07/05/2023
Types of Tabby Cats
CREDIT: KAILEY WHITMAN
The Classic (Blotched) Tabby
A classic tabby cat, sometimes referred to as a blotched tabby, wears the swirl pattern that may first come to mind when imagining a tabby cat.
The Mackerel Tabby
Mackerel tabbies are the tigers of the tabby cat, rocking a stylish coat of stripes that stands out amongst other tabby variations.
The Spotted Tabby
Spots make the appropriately named spotted tabby shine. Spots are similar to the stripes but are broken, stopped in their tracks before coming through fully as they do in the mackerel tabby, thus appearing more like spots.
The Ticked Tabby
"Ticked tabbies may have bands or stripes on their legs and tail; however their body will not have any distinct markings," Dimock says. "This is due to their hair having multiple colors on each strand which 'dilutes' the distinct tabby markings."
Lyons identifies the ticked tabby as the rarest of the group, with an Abyssinian—or "tabby Aby"— being a good example of the ticked trait in action.
The Patched Tabby
Cats with both tortoiseshell (aka tortie) and tabby patterns are designated the patched tabby, or "torbie." Since torties are not solid colored cats to begin with, "torbies" may have four to five different colorations on their coats, Lyons says.
