Mackerel, spotted, ticked or classic markings can show in the patches, and the tabby pattern usually shows more distinctly on the head and legs. The Abyssinian cat is a very good example of a ticked tabby and their coats often appear to shimmer in the sunlight due to the agouti hairs.Ĭats that have random patches of different colors are known as tortoiseshell (tortie), if the markings are tabby, the cats are called patched tabbies (torbie). The faces of ticked (or agouti) tabbies will show the traditional ‘M’ marking, and ticked tabbies may show a faint necklace. A closer look will show that the hairs are in fact striped with light and dark colored bands, these are known as agouti hairs, most tabbies will have some agouti hairs that make up part of their coat pattern. The Ocicat, Bengal and American Bobtail are good examples of the spotted tabby pattern.Ĭats with ticked coat markings do not display the usual stripes, blotches or swirls of the tabby pattern and do not at first glance seem to be tabby cats at all. Spotted tabbies usually show a faint trace of a necklace and have a line of spots, or sometimes blotches, running from the neck to the very tip of their tail. Sometimes the spots run in lines, this is often known as the interrupted mackerel pattern, however whether these spots developed from mackerel tabbies, or are a completely separate mutation remains unknown. The dark blotches of the coat pattern of some tabbies are formed into oval or round spots. Along the belly of the mackerel tabby you will find a double row of ‘vest buttons.’ Mackerel tabbies have narrow striped rings around their tail and legs, solid or broken stripes down their sides and one or more ‘necklaces’ on the front of their chests. Some people suggest that mackerel tabbies should have been called classic, because their coat pattern was the original, and more reminiscent of the domestic cats origins. Mackerel tabby markings closely correspond to the patterns seen on African wildcats. On the shoulders are patterns that are very similar to butterfly wings. Classic tabby cats’ tails have broad bands, as do their legs, and the belly will have a row of vest button blotches. Three broad lines run from the neck to the tail, and around the neck there are wide bands of color known as a necklace. The classic has large swirls or blotches that end in a circular pattern or “target” at the sides. It is this pattern that appears most often on tabbies.
the “patched” tabby, which may be a calico or tortoiseshell cat with tabby patches (the latter is called a “torbie”).
A fifth includes tabby as part of another basic color pattern, e.g. There are many variations of the tabby pattern and tabby cats can be found with stripes, spots, ticks and swirls, and in various colors – brown tabbies, silver tabbies, ginger or orange tabbies, gray or blue tabbies and red tabbies Although there are many variations of each, the tabby pattern falls into four basic classes. The tabby pattern is so popular that it can be found in many pedigreed cats today, and is accepted in a number of breeds by the most popular registries. 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. Look at a “solid” black cat in the sun some day and see if you can find the hidden tabby markings. The gene for the tabby pattern can be found in all domestic cats. Natural selection made the tabby gene more dominant because the tabby coat is better camouflage than solid or bicolor coats, and thus an individual with a tabby coat would have better chances of survival because it could hunt and avoid predators more easily. This is one of the reasons most second or third generation feral cats are tabbies. The tabby gene is more dominate than any other coat color gene. Tabby cats are often mistakenly thought of as being a particular breed of cat, but it is the coat pattern that is known as “tabby.” Today’s house cats originated from the African wildcat which has similar markings to those we see on tabby cats, an effective form of camouflage. Southern African wildcat, Leonemanuel, CC BY-SA 4.0
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