When Coco was a kitten it was a lot easier to see his “ghost stripes” and I haven’t seen them for a very long time now. The Tabby gene may have been suppressed but it is not completely dominated as the Tabby pattern can still be visible. The genes that make a black cat black are very dominant and they actually suppress the gene that makes a cat a Tabby. These stripes are known as “ghost stripes” and are a sign that Coco is in fact a Tabby cat in disguise. Can Black Cats be Tabby? – My ThoughtsĬan black cats be Tabby? Yes, and I’ve seen it with my own eyes…Ĭoco our American Shorthair, has tabby stripes that are only visible in very bright and direct sunlight. However, there is a school of thought that says the reason cats have a tabby pattern is to help them in the wild.Ī tabby pattern can help a cat blend in so that they can hide or get the jump on a little mouse or bird that they are hunting. To start with a black tabby cat is truly lovely to look at no matter the kind of tabby it is. Like all other cats, tabby cats will have their own character and that is not tied to the markings on their fur. This is a bit harsh as just because a black cat is a tabby, does not mean it has a certain type of character. There are a lot of conflicting reports in regards to how friendly or unfriendly a black tabby cat is. There are, of course, rare variations and unique patterns, but for the most part, the majority of black cats will fall into one of the five categories. A patched tabby cat can have a mixture of the others. These types are mostly agreed upon by the majority of people.Ĭlassic is a kind of swirly design, a mackerel tabby cat has narrow stripes, almost like tiger stripes! A spotted tabby cat will have spots of various sizes on their side.Ī ticked tabby cat is a bit more unusual in that the pattern is focused on the head. There are actually five recognized styles of tabby cats. It is more about the markings on the cat than the color… The Fab Five There are “rarer” patterns that may not be as common, but that is as far as being rare as a black tabby cat goes. Some people think that a black tabby cat is rare, but this is not actually the case. Some might have very white circles, some may have a brownish stripe, there are many different tabby patterns in existence. There are many different types of black tabby cats and these are not tied to any particular breed of cat. You cannot pigeon hole a black tabby cat into one category. This is not the case for every black cat though. A black cat isn’t a Tabby cat although many black cats may be Tabby cats in disguise.Ī lot of black cats have Tabby “ghost stripes” and this is thought to be due to the Tabby genes being overpowered by the genes that make a black cat black.

Black tabby kittens