The size of bengals is a common misconception.
While bengal cats, on average, are bigger than other domestic cat breeds, they are not the biggest cat breeds by far.
Bengal cats are usually 14-18 inches long and 10-15 pounds (4.5-6.8kg) heavy, or 8-12 pounds (3.6-5.4kg) heavy if the bengal cat is female.
Healthy bengal cats are rarely under 8 pounds and most bengals weigh about 10-12 pounds, with more than 15 pounds being overweight.
The average domestic cat weighs 9-10 pounds (4-4.5kg) so bengal cats are heavier than around 50-70% of other domestic cats.
There are many heavier domestic cat breeds, however, such as Maine coon cats who weigh around 15 pounds and Savannah cats who usually weigh 16-18 pounds (7.2kg-8.1kg).
Maine coon cats can be up to 3.5 feet long and stand at a height of 1-1.2 feet.
Ragdoll cats, another large breed, are usually around 3 feet in length and 1-1.5 feet tall.
Savannah cats are 1.5-2 feet long and about 1-1.5 feet tall.
All of these domestic cats are larger than bengals who tend to be 1-1.5 feet long and 1-1.5 feet tall.
At What Age Are Bengal Cats Fully Grown?
Bengal cats are usually fully grown after 2 years.
Some bengals may be mostly finished growing after 1-1.5 years and others will grow until they are 2 years old.
Bengal kittens grow the fastest during the first month after they’re born, after which their rate of growth begins to slow.
After a year, most bengals have transitioned out of the kitten stage and have grown into adults, although they may still grow in size for the next 6-12 months.
How Can You Tell When a Bengal Cat Is Finished Growing?
There are a couple ways to tell when a bengal is finished growing.
One is to weigh your bengal and see how much it is currently weighing.
If it is under 10 pounds then it most likely will still grow in size a little.
You can also measure the bengal’s length from the base of it’s tail to the tip of it’s nose and see if it is a at least 1 foot long.
If your bengal is under 10 pounds and under a foot long then it is possible for it to still grow larger, assuming it is younger than 2 years.
Another way to tell when a bengal cat is finished growing is by taking into account what it’s generation is and what domestic cats the bengal was bred from.
If your bengal is further from an Asian leopard cat genetically, and is F4 or F5, then your bengal will likely not end up quite as big as an F1, F2, or F3 bengal cat.
It’s also necessary to take into account the domestic cats that your bengal cat was bred from as well since different bengals come from different parent breeds.
All bengals descend from the Asian leopard cat, but for them to be a domestic cat breed, the Asian leopard cat needed to be bred with domestic cats.
The common domestic cat breeds for bengal cats to be bred from are Bombay cats, Abyssinian cats, British Shorthair cats, Egyptian mau cats, and Ocicats.
If your bengal cat was bred from a British Shorthair then it will grow to a larger size than if it were bred from an Abyssinian cat, for example.
Even if your bengal does not grow to be large, it will most likely look strong and big since bengal cats look very athletic naturally and tend to appear large even if they’re not as big as some other breeds.
