According to these myths, Mohammed gave tabbies the “M” marking to represent his adoration. He once decided to remove a sleeve from a garment rather than wake up his cat Muezza who was sleeping on the sleeve when he had to leave for prayer. Islamic legends tell of how much Mohammed loved cats. Mary gave the cat her initial, “M,” on its forehead because she was so appreciative. A small tabby cat cuddled up next to the infant Jesus and purred as Mary asked the stable animals to surround the manger and keep him warm. The Egyptian Mau, a modern descendant with a tabby pattern, The hazy letter “M” marking on the Mau and other tabby cats’ foreheads may be the most distinguishing characteristic.Īccording to a Biblical legend, a tabby visited the manger. Some claim that the Mau, an ancient Egyptian breed created through the domestication of the African wildcat, is where the tabby’s origins lie. Large or small, these spots are almost always darker than the surrounding fur. The mackerel or classic pattern of the spotted tabby’s stripes is broken up into sporadic spots on the cat’s back and flanks. The ticked pattern is primarily displayed on Abyssinian cats. Agouti hairs, or individual hairs with alternating bands of light and dark coloration, give the cat’s coat a “salt-and-pepper” or “sand” appearance instead. Mackerel tabbies, also known as “tiger” cats, have an “M” shape on the middle of the forehead. On the cat’s body coat, parallel narrow stripes occasionally gently curve and occasionally separate into bars and spots. “mackerel,” is the most common tabby pattern. Tabbies also come in a variety of hues, with the most popular being orange (also known as ginger or red), grey, brown, and cream. But because it is so common, there are currently a number of recognized cat breeds that have the tabby pattern. Instead, “tabby” refers to all cats with one of the four distinct coat patterns caused by the agouti gene. It may surprise some of you to learn that “tabby” does not refer to a specific breed. You might think that’s all there is to know about tabbies, but keep reading to learn more. Although the stripes are typically solid lines, they can be broken, and they are present at birth. In other words, a mackerel tabby cat pattern refers to how the stripes are arranged on the cat’s body, specifically how they run vertically down the cat’s back off of his spine. But many cats with distinguished pedigrees have the eye-catching tabby coat, including the Norwegian Forest Cat and the Maine Coon. Because of how closely their stripes resemble the only other big cat with stripes that can be found in the wild, Panthera tigris, they are sometimes referred to as “tiger cats.” Although they may be called “tiger cats,” domestic cats (Felis catus) do not have the actual tiger’s coat color, which is an orange background with black stripes. The stripes on the mackerel tabby cat’s legs, tail, and back run parallel to the animal’s spine. The mackerel tabby pattern is the variant of the tabby that is most frequently associated with conventional tabby markings. Holy mackerel - is that a tiger? All about the mackerel tabby cat pattern Tabbies have stripes, spots, whorls, and bands as well as the ability to be brown, gray, orange, or even black in color. Although tabbies are frequently thought of as a breed, there is actually a surprising amount of variation in the coat patterns that make up different breeds that have tabby-like markings. It’s been speculated that the pattern emerged through the genetic combination of the European Wildcat and the African Wildcat-both of which have faint narrow striped patterns.įor most people, the term “tabby cat” conjures a specific image: a tiny tiger with wild stripes. Out of all the tabby patterns, the mackerel pattern is believed to have been the first one.
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