Meow-The cat

Cat in New Mexico Weighs In at Nearly 40 Pounds

Meow the cat will be placed on a special diet to lose at least 10 pounds.

Santa Fe Animal Shelter veterinarian Dr. Jennifer Steketee holds Meow, a 2-year-old tabby at the shelter in Santa Fe, N.M. Meow, arrived at the shelter weighing in at over 39 pounds, after his elderly owner could no longer care for the feline. The shelter plans to put the cat on a special diet so he can lose weight gradually. Adult cats typically weigh between 7 and 12 pounds. (Santa Fe Animal Shelter, Ben Swan/AP Photo)

link: http://abcnews.go.com

tabby cat

What Makes a Cat a Tabby?

A tabby cat conjures up a lot of images from the alley cat to the ship's cat. It represents your run-of-the-mill average cat. Funnily enough, it does not have a breed of its own; it is spread across a wide range of breeds and has four, perhaps five, distinct types of markings that make it a tabby cat.

Patterns

The four patterns are:

• Mackerel
• Classic
• Spotted
• Ticked

Some cat experts also include a fifth pattern called patched, which is more a tortoiseshell color with patches of tabby.

The mackerel is the most common pattern of the tabby cats. Named after the mackerel fish because of the markings, a mackerel tabby cat is the most like the markings of a tiger. They have narrow stripes down their flanks and rings around their legs and tail. They have the familiar M marking on their forehead.

The classic tabby cat has swirls down its sides like a marble cake and bold stripes down their legs and tail. They are sometimes referred to as a blotchy cat.

The spotted tabby has spots all down its side: sometimes big ones, sometimes small ones. The American bobtail and ocicat are good examples of spotted tabbies.

The ticked pattern or agouti tabby has a tabby face but doesn't have stripes or spots on its body. It has different bands of color down each strand of hair.

Colors

Tabbys come in different colors. The agouti colors (ground colors) vary vastly in color.

• Brown tabby - brown or gray ground color with black or dark brown stripes
• Blue tabby - gray or buff ground color with gray stripes, varying degrees of gray can be found
• Red tabby - cream ground color with orange stripes, the orange may vary in colors
• Cream tabby - pale cream ground color with peach, sand or cream stripes
• Silver tabby - white ground color with black stripes; there is also blue silver, cream silver, or red silver

Personality

Tabby cats personalities are as wide and varied as are peoples. Generally happy-go-lucky and easy to be around, they are affectionate and intelligent and like lots of cuddles. They can also get angry if they don't get their way, but, because they are intelligent, they are good at getting what they want.

Tabby cats feature through all breeds. They range from Persians to Abyssinians, from the American shorthair to main coons. The CFA has the tabby listed in twenty-five breeds. So, even though we can find out what is a tabby cat, your run-of-the-mill cat isn't so specific after all.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kate_Strong

Tabby Cats

The tabby cat is the best known type of cat. Indeed, tabby cats are the most common of domestic cats. In fact, the tabby pattern is believed to be the pattern of the cat's wild ancestors.

Tabby is not a cat breed. It is not a color either. In fact, the tabby pattern occurs in different cat breeds and it comes in different colors. Tabby is a pattern.

Tabby patterns

The tabby pattern may include swirls, stripes, whorls, and spots. There are four tabby patterns: the classic, the mackerel, the ticked, and the spotted.

Classic (or blotched) tabbies are one of the most common. This type of tabby will have swirls and clearly defined stripes all over the body. Usually, a thick band or stripe will run all the way from the neck to the tail.

Mackerel tabbies are also very common. Many in fact believe that this is the original pattern dating back to the wild African cats. The mackerel pattern will display vertical stripes at the sides of the body and rings around the legs and tail.

The spotted pattern is said to be a different version of the mackerel pattern. In this pattern, the stripes are broken into big spots all aligned in a single file.

Ticked tabbies are very interesting. At first glance they don't seem to be tabby cats at all. They don't come with the usual whorls, swirls and stripes. They would appear to be of a solid color. Upon a closer look, however, you will see that the fur of ticked tabbies has stripes and swirls.

Tabbies also come in different color variations: you will find red tabbies, silver tabbies, and brown tabbies - to name a few. The tabby pattern also occurs in different cat breeds, including the Bengal, the Bombay and the Egyptian Mau.

© Claudia Escobar is a cat lover who loves anything cat-related. For more on tabby cats and gift ideas for cat lovers visit her site at http://www.cat-lovers-gifts-guide.com. If you would like to reproduce this article please feel free to do so, provided that you publish the article in its entirety and include this resource box.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Claudia_Escobar