Although some people refer to the tabby as a breed of cat, it actually just refers to the pattern of a cat’s coat – those lovely striped, spotted and swirled sections of colour that you see in tabby cats. Tabbies come in many different colours including ginger, grey, brown, and white or cream. Tabby cats have a noticeable “M” on their forehead, centred just above their eyes, and it is this prominent marking that sets tabbies apart from other cats.
Image: Tilly Mint via Flickr
Types of Tabby Cats
There are four distinct coat patterns found in the tabby cat.
Mackerel Tabby
A mackerel tabby cat has vertical, usually non-broken, stripes that come out from the stripe that runs down the middle of the cat’s back like a fishbone, hence the name mackerel.
Classic Tabby
Also known as ‘blotched’ or ‘marbled’ tabbies, a classic tabby coat has circular swirls, usually with a ‘bullseye’ design on the cat’s sides.
Image: Sebastian Tauchmann via Flickr
Spotted Tabby
Spotted tabbies have similar markings to either the mackerel tabby or the classic tabby, but instead of having strong lines on their coast they have spots.
Ticked Tabby
Ticked tabby cats will have the tabby markings on their faces, but at first glance you might not spot any tabby markings on their bodies. That’s because ticked tabbies usually have agouti hairs, which have variable colours along the length of the hair. But look closely, and you’ll probably be able to see the tell-tale stripes or swirls.
Image: Stephanie Booth via Flickr
The Mystery of the Tabby “M”
One thing that all tabby cats have in common is a marking on their foreheads that looks like the letter M. Charlie and Max think the “M” on their foreheads stands for ‘magnificent’. Of course, there are a number of legends about the reason for the M; which one do you prefer?
Mau
In Ancient Egypt cats were called by the name Mau, probably because of the sound they made (meow), so could it be that the M stands for Mau?
Mary
Another legend tells of the baby Jesus being warmed by a tabby cat in the manger, because the other animals there were too big to snuggle up to him. As a sign of her gratitude, Mary gave her initial as the mark on the cat’s forehead.
Image: Heath Cajandig via Flickr
Mohammed
Keeping with the religious theme, there are a number of well-known stories about the Prophet Mohammed’s love of cats. For instance, his cat Muezza was once said to be sleeping on the sleeve of his robe, and rather than disturb his cat when he had to go to prayer, Mohammed cut off the sleeve. Many believe that that M on a tabby’s head stands for Mohammed, protector of cats.
Mother
A more recent story of how tabby cats came to have an M on their forehead comes from writer and animal welfare advocate Jim Willis, in his story ‘Beloved of Bast’. The story tells of a cat named Mother who is visited by Bast, beloved cat of sun goddess Ra, who decrees that all tabby cats should have the letter M on their forehead to commemorate Mother’s kindness.
The History of the Tabby Cat
Research conducted in June 2017, has found that the distinctive pattern of the tabby cat coat emerged in the Middle Ages but didn’t become common until the 18th Century. The study, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution used DNA analysis to trace the geographic dispersal and domestication of cats from ancient to modern times.
What type of tabby cat do you have in your life? Which legend do you think best explains the origin of the “M” on their foreheads?
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Gary says
March 20, 2019 at 11:40 pmStrangely, my Ginger Tabby has all the classic marbling and swirls, but the M on his forehead although very prominent is in fact a W!..Does this mean hes not an actual Tabby?
Cathy Armato says
January 12, 2016 at 2:38 amWhat an interesting post! I like that you have a religious theme going on, it shows just how incredibly important cats were to our ancestors! Great photos on today’s post, what a beautiful kitty.
meowmeowmans says
October 23, 2014 at 12:34 pmWe love tabbies. Moosey is a tabby. He has the M on his head, but only a few patches of tabby markings on his body. 🙂
Harvey Button says
October 23, 2014 at 5:02 amWow nine of us, heaps of tabby types and we didn’t even know!! Thank you for a lovely post!
Robin says
October 23, 2014 at 4:52 amI love tabbies! Both of my kitties are tabby cats. Manna has a classic pattern while Cinco has the mackerel pattern.
Sharon S. says
October 23, 2014 at 4:31 amThanks for clearing up the meaning of the name Tabby. I always thought it referred to a mixed breed cat.
Colehaus Cats says
October 23, 2014 at 3:02 amSee? We knew we were all special (says to mom who knows we are special, very special indeed). Purrs….
Susan and the gang from Life with Dogs and Cats says
October 23, 2014 at 12:27 amI didn’t know there were that many kinds of tabbies. One of my cats is a tortoiseshell tabby or a torby.
Kitties Blue says
October 23, 2014 at 12:04 amWe had only heard about the “Mau” for the “M” on the tabby forehead. We do like that one best.
Fur Everywhere says
October 22, 2014 at 10:20 pmCarmine and Milita are both tabby kitties. Jewel was, too. I love the Mary legend 🙂 So sweet.
The Island Cats says
October 22, 2014 at 9:07 pmMe and Zoey are tabbies…both with Ms on our heads.
Summer says
October 22, 2014 at 4:26 pmTechnically, we Somalis (and Abyssinian kitties too) are ticked tabbies, because we have the Tabby M on our foreheads! But we aren’t allowed to have any stripes or pattens in our agouti fur – that is considered a “flaw.” Although have you ever heard of a cat with a flaw? Ha!
Athena and Marie says
October 22, 2014 at 4:21 pmAthena is a tabby and I always joke with her that the M on her forehead stands for Marie (or Mum).
Linda Szymoniak says
October 22, 2014 at 3:00 pmWe have two gray tabbies – our senior Maine Coon boy, Koneko, and my adult DSH girl, Moko. They both have the “M” on their foreheads. I’d have to say that Koneko is a “Ticked Tabby”, especially with his longer fur. His body stripes aren’t as obvious, but his facial markings are definitely Tabby. Moko is a “Mackerel Tabby” with the distinctive line down her back. It’s wider and less pronounced on her back, but very obvious on her tail. Oh, and both are very affectionate. Moko has to be the friendliest and most affectionate cat we’ve ever had.
My daughter’s cat/kitten (he just turned one) is orange and white, but the orange parts have Tabby stripes. A Calico we had a number of years ago was white, orange, and gray Tabby striped. She was a quiet little thing – she had been found literally hours at most from starving and was nursed back to health by the rescue we adopted her from.
As far as the legends, I prefer the first as I’m a huge lover of anything and everything Ancient Egypt.