Tabby Cats. Information and facts on Tabby Cats including Tabby Cat colourings, Tabby Cat markings, and pictures of Tabby Cats.

Tabby cat is often mistaken as a certain breed of cat. The term tabby actually refers to the stripes, dots and swirl patterns of the cat's coat.

The tabby pattern is believed to be the original basic cat pattern, and the closest to their distant ancestors.

The word seems to come from the Arabic attabiyah originally referring to a kind of striped silk, and later to describe striped cats.

Tabby Colours

Tabbies come in two basic colorations - red, brown or ginger tabbies (with a rich orange/gold/red coat), and silver or grey tabbies (coat colouring including silver/grey/black).

Also, all tabby cats have a brick red or rose-colored nose and light-coloured areas around the eyes.

The tabby stripes can either take the form of a distinct mackerel or fishbone striping, or they may be more loosely splotched.

Alternatively, they may have a spotted coat, which is actually stripes broken up into distinct blotches, or they may be ticked.

Many tabbies have a distinct 'M' marking on their forehead--the mark of the true tabby.

Until the 16th century, the spotted tabby with its wild ancestral markings of spots and stripes was the dominant tabby type.

During the early 1500s a variant of the spotted tabby appeared, now known as the mackerel tabby with its striped coat. These markings then became the dominant tabby pattern.