Patterns Typical tabby patterns in the head region: An 'M' on the forehead, bright eye rims and borders of the ears The notion that tabby indicates a female cat may be due to the feminine proper name Tabby as a nickname of ' Tabitha'. Use of the term tabby cat for a cat with a striped coat began in the 1690s and was shortened to tabby in 1774. Such silk cloth became popular in the Muslim world and spread to England, where the word 'tabby' became commonly used in the 17th and 18th centuries. This word is a reference to the Attabiya district of Baghdad, noted for its striped cloth and silk itself named after the Umayyad Governor of Mecca Attab ibn Asid. This can be further traced to the Middle French atabis (14th century), which stemmed from the Arabic term عتابية / ʿattābiyya. The English term tabby originally referred to 'striped silk taffeta', from the French word tabis, meaning 'a rich watered silk'. Etymology A 19th-century drawing of a tabby cat One genetic study of domestic cats found at least five founders. The tabby pattern occurs naturally and is connected both to the coat of the domestic cat's direct ancestor and to those of their close relatives: the African wildcat ( Felis lybica lybica), the European wildcat ( Felis silvestris) and the Asiatic wildcat ( Felis lybica ornata), all of which have similar coats, both by pattern and coloration. 'Tabby' is not a breed of cat, but a coat pattern found in many official cat breeds, and is very common among the general population of mixed-breed cats around the world. It is thought that the tabby pattern originates from the numerous related species of wildcat.Ī tabby cat, or simply tabby, is any domestic cat ( Felis catus) with a distinctive M-shaped marking on its forehead stripes by its eyes and across its cheeks, along its back, and around its legs and tail and characteristic striped, dotted, lined, flecked, banded, or swirled patterns on the body-neck, shoulders, sides, flanks, chest, and abdomen. Mackerel tabby, with the distinctive striped pattern and forehead 'M' A European wildcat ( Felis silvestris) bearing a similar coat pattern to that of a tabby cat. For other uses, see Tabby (disambiguation). Why not spend time browsing through our website to get to know some of them? Whether you’re interested in one of our foster cats or a cat in the Cat Zone, reach out to for more information or to schedule an appointment with one of our adoption counselors.'Tabby' redirects here. There are many tabby cats available for adoption at Cat Town. Mayor Stubbs served the town for 20 years until he passed away in 2017. Who says Egyptians were the only civilization to put cats in power? In Talkeetna, Alaska, a tabby cat named Stubbs was elected mayor in 1997 when his name was written in to protest the human candidates in a municipal election. One tabby cat was mayor of a town in Alaska. Males only need one copy of the gene to become a ginger cat while female cats have two X chromosomes and require two copies of the gene.

According to the BBC’s Focus Magazine, the ginger gene in cats works a little differently compared to humans it is on the X chromosome. Orange tabby cats are usually male.ĭid you know orange tabby cats are typically male? In fact, up to 80 percent of orange tabbies are male, making orange female cats a bit of a rarity. The most commonly occurring are black-based coats. Tabby cats can have a wide variety of coat colors, including brown, gray, cream, and orange. There is an “M” shape on their forehead, along with dark lines on the cat’s cheeks to the corners of their eyes. This pattern has vertical, narrow, curving stripes on the side of the cat’s body, and may be continuous or broken into bars and spots on the cat’s stomach and flanks. The mackerel pattern is the most commonly occurring one, and is the pattern most people think of when they think of tabby cats. There are actually four basic tabby cat coat patterns: mackerel, ticked, spotted, and classic, which is also referred to as marbled. Cats have always been fashion forward! Tabby cat coats aren’t just one pattern. The term “tabby cat,” meaning “one with a striped coat,” likely came into usage in the late 17th century. This can be traced even further to the Arabic term attabiya, which references Attabiy, a neighborhood in Baghdad where such silk cloth was originally made. The English term “tabby” comes from the translation of the French phrase “striped silk taffeta,” the root of which is tabis, which means “a rich watered silk,” according to the Online Etymology Dictionary.

The term “tabby” is believed to have originated from Baghdad.

Tabby cat personality orange