sack.

Editor: So Bengals should be treated just like any other domestic feline?

Jean Mill: Yes. Our Bengals must be the sweetest cats at the cat show. Any other cat can bite the judge and excuses are made for it. But if a Bengal bites the judge, they might claim it's the wild blood coming out. Fourth generation SBT (Stud Book Status) Bengals are entirely domestic tempered and will allow strangers to carry them about, even in noisy show halls.

TICA (The International Cat Association) judges find Bengals no more aggressive nor threatening than any other cat breed and are impressed by their docility, in fact. This may be because the Bengal standard requires judges to disqualify any entry that threatens to harm. Breeders have paid special attention to temperament inheritance to ensure that a loving nature is bred in. A well-known judge of USA cat shows commented - "I personally love them. I have not had a moment's problem with the 30 or 40 that I've handled at shows. One show in the east had 46 Bengals entered that were each handled by 13 judges in one weekend. That's about 600 handlings without a single spit or growl or threat. That's a better record than some common breeds! Fear of fourth generation Bengals is absurd!"

Sadly, there are fears of these loveable cats because people think of 'wild' as 'ferocious'. But those same people don't fear wild rabbits. Wild means shy of humans and self-reliant, not vicious or dangerous. Marc Nochella, a New Yorker who bought a kitten from the Millwood cattery, is one satisfied customer. Nochella, who is an associate art director at the Ronald Feldman Gallery in Manhattan, told me: "This is an exceptional cat; he's very intelligent and responsive. He loves to be held. He's changed my life."

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i know this won't sit well with many forumers, but i personally think they are beautiful.

however, i know many people who have bengals (in the UK, AUS and here) and the moment you get lazy and start neglecting them or letting them roam, they do revert to their wild cat ancestry. they are exceptional hunters, very independent/self sufficient and thus completely couldn't care less if they never saw you again!

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Alicia Ling Horsley

Pet Epicure
We feed our pets PINK raw food
Feral Friend Malaysia


"The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality."Dante

I agree with Alicia.

One more thing about F1 is, I heard they are difficult to be tamed. Usually people prefers F3 and above because they behaving more like domestic cats than F1.

F1 usually are still fierce, I have seen 3 F1 cats, and none of them are suitable to be kept as pets. They may be nice to their owners but they still are hostile to visitors.

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Ĵåγ™

If you think I am a human, you are DEAD wrong because.. Im a domesticated shorthair cat who went to school!

My Boys:- Trey Joshua Jay (DLH); Leroy Allen Jay (MCO); William Henry Jay (MCO)

Hmmm Agree with you too.. that the F1 is hard to tame... But In my opinion is about the cat owner to find a way to socialize and keep a better bonding with human... Well I personall has play with a real ALC Not even F1... And there are perfectly as tame as a normal domestic cat... Well of that cat belong to a F1 Owner lah....

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Whatever it is,Foundation cats are not domesticated yet,so bear in mind that they are still wild and not supposed to be kept as pet for what ever reason.

ALC naturally is a wild cat,anyway it can be trained to be friendly to the ppl especially to the owner.

My F1 is very friendly to me and my family who take care of her almost every day.I personally don`t encourage outsiders or other cat to be close to her cage coz this can threaten her and her life.Once stress she will refuse to eat.

Honestly in term of beuty,ALC and foundation cats are the most attractive cat if you compare with SBT Bengal.