The Truth about Tabbies: Basic Tabby Genetics
75Introduction
When learning about cat genetics it's probably a wise idea to start where the domestic cat started, with the tabby gene. The tabby gene is an amazingly diverse gene that can cause a variety of coat patterns, the most familiar of which is the striped tiger pattern we can see on many domestic cats, both pure-bred and not.
Tabby comes in four distinct types. There are mackerel tabbies, classical tabbies, ticked tabbies, and spotted. Tabby can also be mixed with other marking genes to create cats that display both (i.e. tabby calicos, pointed tabbies, tabbies with white on their coat.) Below I will describe each.
Mackerel Tabbies
Mackerel tabbies are probably the most familiar type of tabby. These cats are sometimes referred to using the slang term "tiger cats" and are the ones we're used to seeing with stripes lining their body. The stripes are always vertical on the cats' body, ringing the tail, and lining the legs. As with other tabbies these cats can come in just about any color variation but the pattern of the stripes will always remain the same regardless of what color they are. These cats are probably most noted in feral populations but can also be accepted in some of the purebred cats including Siberians, Devon Rexes, Sphynx, Norwegian Forrest Cats, Manx, Munchkins, etc.
Classic Tabbies
Classic tabbies are tabbies whose stripes are thicker and travel horizontally across the cat's body, often swirling and creating spirals and bull's eyes. In the Bengal breed this effect is called Marble or Marbling. It can be found displayed in Bengals, Maine Coons, Turkish Angoras, and several other breeds. It also pops up from time to time in feral or moggy populations (moggy being a borrowed word meaning a mutt cat.) This pattern appears to be the most recessive of the tabby patterns, meaning both parents must at least carry the gene to produce it, unlike the other tabby patterns which are far more dominant. It is much more likely for a litter of mixed kittens to be mackerel patterned (even if neither parent are) then Classically patterned. However Classic tabbies and Mackerel tabbies mix well in breeding programs and don't need to be bred only to their likenesses to reproduce themselves.
Ticked Tabbies
Ticked Tabbies are an ancient and possibly the original domestic tabby variety. They are mostly noted in the Abyssinian, Somali, and Singapura breeds but like the rest of the tabbies they can pop up elsewhere. Ticked tabbies do not have the stripes and spotted coat patterns of the other tabbies. Instead the entire cat will appear to be one uniform color until you are closer to it. Upon closer inspection you can see that each individual hair is banded with two or more colors starting at the root and ending at the tip. This can cause them to have a sandy or salt and pepper-like appearance.
Spotted Tabby
Spotted Tabbies are exactly what they sound like. Instead of stripes these cats sport little spots and sometimes rosettes. This coat pattern can be readily seen in Egyptian Maus, Ocicats, and Bengals. Though it can appear in other breeds and the domestic population they're generally not encouraged in a breeding program unless the breed is known for spots (this keeps showing them a bit easier.) That being said spots are very attractive and some breeders are purposely trying to create them in other breeds. These cats can come in any color but the spots are generally black. Some spotted tabbies can even be black cats with darker black spots on them (this gene being called the Melanistic gene.) There is some debate about whether or not spotted cats are in fact tabbies. Regardless in the Bengal breed they're often bred to Marbled (Classic Tabbies) and usually create more spotted cats (and sometimes more classic tabbies as well.) Further research will need to be done before this puzzle can be solved.
Mixing the Tabby Gene
The tabby gene can be mixed with other coat pattern genes to create a variety of different things. Often times in feral populations tabbies can be seen as white cats with blotches of tabby coloration on them. This is acceptable in some purebreds. When the tabby gene and calico gene display in the same animal you can get a calico with stripes or spots over their normal coloration. When the tabby gene shows up in the pointed breeds it will come out looking like a cat with a light body and darker colored head, ears, paws, and tail but the tail will be ringed and the face will have stripes. This all being said, the tabby gene is an ancient and well documented one that is likely never to become unpopular. It is the perfect gene to study when being introduced to the big and wonderful world of cat genetics.
![Coat Pattern: Lynx Point [tabby pointed] | Color: Blue | Breed: Ragdoll Munchkin](http://s3.hubimg.com/u/177242_f520.jpg "Coat Pattern: Lynx Point [tabby pointed] | Color: Blue | Breed: Ragdoll Munchkin")
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Comments
Excellent article. I have a tabby / Siamese cross. She's grey tabby in colour and siamese in shape, intelligence and behaviour. Well, except she's not inclined towards a foul temper.
Agreed with PattiM. Our best ever cat was that same cross (tabby father / Siamese mother). She was a beautiful combination: general tabby good nature, with Siamese intelligence.
Informative article, thank you! I had a 20 pound cat who seemed to be a bigger breed. I was shocked when I saw a norwegian forest cat because my baby had the same structure as one. Is it possible for a regular heinz 57 tabby to have any norwegian? The vet wasn't too worried about his weight and we always just called him a domestic short hair. Any opinions?
P.S- R.I.P Chester, you're still the one
It really depends where you live what the cat could have been... Were you in the US at the time? In a colder climate? Feral breed cats who live in colder climates always get big and hairy. Around here we have Maine Coons, which is really the US version, they can be 20-30 pounds sometimes. Show breeders took the ones with tufted ears from barns and turned them into a "breed" but they were and still are a nature-made cat (rather then man-made.)
Norwegian Forrest Cats, Siberians, and several other breeds are other countries' answer to the Maine Coon. They are also big, hairy, origionally feral cats. Hope that cleared some things up for you!
