Types of Domestic Calico Tabby Shorthaired Cats

A "domestic shorthair" is a descriptive term for a cat with a short, sleek coat and a mixed ancestry -- the equivalent of a mutt in the dog world. Purebreeds like Persians, Turkish Vans and Siamese must conform to certain standards. Domestic shorthair, or DSH, cats -- because of their mixed and often unknown heritage -- come in an amazing array of sizes, body types, colors and markings, including calico and tabby.

  1. Tabby

    • Tabby cats come in four patterns -- spotted, mackerel, ticked and classic -- and several colors -- brown, blue, red, cream and silver. The individual hairs that make up the light part of a tabby's fur contain alternating bands of light and dark colors. These agouti hairs result from a gene turning the pigmentation off and on as the hair grows. All tabbies have agouti hairs as well as thin stripes around the face and a distinctive "M"-shaped marking on the head.

    Calico

    • Calico cats are non-pedigreed cats with black, orange -- or red -- and white patches. In most cases, a calico's coat has separate blocks of color surrounded by larger amounts of white fur. The red and black patches stand out against the white. On a calico, the black patches are solid and the red patches are red tabby -- orange stripes on a cream background. More than 90 percent of calico cats are female.

    Dilute Calico

    • Similar to a calico in white coverage and markings, a dilute calico has cream and blue patches of fur instead of the black and red patches of a standard calico. A dilute calico's blue patches are solid, grayish fur, but its cream patches are cream tabby -- cream stripes on a cream background.

    Torbie

    • Cats with random patches of different colors are either a tortoiseshell or tortie, a patched tabby, or a calico. Cats with patches of brown tabby and patches of red tabby are considered brown-patched tabbies or torbies, since they are tabby/tortie combinations.

    Patched Tabby and White or Torbie and White

    • The terms "patched tabby and white" or "torbie and white" describe tabby or tortoiseshell cats that have some amount of white fur. A patched tabby with a large amount of white fur and distinctive patches of color is called a caliby -- for calico and tabby -- a patterned calico, or a calico tabby.