The most popular tells us that the baby Jesus was cold in his manger, and Mary asked all the animals to come and keep him warm. There are several legends about how tabbies got their distinctive forehead markings.

The English term “tabby” comes from a translation of the French word “tabis,” which means “a rich striped silk.” The term may also originate from the Arabic “attabiya,” after a neighborhood of Baghdad where such a cloth was first made, If the tri-color markings follow any of the tabby patterns such as mackerel, spotted, ticked or classic, they are often referred to as torbies. Patched tabbyĬats with random tri-color patches are known as tortoiseshell cats (torties). This ticked pattern is most prominently seen in Abyssynian cats, but is also seen in domestic cats. Ticked tabbies don’t look like tabbies at all at first glancebut a closer look at individual hairs will show that they are striped with light and dark colored bands, also known as agouti hairs.

The Bengal pattern is a good example of a spotted tabby. Spotted tabbies feature oval or round spots all over. They branch out from one stripe along the top of the spine, looking very similar to a fish skeleton, which is how the name “mackerel” came about. The mackerel pattern is what most people refer to as “tiger stripes.” The body has narrow stripes running down the sides. Classic tabbies are also called “blotched” tabbies. The classic tabby pattern has large blotches and swirls that end in a circular pattern at the sides that almost looks like a bullseye.

Tabby kittens personality