PS most of those cats still have fierce hunting skills. Makes sense!
Can anybody tell me if a classic tabbies markings are going to get darker?
What color and what age? Some colors can take up to a year to reach their mature darker coloration. The lighter the color is the more noticable the change usually is. A good example is the snow bengal I have pictured. When she was born she almost looked white with dirty yellow looking markings. Now she is full grown you can see she's a tan color with darker brown markings. Cream (light orange) is another one of those colors wic seems to take forever to darken. The darker colors seem to mature faster. Not sure why this is but brown tabbies don't much darker after weaning.
i have a siberian cat named jack i couldent find out what kind of cat he was until i found this website :)
Well, if you are in the US it's probably a Maine Coon cat. The only difference between the Siberian and Maine Coon cat (besides the location they were first bred in) is that Siberians don't produce the protein in their saliva that most cat-allergic people are allergic to. They are effectively hypoallergenic. Maine Coons on the othe hand do not have this but sometimes have tufts on the top of their ears or double paws. They are both breeds that evolved from ferals without the help of man, in a cold climate, so it's no surprise they look very similiar. Hope this helps.
Is it possible for my cat to be part Egyptian Mau? He's about 20 pounds, 3 years old, has spotted markings, extra skin flap under hind legs, shakes his tail when he's excited, plays fetch, and has black lined eyes. etc.
Well, of course anything's possible but there are at least three spotted breeds out there and some mutts can show spots without having decended from any of them! The tabby gene is amazing like that. In any event Bengals are a type of spotted catthat can get to be 20 pounds, sometimes more in the large males. The males are thick and muscular. Ocicats are another spotted breed, are medium in size, and can come in several colors that are different from Bengals. Maus are the petite spotted breed. They are normally very thin and sleek (think like a show siamese!) and can run very fast. They only come in silver, gold/bronze, and black (with darker black spots.) All these cats should have lined eyes and I don't know about ocicats but bengals and maus both can have that skin flap (as can a lot of other breeds!) Bengals are VERY smart, generally love water, are trainable (to play fetch and whatnot) and have a sad little kitten meow that lasts into adulthood. I have not had the luck to share my life with a mau or ocicat but I know their personalities differ. Bengals often bond to one person or family and from what I hear maus tend to love everyone and be obnoxiously friendly about it! That all being said ocicats origionated by someone breeding a lynx-pointed (striped) siamese to an abyssinian. They were VERY surprised to have a spotted litter from that! But this would be what happens when you mix some of the tabby genes (in that case the striped and 'agouti' tabby genes.) So as you can see spotted anscestry can be pretty interesting and confusing. If it helps Bengals and maus are both becoming more popular in the states so anything's possible. Hope you can figure it out! (Hint: check out the color and shape of the body - these breeds all differ in colors and body shapes!)
Love your cat Hub...really enjoyed it...very informative.. thanks
I love cats, I've always had one (at least) since I've been a kid. This had been a very good read, I'm remembering all the tabby's and trying to remember exactly how their stripes were. Thanks for the information!
hey i enjoyed my visit to your cat hub..i have 2 cats..one ginger absynnian and one gray stripped tabby..thanks for the information :)
Thank you for all your comments. Glad to be of help. KatieM, you are welcome to send me a photo of your kitty if you want my opinion, otherwise I'd just look for a mau breeder online. Most don't bite. ;)
I've been looking all over the web for a breed that would explain my kitten's coat; she is five months old, 3lbs 9ozs, and is both striped AND spotted. On her left side, she has the distinctive cinnamon bun swirl, but on her right side she is striped with no whorls. Her chin, chest, and a thin strip down the middle of her belly are white but the rest of her tummy is spotted and one of her paw pads is spotted as well. I'm assuming she's tabby but it seems like she's a mix of mackerel, spotted, and classic. Is this possible?
Hi Brittany, why yes, your kitty is deffinately some sort of tabby. Tell me, are her stripes going vertical or horizontal? If they are going horizontal then she's not particularly strange, she's just a classic tabby with some spotting, which happens sometimes. However, if as you say she's a mix between the classic, mackeral, and spotted patterns then that's a bit different. This is an anomaly. It doesn't usually happen... but sometimes crops up, usually in chimeras or cats with other gene "defects." Chimeras are basically an animals who have two seperate sets of DNA. It happens in people when during the early stages of a pregnancy something goes a bit wrong and one twin absorbs another, effectively creating one usually normal baby. The only difference is a blood test may have different DNA than say a skin, hair, or tooth sample. In cats this can be seen when patterns that shouldn't be seen on the same animal are, or even when a male calico pops up (in that case the sexual organs will have a different DNA than whatever's controlling the coat pattern.) It's not a breed thing, more of a mammal thing. ;) She's probably a happy little mongrel. Just be happy you have a very unique little critter! The only thing different between a cat with a gene defect like chimerism and a normal cat that you may be concerned about is genetic testing (for diseases and whatnot) can be a real pain! But luckily cats are much less likely to need that sort of testing than dogs or humans. Thank you for the interesting comment!
Haha... that was helpful! Her stipes are horizontal on her legs but her stipes on the side are vertical. On closer inspection, the parts of her coat that are not stiped, spotted, or pure white are actually ticked white, gold, and black!
Ah well, the stripes on her legs would be horizontal regardless what she is. :) And all tabbies do show some ticking as well, so that's normal. Still seems as if you have a crazy quilt of a cat!
moonlake says:
2 years ago
Enjoyed my visit to your Hub. Love cats.