Hi and welcome .

I don't know about the ocicat but a friend of mine breeds Maus and they're approx. the same price as Bengals.

But if you're not attached to rosettes and like the silver colour best, I'd say go for a Mau : that's the breed where the colour is "the best", as it's the major colour of the breed. So most of them are II (double carrier of the inhibitor gene responsible for the silver colour) and very little rufoused with a very clear silver colour.

Whereas in Bengals, a brown rufoused (very red/orange) colour is the one mostly seeked and found, and clear silver with no rufous are harder to come by (and probably more expensive !).

That's for looks only. As for personality, the little I know about Egyptian Maus is that they're a very nice breed, didn't hear that they're shy but I can ask for more info about that from my friend .

A few photos to compare :

A Mau :



A silver Bengal :



As you can see the colour background of the Mau is clearer... (but spots are not so well defined !)

The snow Bengal is an altogether different colour, snow bengals carry the siamese gene. The colour is more creamy than silver.

I have to say AnnC your knowledge of cat genes are awsome!!

Just out of interest is it possible to buy an ocicat? I thought you would need to have a licence as for a ALC.

Elaine

hi elaine, an ocicat is just a purebred domestic cat, not a wild cat of any sort. you may be thinking of an ocelot

hi sarah, i can't help much as i've no experience of ocis or maus, but from the tales i hear of bengals they do seem pretty unique among the catworld. then again, i could just be biased

[quote="bundles of bengals"]hi elaine, an ocicat is just a purebred domestic cat, not a wild cat of any sort. you may be thinking of an ocelot

Thanks I was thinking of the ocelot with the BIG ears!

An ocelot looks just like an ALC but bigger, doesn't really have big ears !