The tabby and white cat may have a small amount of white such as a spot or two on the stomach or chest (lockets) or white feet (mittens). Like the colors tortoiseshell and calico, the patched tabby colors are almost always seen only in female cats.Īre there still more variations to this glorious parade of tabbies?Īll of the tabby patterns described above can be accompanied by white. The colors of red or cream are intermingled or present in definite patches on the body, head, legs and/or tail. The patched tabby pattern occurs in female cats that are first of all, mackerel, classic, spotted or ticked tabbies. The body hairs of the ticked tabby are ticked or banded with various shades of color. In the case of the ticked tabby, all of the usual kinds of tabby markings are present on the face, legs and tail of the cat, but there are no spots, stripes or blotches on the body. A classic spotted pattern will have a more random effect while a mackerel-based spotted pattern will have the spots appearing to line up in more regularly spaced vertical lines. Spotted patterns may be derived from a 'broken' version of either the mackerel or classic patterns where these patterns are broken up into the spots. The spine line is also generally composed of spots and the markings on the face, head, chest and legs are characteristically tabby. The spots are distinctive and well separated. While still possessing the typical tabby bracelet and necklace markings, the spotted tabby cat's body markings are primarily composed of spots, which may vary in size and in shape. This configuration is often referred to as a 'bulls-eye' or a rosette and is one of the most appealing features of this pattern. On each side of the flank of the classic tabby is a large, circular, solid blotch, which is enclosed by one or more unbroken rings. The lines running over the back of the head extend to the shoulders form the shape of a butterfly. The cat with a classic tabby pattern has swirls on the cheeks and unbroken lines which run back to the shoulders from the face starting from the outer corner of the eyes. However, the arrangement of those markings differs from the markings of the mackerel pattern.

The spine lines are knit together and resemble a narrow saddle.Ĭats with the classic tabby pattern (also know as the 'blotched' tabby), also have dense, well defined markings. The face of the mackerel tabby has numerous 'mascara lines' which run over the head and down the neck to the shoulders.

The legs are barred with narrow bracelets and the necklaces around the neck and across the chest are plentiful. These markings are suggestive of the bones of a fish - hence the term, mackerel. The mackerel tabby pattern is characterized by narrow stripes or pencillings that are parallel to one another and run around the body.

First, let us review the variety of tabby patterns that decorate the domesticated cat: the mackerel tabby, classic tabby, spotted tabby, ticked tabby, and the patched tabby patterns.

I often say, 'Tabby is not a breed! Tabby is a pattern!' That said, a number of breeds of pedigreed cats sport a tabby pattern either as the primary pattern or as one of a number of patterns. How do we define those wonderful tabby patterns? Since no two tabbies are identically marked, those of us who are owned by a tabby can enjoy finding the subtle differences between one mackerel tabby and another's, 'zeroing in' on the unique characteristics of our individual cats. People enjoy the variety of angles and swirls and the arrangements of spots, stripes and circles that comprise the various tabby patterns. It is those very things that create the appeal of the tabby. Always 'dressed for success,' they sport bracelets, necklaces, facial markings, buttons down the front and the like. Can I Show my Non-Pedigreed Cat in CFA?.Solving Inappropriate Elimination Challenges.Scratching The Surface - Claw Training Basics.

White mackerel cat