Many black cats are actually tabbies once you get a good look at their coat in strong sunlight. A tortoiseshell cat whose various colors fall in a stripe pattern and have the distinctive M shape on the forehead are often called torbies. The ticked AKA agouti tabby has isolated bands of color.

The spotted tabby has dark blotches of color, mixing spots with stripes. The mackerel tabby has stripes comparable to fish bones, with narrow striped rings around the legs and tail. The classic tabby is the most common with swirls of color creating a marbled pattern. There are four basic types of tabby coat pattern. The heaviest cat on record weighed 46 pounds and 15.25 ounces.īecause all this weight took a toll on poor Himmy's health, the people at Guinness Book have retired this record so no one endangers a cat trying to beat it. 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.

Tabby kittens playing