Tabby Cat Color Patterns

A tabby is any domestic cat felis catus with a distinctive m shaped marking on their forehead stripes by their eyes and across their cheeks along their back and around their legs and tail and differing by tabby type characteristic striped dotted lined flecked banded or swirled patterns on the body neck shoulders sides flanks chest and abdomen.

Tabby cat color patterns. The cat pictured in this chart has a very high color contrast which shows his whorls clearly. Tabby is not a breed of cat but a set of distinguishing characteristics that can appear in many different breeds and colors. The three most common alleles in order of dominance are t a the. A dark line leading from the outer corner of each eye at a downwards angle to below each ear and a darker m shaped pattern on their foreheads.

This pattern usually has whorls ending in a target on the side of the cat. There are additional alleles and even additional genes affecting tabby patterns which have also been both identified and postulated. The tabby cat pattern features stripes swirls spots and ticks and can come in many colors. All tabbies have the same distinctive facial markings.

The tabby cat is not a breed but a coat colour which can be found in both mixed breed and purebred cat populations. Many american shorthair cats demonstrate this pattern. Tabby cats are among the most popular cats. It s actually a coat pattern and there are five different types of tabby cats.

Learn the differences between tabby cat patterns right here. This is by far the most common pattern so much so that some people think it should have received the title classic. Types of tabby patterns. Tabby is a common coat pattern among domestic cats which features an agouti pattern of alternating dark and pale bands of colour along the hair shaft with contrasting darker spots stripes or sworls and a prominent m on the forehead.

The 5 tabby cat patterns. A tabby cat is not a breed. The tabby gene has three very well known versions or alleles which in different combinations account for most tabby patterns seen in domestic cats including those patterns seen in most breeds.