People sometimes call the typical house cat a tabby, but
tabby isn’t a cat breed — it’s actually the pattern of kitty’s coat. And it
happens to be the foremost common of all the feline coat patterns. Technically
speaking, regardless of what colors or markings you see on your cat, all felines
possess the tabby gene. Other cat colors or patterns may hide those tabby
markings, but they’re always present.

First, some tabby basics:

Sometimes you’ll see those faint tabby markings on a
solid-colored cat who is sitting within the bright sun. And have you ever ever
seen a solid red or orange or cream cat without the familiar tabby markings? You
won’t, because the gene that creates a cat red or cream also makes the tabby
markings visible.All tabbies have thin pencil lines on their faces, expressive
markings round the eyes, and a definite 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’s the
blessing of Mary Mary.

There are five sorts of tabby coat patterns, each possessing
its own unique markings. We’ve listed them below alongside photos of every .See
if you’ll find out which tabby your cat is:

Classic tabby

The classic tabby has bold, swirling patterns along his
sides — very similar to a cake .This tabby is named a “blotched tabby” in some
regions. The pattern of circular smudges on the classic tabby’s body closely
resembles a bullseye.

Mackerel tabby

“TheA mackerel tabby has narrow stripes that run in
parallel down her sides. this is often what some people ask as a “tiger cat.”
The body has narrow stripes running down the edges during a vertical pattern.Ideally
the stripes are non-broken lines; evenly spaced. They diversify from one stripe
that runs along the highest of the cat’s backtrack the spine, resembling fish
skeleton — which is why the term “mackerel” is employed to explain it.

Spotted tabby

“TheA spotted tabby has spots everywhere his sides.
These spots are often large or small, and sometimes appear to be broken
mackerel stripes. they will be round, oval or rosettes.Often, a mackerel tabby
with a broken pattern resembles a spotted tabby. it’s not known whether these
spots developed from a mackerel tabby or come from a separate gene.

Ticked tabby

“A ticked tabby (sometimes called Abyssinian tabby or
agouti tabby) doesn’t have the normal stripes or spots on her body, and should
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 search close at the lighter parts of a tabby’s coat, you’ll see
that the individual hairs are striped with alternating light and dark bands, referred
to as the agouti hairs. The ticked pattern is displayed prominently in
Abyssinians but also appears in mixed breeds.

Patched tabby

Tabby Cat. A sick tortoiseshell kitten.This is the term wont
to describe a tortoiseshell (also called tortie) tabby. within the typical
form, there are separate patches of brown tabby and red tabby on an equivalent
animal.A tortie who also carries the tabby gene is usually called a torbie.
Patched tabbies can show anybody of the above four distinct tabby patterns. The
markings are usually more apparent on the legs and head