Silver & Charcoal Bengal Kittens

Silver (I, i or I, I inhibitor genes) is more a lack of colour. This gene inhibits any warm colours and gives an almost white base coat contrasted with striking dark markings.
The silver colour was added to the TICA championship in 2004 for the Bengal breed.

Silver Bengal cats come in different shades with backgrounds varying from white to a very dark steel colour.
Silvers can also be found in any other colour combination: Silver Snow, Silver Charcoal, Blue Silver, etc.…
A silver Bengal also has:

• As little tarnish (yellow/rusty brown) in the coat as possible
• Dark gray to jet black markings
• A blacktip tail
• A brick-red nose
• Green or golden eyes

Should be easy to determine which cats are silver!

A charcoal Bengal (Apb, a or Apb, Apb agouti genes) is darker than the traditional recognized Bengal colours. The black smoky charcoal colour was particularly seen in early generation F1 and F2 Bengals.
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The charcoal trait is inherited independently of colour and can be seen in each colour class: browns, silvers, snows (lynx charcoal, mink charcoal, sepia charcoal) and even in blues.

Charcoals have a dark greyish/brownish or carbon coloured backgrounds with very little to no rufous (reddish-brown) and a very dark spotted or marbled pattern.

Charcoals can also have a darker face “mask” and thick dorsal stripe commonly referred to as the “Zorro cape and mask”.
The mask resembles an upside-down “Y” or a peace sign without the circle around it.

These charcoal masks can be very dark and eventually match the colour of the black to black body markings.
The tail is dark brown/black or grayish black with stripes and a black tip.
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Charcoal browns and charcoal silvers can have a black body with “ghost” markings. They can be confused with solid colour Bengals. A solid “pointed” cat will have a solid colour on the face. Solid black Bengals are called “melanistic” and solid silvers are called “silver smoke”.