Did you know tabby cats aren’t a specific breed of cat? A tabby cat is considered to be any domesticated cat with a coat that features distinctive stripes, dots, or swirling patterns, usually with a marking resembling an uppercase “M” on their forehead. Show
In honor of tabby cats everywhere, here are just a few fun facts about them you may not have known! Feel free to pass them on to a friend.
 The English term “tabby” comes from the translation of the French phrase “striped silk taffeta,” the root of which is tabis, which means “a rich watered silk,” according to the Online Etymology Dictionary. This can be traced even further to the Arabic term attabiya, which references Attabiy, a neighborhood in Baghdad where such silk cloth was originally made. The term “tabby cat,” meaning “one with a striped coat,” likely came into usage in the late 17th century. Cats have always been fashion forward! Tabby cat coats aren’t just one pattern.There are actually four basic tabby cat coat patterns: mackerel, ticked, spotted, and classic, which is also referred to as marbled. The mackerel pattern is the most commonly occurring one, and is the pattern most people think of when they think of tabby cats. This pattern has vertical, narrow, curving stripes on the side of the cat’s body, and may be continuous or broken into bars and spots on the cat’s stomach and flanks. There is an “M” shape on their forehead, along with dark lines on the cat’s cheeks to the corners of their eyes. Tabby cats can have any coat color.Tabby cats can have a wide variety of coat colors, including brown, gray, cream, and orange. The most commonly occurring are black-based coats. Orange tabby cats are usually male.
Did you know orange tabby cats are typically male? In fact, up to 80 percent of orange tabbies are male, making orange female cats a bit of a rarity. According to the BBC’s Focus Magazine, the ginger gene in cats works a little differently compared to humans; it is on the X chromosome. Males only need one copy of the gene to become a ginger cat while female cats have two X chromosomes and require two copies of the gene. One tabby cat was mayor of a town in Alaska.Who says Egyptians were the only civilization to put cats in power? In Talkeetna, Alaska, a tabby cat named Stubbs was elected mayor in 1997 when his name was written in to protest the human candidates in a municipal election. Mayor Stubbs served the town for 20 years until he passed away in 2017. There are many tabby cats available for adoption at Cat Town. Why not spend time browsing through our website to get to know some of them? Whether you’re interested in one of our foster cats or a cat in the Cat Zone, reach out to for more information or to schedule an appointment with one of our adoption counselors. ADOPTABLE TABBY CATSBack to the Cat Town Blog.
People sometimes call the average domestic cat a tabby, but tabby is not a cat breed — it is actually the pattern of kitty’s coat. And it happens to be the most common of all the feline coat patterns. Technically speaking, no matter what colors or markings you see on your cat, all felines possess the tabby cat gene. Other cat colors or patterns may hide those tabby markings, but they’re always present. First, some tabby basics:Sometimes you can see those faint tabby markings on a solid-colored cat who is sitting in the bright sun. And have you ever seen a solid red or orange or cream cat without the familiar tabby markings? You won’t, because the gene that makes a cat red or cream also makes the tabby markings visible. All tabbies have thin pencil lines on their faces, expressive markings around the eyes, and a distinct letter “M” on their foreheads. Some believe the “M” is for Mau, the word for “cat” in ancient Egypt. Others think the “M” stands for Mohammed, who loved tabbies. Still others believe it is the blessing of the Virgin Mary. Related: What It Means to Be a Tabby? There are five types of tabby coat patterns, each possessing its own unique markings. We’ve listed them below alongside photos of each. See if you can figure out which tabby your cat is: 1. Classic Tabby CatThe classic tabby has bold, swirling patterns along his sides — much like a marble cake. This tabby is called a “blotched tabby” in some regions. The pattern of circular smudges on the classic tabby’s body closely resembles a bullseye. 2. Mackerel Tabby CatA mackerel tabby has narrow stripes that run in parallel down her sides. This is what some people refer to as a “tiger cat.” The body has narrow stripes running down the sides in a vertical pattern. Ideally, the stripes are non-broken lines; evenly spaced. They branch out from one stripe that runs along the top of the cat’s back down the spine, resembling fish skeleton — which is why the term “mackerel” is used to describe it. 3. Spotted Tabby CatA spotted tabby has spots all over his sides. These spots can be large or small, and sometimes appear to be broken mackerel stripes. They can be round, oval or rosettes. Often, a mackerel tabby with a broken pattern resembles a spotted tabby. It is not known whether these spots developed from a mackerel tabby or come from a separate gene. 4. Ticked Tabby CatA ticked tabby cat (sometimes called Abyssinian tabby or agouti tabby) does not have the traditional stripes or spots on her body, and may not, at first, seem to be a tabby. However, like all tabbies, this coat pattern has tabby markings on the face and agouti hairs on the body. What are agouti hairs? If you look up close at the lighter parts of a tabby’s coat, you will see that the individual hairs are striped with alternating light and dark bands, known as the agouti hairs. The ticked pattern is displayed prominently in Abyssinians but also appears in mixed breeds. 5. Patched Tabby CatThis is the term used to describe a tortoiseshell (also called tortie) tabby. In the typical form, there are separate patches of brown tabby and red tabby on the same animal. A tortie who also carries the tabby gene is often called a torbie. Patched tabbies can show any one of the above four distinct tabby patterns. The markings are usually more apparent on the legs and head. Thumbnail: Photography by Shelagh Duffett/Thinkstock. This piece was originally published in 2015. Read Next: The Science Behind the Fur: What Makes Black Cats Black |
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