What Are the Characteristics of Tabby Cats?

The term "tabby cat" is colloquially used to refer to any type of feline, from a domesticated cat to a mixed-breed common house cat. While tabbies are the most common type of domesticated cat, the term "tabby" refers to the patterns on this feline's coat, rather than naming a distinct breed.

  1. Background Information

    • Despite popular belief, tabby cats are not actually a breed in their in own right. Cats with tabby patterned coats are found across various breeds, including Abyssinian, Persian, Egyptian Mau, Ragdoll, Manx and Maine Coon. The tabby pattern also exists in the DNA of of lions, leopards and tigers, providing a variety of markings and coloration that help these big cats blend in with their natural habitat and stalk prey without detection.

    Distinguishing Markings

    • Tabby cats are easily identifiable by the letter "M"-shaped marking on their forehead. Their faces usually feature pencil-thin stripes and their eyes are lined with expressive markings. Each tabby's coat pattern is made up of lighter and darker colored fur and each individual hair consists of bands of different colors.

    Coat Patterns

    • There are four different patterns of tabbies: mackerel, classic, spotted and ticked. Closely resembling a tiger, the mackerel tabby has narrow parallel stripes running down the sides of its body and circular stripes around its tail and legs. The classic tabby has swirling, marbled patterns on its sides and bars on its tail and legs. Spotted tabbies have large or small spots on their bodies like the Ocicat, Bengal and American Bobtail breeds. Ticked tabbies have a solid-color coat; while they are neither spotted nor striped, they have banded hair strands and sometimes residual stripes on their face, legs and belly. Abyssinians are one example of a ticked tabby.

    Tabby Colors

    • Each tabby pattern comes in different color variations. These colors include black, blue, silver, chocolate, red and cream. Mackerel tabbies are typically cream, blue, red, silver and brown. Ticked tabbies are usually red, brown or silver in color. Classic tabbies tend to come in darker colors such as chocolate, black and deep ocher. Colors and pattern combinations for tabbies seem to come in an endless variety. You can determine a tabby's color by looking at its stripes and the tip of its tail.