Tabby Cats
The tabby cat is a cat that is a solid color with a pattern
overlay. These patterns on the coat can manifest as darker
stripes, spots or swirling. The tabby isn't a breed in and
of itself but can occur in most any breed where the coloring
and pattern isn't strictly enforced.
The tabby pattern is naturally occurring in most small wild
cats that make up the foundation for most cat breeds. It is
only through selective breeding that a cat will not have
these patterns lacing its coat. More often than not the
mixed breed cat will have tabby patterns on its coat,
regardless of the ground color.
The word tabby is from the name French Tabis or Latin
attabi, which is a kind of textile. The textile itself was a
striped silk and the name is now used to describe cats with
a similar color.
It seems that the tabby patterning is actually a dominate
trait that is passed down through the line. Lines that do
not have tabby markings do not have the tabby pattern gene
in their genetic makeup.
After all, not all cats have dark tabby markings. In some
cases the tabby markings are white. But these markings
aren't actually white, in fact it is caused by an absence of
coloring and can even be found on red cats even though the
red color is dominate to any other color.
The main value of the tabby marking is to allow the cat to
better blend into its surroundings. This makes it easier to
hunt and to hide from other predators.
Probably the most common breed in the United States today is
the domestic tabby cat that is often among the feral
population. This may be because crossbreeding will soon lead
to kittens with a domestic tabby coloration.
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When Dave was a little boy he had a Tabby cat he
named Tommy Tiger. In memory of him do we offer you
this web page constructed by T. C. Kitty and Alfred
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