![]() ![]() In fact, some estimates suggest up to half of the worlds cat population can be described as tabbies! This means there are many breeds that accept the tabby pattern and you can find tabbies all over the world. BreedsĪs we mentioned, tabby is not a breed of cat but is a physical description. The gene can be found in all domestic cats and even many black cats looked at in the sunlight can reveal tabby markings. Many believe the tabby coat pattern has been in domesticated cats since the very beginning. The tabby gene is more dominant than the other coat colour genes. This is because the tabby markings are best suited for life in the wild as they offer great camouflage making hiding and hunting easier. We can see a lot of similar patterns to the ones seen on tabby cats on African wild cats. The “M” that is seen on the forehead of tabby cats comes with many religious stories.Įach story brings the same essence, for example, the Christian version of the story says the tabby cat came to comfort baby Jesus and Mary marked the cat with an “M” in gratitude, while in the Muslim version a tabby cat named Muezza once saves his masters life by killing a snake and from then on all tabby cats were remembered with an “M” on their forehead.Īs fun as the stories are, there is a genetic reason for the M and the M is a standard part of the pattern of a tabby. The cats were compared to the silk which was referred to as “atabis” and later, “tabis” which translated into English as “tabby” giving the cats the name. The name Tabby is believed to come from the name of a striped silk in Baghdad. This is because the gene is on the X chromosome meaning male cats only need one copy of it to be orange while females need two. Orange tabby cats are typically male thanks to genetics. Tabby cats can be a variety of colours, the most commonly occurring is black-based but brown, grey, cream and orange are also very common.Īll in all, there are over 60 possible coat colour variations that can occur. ![]() They may also show traits of the other types described above. Patched is often used to describe a tortoiseshell tabby. Patched TabbyĪ patched tabby has different colour patches (commonly brown, red, blue-grey or cream) across their fur. The overall look of a ticked tabby is a salt-and-pepper or sand-like appearance without any obvious stripes or bands. They also have the common facial tabby markings. You may not be able to see this unless you look closely at the lighter parts of the coat. Ticked TabbyĪ ticked tabby is also known as Agouti, their fur has faint light and dark alternating bands. The spots can be random or in straight lines. These spots can be small or large and usually appear as blotches. Spotted TabbyĪ spotted tabby has circular or oval-shaped spots on their coat. They also have lines along their chest and solid or broken stripes on their body.Īcross the shoulder and haunches there are faint lines that are in a pattern similar to a fish skeleton which is where the name mackerel comes from. This pattern is also very commonly seen a mackerel tabby has thin stripes around their tail and legs. There are three broad lines running along the cats back and there are normally rings around the cat’s neck.Ī classic tabby also has button-like blotches on their belly, tails and legs (don’t mistake these for a belly button). The side of the cat’s body has bold swirls which are prominent and can appear like large blotches or a “target”. Classic TabbyĪ classic tabby is a very common pattern and is what many people think of when they refer to a tabby cat. ![]() While all tabbies have the same facial markings, there are different body patterns you may see.īelow are the most common tabby markings and how to tell the difference between them: 1.
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