Leo The Bengal Kitten (Click to enlarge)
Leo The Bengal Cat Age-1 year (Click to enlarge)
This is the gorgeous Leo, a Bengal Cat. Looks wild doesn’t he. Well, he is…sort of. Bengals are a new (since the ’80s) designer breed of domestic cat which they created (are we getting uncomfortable yet?) by breeding a wild Asian Leopard Cat to a domestic cat such as the Abyssinian, American shorthair, Burmese or Egyptian Mau. There are some rules about a certain number of generations of breeding to domestic cats to remove them from the wildness of the Leopard in order to be shown. It makes me wonder what they do with the generations of cats that are too close to wild. Research will explain that they are mostly assigned to professional breeders (read: cages) as they are too wild to be socialized by humans.
Leo has a rather long and storied past with no certain future. He first came to our studio, in December of 2005, with a young man and his two well loved dogs. At the time, Leo was a very large and still manageable kitten who got along quite well with the canines and people in the household. If memory serves, this young man came upon this kitten due to the necessity of the breeder to get rid of him after Hurricane Katrina. The young man was very proud of this acquisition. Leo was dazzling. He romped about the studio in a playful and loving way but was easily engaged as most kittens are and could be photographed by using the same toys-on-a-stick tricks I use on all other cats.
Jump ahead to December of 2006. Young man gains a wife. Wife becomes pregnant. Prenatal litter box dis-ease concerns force this young family to give up this precious life. They do not sell Leo; they make the responsible choice to place him with a big hearted woman who has other rescued animals. As this photographer’s luck would have it, Leo ends up back in my studio and I am unbelievably excited to see this guy again. Leo’s new mom is loving and caring. He is a lucky guy, right? But Leo really is not a domestic animal. So he does not act as if he is. Within a year after his yearling portrait his new mom begins to have behavior problems with him. He’s huge, by the way, so he destroys all furniture and any hanging fabric in the house. Well, this doesn’t dissuade her from her love. But he begins to mark. This would be a deal-breaker for most families. Although Leo might like the scent, most humans will be repulsed, then repelled by the pervasive odor of cat markings in the house. We’re family until the toilet spreads into the kitchen. Then we need to talk. But such is the life of the wild in Leo. Leo’s new mom tried for about a year to help Leo assimilate. He becomes horribly unhappy. She does something she did not want to do; she opens the door.
I tell this story not to pass judgment on either of Leo’s first humans. The fuzzy, third party update is that he lives between a couple of households wandering about the neighborhood. The report continues; he is happy. But loose in a neighborhood, his future will always be uncertain. Between the dangers of our roads, and even human cruelties, Leo probably will not live a long life. That does not only apply to Leo, the semi-wild animal, it applies to any pet with free-roam abilities. We cannot protect them if we do not confine them. Good intentions all around. Young man wants to add a beautiful animal to his family. Kind hearted woman wants to rescue this beautiful animal. Outcome, unclear.
When we know better we do better. Let’s go back to the beginning of this story. Do we not have enough pet felines available for homes wanting such? No. We have more than we could ever find homes for. See I’m Wild About Anything for statistics about the availability of domestic felines and canines from the American Humane Society. Do we think we have the right to breed half wild animals for assimilation in families? Apparently. But do we? For what purpose? These Bengals are designer cats, after all. We are preserving nothing here. We are producing, creating, a new breed needing adoption. What is the human quality which drives us to want to do this? Do we feel as if we’ve produced art? Life?
I do not want to hurt or judge; I want to discuss. I have accrued opinions in my years of roaming the planet, but that does not make me right. Tell me what your beliefs are about this. Post your photos or comments about photography, pets or life with them. Above all, thanks for thinking and reading.
By the way I’ve been asked many times which lens I use for pet photos. These images were captured using a Nikon D50 with an AF-S NIKKOR 24-120mm lens. However, this set up is not my recommendation. Although I would really like to add a D3x body to my equipment bag, my current bread and butter set up is a D200 with an AF-S NIKKOR 17-55mm lens, which I added soon after Leo’s yearling portrait was made. The lens is awesome. Period.
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