What Is a Tabby Cat?

Tabby cats are those that have a specific set of markings on their coats. Tabby is not a breed, but rather a term that describes the stripes, spots, and swirls of different colors in the hair. There are four kinds of tabby pattern and those come in even more colors. Tabby is a very common type that can be found in many different cat breeds.

  1. What Tabby Means

    • Tabby is a type of marking found in cats. In general, it refers to stripes on the coat that may be accented by small spots or curving lines. Contrary to some beliefs, there is no such thing as a tabby breed. The markings are not exclusive to one specific type of cat. They are found in a variety of cat breeds, whether purebred or mixed, and in both wild and domestic populations. Tabby markings are natural and some experts claim that they were the original, default pattern for cats.

    Patterns

    • Tabby cats all have very similar markings around the face. These include dark halos around the eyes, pencil lines on the cheeks, and often an M shape of stripes on the forehead. A variety of different patterns manifest themselves on the body of the cat that are all considered types of tabby. All are distinguished by some standout characteristics.

      The classic or blotched tabby features a well-defined swirled or marbled pattern on the side. The mackerel tabby has straight stripes that run parallel down the sides of the body from the back. The spotted tabby sports spots on the body that can be well-defined or faint, small or large. The ticked or agouti tabby features tabby markings around the face but no stripes or spots on the body. Instead, the body has agouti hairs, which are individual hairs striped with alternating colors, usually black or brown.

    Colors

    • Just as there are multiple patterns that the coat of the tabby cat can feature, a tabby can also come in many different colors. Tabby cats can be brown, 'blue," cream, red or silver. Because there are two or more different colors on the cat, the true color can be determined by looking at the tip of the tail or the color of the striped part of the coat. The exception to this is with brown tabby cats, who have black stripes on a coat that is some shade of brown. Silver means black stripes on a white or gray coat.

    Breeds With Tabby Markings

    • Countless cat breeds can feature the one of the many types of tabby markings. Maine Coons are considered one of the most popular purebred tabby cats. The American Shorthair is very common in the United States, and tabby is one of the most popular markings for the breed. Even Colorpoint Shorthairs, the colorful relatives of the Siamese, can feature tabby markings. Other breeds that share the tabby markings and colors include the Persian and the Scottish Fold.