Orange Tabby Cat Breed Information

Orange tabby is one of many colors in this pattern variation.

Although their name is highly recognizable, tabby cats are not a specific breed but rather a "type" of cat. Many different breeds come in "tabby," which is characterized by specific colorations and patterns. Orange tabbies are just one of the many colorations possible.

Tabby Features

The tabby coloration and pattern is a combination of two hair colors. Lighter colors make up the background of a cat's coat and are called the "agouti" hair. Agouti hair colors are themselves composed of layers of color that give the coat a variegated appearance. The second color that makes up a tabby's coat is darker and runs across the tabby's coats in stripes, spots and swirls.

Pattern Variations

All tabbies have similar markings on their faces: lines that run from the eyes to the ears and marks between the eyes that form a rough "M." Tabbies are striped, with vertical stripes along their bodies; blotched, with rounded stripes; and marbled, with round spots; or ticked, with only the agouti layer and no darker hair. Any of these patterns can happen in orange tabbies.

Colorations

Tabbies come in a wide range of colors. This pattern occurs in variations of black, red, orange, blue, chocolate and cream. The most famous of these is the orange tabby, which consists of several colors of orange and light brown. Tabby can occur in bi-color coats, where there are striped splotches of orange or another color on a white background. Calico tabbies have tabby patterns that reach across red, black, orange and white sections. Tortoise shell cats are specialized tabbies with a unique blend of colors and patterns.

Types

Many different types of cats display the tabby pattern. TheCatSite.com claims that even solid-colored cats have a tabby pattern in the background and that white is the only coat color that does not show a tabby coloration. Almost every orange cat has some sort of tabby pattern in its coat.

Fun Facts

Tabby coloration is the most common coloration in wild cats. According to TheCatSite.com, tigers are striped tabbies, leopards are spotted tabbies and lions are tabby agouti. This gives rise to the theory that tabby cats descend directly from wild cats.

References

• CatFacts.org: Tabby Cat
• TheCatSite.com: Tabby Cats