While tabbies do love a nap, they also love playtime and should get regular exercise to keep tabby from getting flabby. These cats have a natural instinct to both feed whenever they can and do what it takes to please the humans they’ve taken to, so they may not be very good at self control when offered a lot of food. Though tabbies are not naturally predisposed to being overweight, their lovable natures can influence people to give them more food than is healthy. If treated well, they can be a very contented and well-behaved member of the family. They're rather playful but can get moody sometimes.įortunately, they tend to be very easy going and not prone to attacking. Their intelligence just makes them realize some people and animals are more companionable than others. However, they have a tendency to play favorites. Tabbies are very friendly and intelligent, getting along with many people and animals. Tabby Cat Personality and BehaviorĮvery tabby is a completely unique individual, so this is a just basic generalization. Just like people, their upbringing and environment can do much to shape their personality. Tabbies do have their own personalities, however. The most distinguishing characteristic of a tabby is bold striping on the fur accompanied by an M shape on the forehead.ĭue to depictions of cats such as Morris, The Cheshire Cat, Garfield and Heathcliff, the tabby is often thought of as slightly mischievous and overly fond of food.Ī more fair assessment of tabbies could be found in Jenny-Any-Dots of the musical Cats who only sleeps all day because she's been very busy all night and spends her waking hours being kind and affectionate to others. Someone thought the striped cat's fur looked much like this patterned silk. The name is attributed to the patterned silk known as “ atabi“, named for its origin of manufacture in the Attabiah region of Baghdad. The tabby has been domesticated for almost 10,000 years. Due to a resemblance to a distant cousin of Felis domesticus, they're often known as “tiger cats”, though they tend to be of much more gentle temperament.ĭue to dominant genes and natural selection, the tabby has become the most common color pattern in cats. This is not a breed of cat, it is a coat pattern. One has long hair and looks very much like the marmalade pictured.First, let's clarify what a tabby isn't. Two of the boys are black and white – no tabby markings – and the other two are orange tabby. I also have a young mommy (calico) and her 4 boys. Right now I have a very senior lady that has wide bands of orange and white, not like a tabby at all – but she has the M on her forehead that all tabbies have. I had a little girl that was a solid gray, but when the sun hit her fur, you could see some reddish stripes. His fur had the color banding on each individual hair. MY Thomas was a long-haired tabby, also a combination of grays, silver and tan. She was said to be a “bullseye” tabby, as she had stripes in big spirals on her sides. JJ was mostly a gray with silver and tan in her stripes. The Science Behind the Fur: What Makes Black Cats Black?.Cat Genetics: Facts on 6 Unusual Coat Colors and Patterns.7 Genes that Control Your Cat’s Fur Color.Siouxsie: If you want to learn some cool stuff about the genetics behind cat fur, check out these articles Mama wrote for Catster: Thomas: Almost every cat breed carries the tabby gene, even Siamese cats!īella: After looking at all these tabby cat pictures, what color tabby do you think Thomas is? Give us your guesses in the comments and tell us about the tabby cats you’ve known and loved. Again, this pattern isn’t common in regular cats, but Bengals, Savannahs and Ocicats have spotted tabby coats. Siouxsie: And the spotted tabby looks a lot like a wild cat. You don’t see this pattern much in regular domestic cats, but the Abyssinian is a great example of a ticked tabby. I see a lot more mackerel tabbies than blotched tabbies!īella: The ticked tabby has bands of stripes on each individual fur. I don’t know why they’re so classic and mackerel tabbies aren’t. Those cats are called classic or blotched tabbies. Thomas: Some tabbies have big, wide stripes that form round shapes on their sides. Siouxsie: Speaking of stripes, tabby cats with narrow stripes like Thomas are called mackerel tabbies or “tiger cats” back in New England where we came from. Thomas: Why? Are you embarrassed to have stripes? Are stripes embarrassing to you? *sniffle*īella: Oh, Thomas, of course not! I just like the idea of being a black cat, that’s all. In the bright sunlight, you can see Bella’s stripes.
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