![]() ![]() ![]() (Visible in ticking tabby cats, but difficult to tell apart in shaded silver/golden and tipped cats.) The tabby cat markings have the following traits: The stripped tabby pattern helps to hide the cat when it’s lying in wait for prey. The tabby pattern evolved for camouflage reasons. The Agouti gene is an important determinant in coat color selection. Agouti is a fur color in which each hair has two or more pigmented bands running through it. The tabby coat pattern in a cat can be found on the agouti gene. Tabbies can be found in many types of cat breeds from Maine Coons to Persians. This article was previously published on with the title “The Fabulous Tabby Cat” and is republished with permission.Tabbies, or tabby cats, are domestic cats that carry a distinctive coat pattern. They’re also said to be very affectionate, and relaxed to the point of being lazy. Tabbies have a reputation for being laid back, calm and more sociable. ![]() ![]() From that day on, all tabbies were born with an M on their foreheads to remind the world that Mohammed loved cats. Rather than disturbing the sleeping cat, Mohammed cut the sleeve off his garment. When it was time to attend prayer, the cat had fallen asleep on the sleeve. Mary was so grateful that she made the mark of her own initial on the kitty’s head so the world would forever be reminded how a tabby saved Jesus from the cold.Ī second legend claims that Mohammed had a tabby named Muezza who once save his life by slaying a snake that had crawled up his sleeve. The animals all stood as close to the manger as they could, but the baby Jesus was still cold, so a small tabby cat jumped into the manger and curled up next to Jesus. The most popular tells us that the baby Jesus was cold in his manger, and Mary asked all the animals to come and keep him warm. There are several legends about how tabbies got their distinctive forehead markings. The English term “tabby” comes from a translation of the French word “tabis,” which means “a rich striped silk.” The term may also originate from the Arabic “attabiya,” after a neighborhood of Baghdad where such a cloth was first made, If the tri-color markings follow any of the tabby patterns such as mackerel, spotted, ticked or classic, they are often referred to as torbies. Patched tabbyĬats with random tri-color patches are known as tortoiseshell cats (torties). This ticked pattern is most prominently seen in Abyssynian cats, but is also seen in domestic cats. Ticked tabbies don’t look like tabbies at all at first glancebut a closer look at individual hairs will show that they are striped with light and dark colored bands, also known as agouti hairs. The Bengal pattern is a good example of a spotted tabby. Spotted tabbies feature oval or round spots all over. They branch out from one stripe along the top of the spine, looking very similar to a fish skeleton, which is how the name “mackerel” came about. The mackerel pattern is what most people refer to as “tiger stripes.” The body has narrow stripes running down the sides. Classic tabbies are also called “blotched” tabbies. The classic tabby pattern has large blotches and swirls that end in a circular pattern at the sides that almost looks like a bullseye. ![]()
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