Mousekateers Persian Tabby Patterns

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**Persian Tabby Patterns**
CLASSIC TABBY - A tabby pattern of made up of blotches and swirls highlighted by a "bulls-eye" on each side of the body. The cat should show good contrast between the pale ground color and the dense, dark markings. The head should be barred with frown marks, "M" pattern, extending between the ears and down the back of the neck to meet the "butterfly" on the shoulders, which divides the head lines from the spine lines. The spine lines are the wide, distinct stripes of the darker marking color divided by stripes of the paler ground color and they run from the butterfly to the tail. The swirl on the side of the body should be an unbroken circle centered with a spot of marking color completely surrounded by ground color. Legs should be evenly barred with bracelets coming to meet the body markings.The neck should have several unbroken necklaces. The tail should be evenly ringed. The underside of the body should have rows of dark spots called "vest buttons." (A/-, tb/tb) Above photo shows a Persian kitten (affectionately nicknamed Chipmunk) which I shaved with clippers to better illustrate the classic tabby "bull's eye" pattern. It'll be awhile before this kitten can be shown! Photo below is her father, Champion Lene's Sir Benson of Mousekateers.	MACKERAL TABBY - A pattern of tabby markings that resembles the rib bones of a fish. Stripes running in a fish-bone pattern, with no bulls-eyes" or blotches. The sides of the mackerel tabby should be evenly barred with vertical unbroken lines of marking color. Spine lines run together to form a narrow saddle. The head is barred with frown marks extending between ears and down back of neck to meet the spine lines. Legs should be evenly barred with bracelets coming to meet the body markings; front of neck should have at least one complete necklace, and the tail should be evenly marked with rings. All tabbies have the letter "M" on their forehead. (A/-, T/-) PATCHED TABBY - A patched tabby (torbie) is an established silver, brown, or blue tabby with patches of red and/or cream. Note the red patches in this brown patched tabby, Lene's Bill's Babe

All cats are genetically tabbies. This is the effect of the agouti gene in which the hairs are banded with yellow. Solid color, or non-agouti, is a mutation of the agouti gene and lacks the yellow band on the hair. Most variations of the brown mackeral tabby shorthair cat generally involve recessive genes. Shorthair is a dominant factor, longhair is a genetic mutation as is recessive.

References:
Robinson, R; Genetics for Cat Breeders, 3rd Ed., Pergamon Press, London, 1991
Stephens, G., Yamazaki, T., Legacy of the Cat, Chronicle Books, San Francisco 1990
Loxton, H. The Noble Cat, Aristocrat of the Animal World, Portland House 1990

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