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In 1961 Jean
bred a female ALC called Malaysia to a black tom cat. The male kitten was fatally mauled, but
the female, KinKin was rescued and put with a newborn Himlayan litter of
Jeans.
KinKin was bred
back to her father, as Jean didn’t have another suitable tom cat, and
KinKin produced a sweet natured son and a nasty tempered black daughter
(Pantherette). Unfortunately the son
died from a fall. Pantherette went
on to produce a single kitten, but then ate it at 2 days of age.
When Jean’s
husband Bob Sugden died, Jean gave Malaysia, KinKin and Pantherette to San Diego Zoo –
where KinKin and Pantherette later died of pneumonitus. There ended Jean’s early project.
Then in the late
1970s and early 1980s Dr Willard Centerwall was doing research into Feline
Leukemia at Loma University, and as part of that reseach he was producing
F1 kittens from a domestic tabby and an ALC. Having produced the kittens, and run the
required blood tests, he needed to find homes for them.
Bill gave Jean
(now Jean Mill) four of these F1 kittens – Liquid Amber, Favie, Shy Sister
and Doughnuts.
Some of the
kittens were also given to Gordon Meredith for his small zoo in the Mojave Desert, but Gordon was taken ill and had to re-home
his cats. Jean then took in some of
Gordon’s cats - Pennybank, Praline, Rorschach, Raisin Sunday, and Wine
Vinegar.
But now came a
problem……….the F1, and F2, and sometimes F3 males are almost always
sterile. So Jean had to find a boy
she could use.
Jean went to India in 1982 and found a beautifully spotted
domestic cat, which she had shipped back to her home in California, and called him Tory of Delhi. Tory of Delhi was registered as an
‘Indian Mau’ and can be found in the extended pedigree of most early
Bengals. He was covered in small
dark brown, distinct spots with a shiny golden-orange coat.
Tory went on to
be the foundation male for the Bengal breed, and was used by some Egyptian Mau
breeders to improve their bloodlines (often shown as Toby in Egyptian Mau
pedigrees).
Jean had many
struggles to overcome prejudice in the early days, especially when she was
accused of putting ‘wild blood’ in the Maus, but she also got lots of
support from some Ocicat breeders
(notably Gogees).
In 1983 Destiny
was born to Tory and Praline – Jean didn’t realise at that time that male
kittens are usually sterile in the early generations.. Destiny was 25% ALC and should have been
infertile – but he proved to be the first fertile F2 male, though he was
only able to produce kittens for a short time.
He managed a few
litters, and surprised everyone when he and Polyspot had a cat with a
sparkling golden coat – Silk n Cinders.
A month later Destiny and Praline had a similarly shiny golden male
called Aries. The unusual coat then
surfaced at Gogees too, from Silk n Cinders kittens. These were the first ‘glittered’ Bengals.
Later in 1986
Penny Ante came along, and that’s when the Bengal truly became known. Penny Ante not only looked like a little
leopard, but was also really friendly and relaxed – and completely stole
every one of the 27 shows she went to.
In 1987 Cinders
and Torchbearer gave Jean another surprise – a completely new kind of
kitten – with a very soft cream coloured coat with a weird swirling pattern
across it. This was Painted Desert – the first marble, and she was a sensation at
the cat shows. The horizontal flow
of the marbles is another trait that is only found in Bengals.
Jean continued
to introduce new ALCs into her line – notable ones being Cameo and Kabuki.
Jean retired
from breeding Bengals in 2007, but the Millwood line is being carried on by
her daughter.
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