Tabby or Torbie?

[Ella Spell]

I never know what to call Mokey who is a 20 year old boy. He kind of has the M on his head for a tabby, but his fur is brownish, black and grey without any stripes, and he has white on the end of his tail. I believe Torbies are a mix of Tabby and Tortie but they’d likely be female. As a kitten he was light grey and black and more like a long haired Tabby.

 

[Ella Spell]

 

[Ella Spell]

 

[StefanZ]

Brown tabbies do often have a warm brown nuances... But on his legs it seems as creme fields... So he MAY be the odd male torbie...

Is he purebred Maine coon, or a good look alike? I presume he is biggish.

 

[Ella Spell]

He’s never weighed more than 7 lbs. Under the fur he’s just skin and bones and he’s always been very frail. I read that Torbie or Tortie males are frail and don’t grow very big, especially if you neuter them. He’s neutered but back then as a baby he seemed to be growing at a normal rate and the vet didn’t say anything about him being Tortie / Torbie, although I didn’t even know those words then.

I don’t think he’s Maine Coon. I got him in a pet shop after I’d exhausted all the rescue centres at Christmas 2003 and there were no kittens to be found anywhere. The pet shop told me they didn’t have any kittens but then one of the staff said they had one in the back who was very small and young. They asked if I would agree to paying just $20 for him (lolll) since he didn’t have any vaccines and wasn’t litter trained. The first time I held him he vomited all over my jacket.

I assume he’s just long haired but I have no idea. He never learned how to groom himself and our other cat who was likely a Maine Coon used to groom him. Since the MC died in 2013 Mokey has been matted and it’s very hard to brush him. The vet has told me for ten years that his skin is very brittle and he will likely have a heart attack if they try to shave him, so I haven’t. I feel badly he’s such a mess. I bought a very quiet cat shaver and I’m going to try a little bit tonight because we have painkiller meds for his leg injury and they’ll make him sleepy.

He’s had pancreatitis in the past and now has minor issues with his heart and kidneys but otherwise his blood work is great even for a younger cat. He’s our only cat who goes outside but he just sits in the garden and doesn’t leave the property unless I walk my dog, in which case he follows us and I get to be the pied piper.

 

[neely]

Mokey is a very handsome boy. He reminds me of our previous cat, Neely, who was a Torbie. I hope these pics are helpful.
Front

Back

 

[Ella Spell]

Wow! What a gorgeous boy! Was he DLH or Maine Coon?

 

[catloverfromwayback]

I'd say he's brown or grey tabby. He'd have distinctly ginger colours if he was torbie (unlikely, as he's male). Tabbies can have those warmer rusty tones, as StefanZ mentioned - my Katie was a grey tabby with almost rusty brown ears.

 

[Ella Spell]

Thanks.^
He did have a lot more rusty orange for several years but I think it’s fading to look grey or cream because of old age. He also goes outside and basks in the sun a lot so I think it faded his vibrancy. He’s never been as warm all over as Neely, though. Would a pure tabby need stripes though?

 

[neely]

Wow! What a gorgeous boy! Was he DLH or Maine Coon?

Not a boy and I don't think Main Coon either. She's a female which is another reason I thought Torbie. It's a little hard to see her red/orange coloring in the pics but definitely DLH.

 

[Ella Spell]

Oh sorry!
Somehow I thought you'd said "he" but I must have read it wrong.
What a beauty!

 

[catloverfromwayback]

How do you mean "need stripes," Ella Spell ? Tabbies can be striped or spotted or a bit of a mixture. Katie was a mackerel tabby whose side stripes tended to break into spots.

 

[Ella Spell]

I meant that my cat doesn't have stripes or spots like most tabbies except for on his face.
He's more like a gradual blend of colours.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

Ah, gotcha. Could that be because of his long hair? I wonder if a classic tabby pattern would take on that blended look with long hair? I've never been close enough to a longhair tabby to look properly. He definitely has a handsome tabby face, at least!

(This is the late great Magnus the Monster - I could imagine him having that blended look if he'd been a longhair.)

 

[StefanZ]

I meant that my cat doesn't have stripes or spots like most tabbies except for on his face.
He's more like a gradual blend of colours.


View attachment 471268

Ah! 1. With longhairs, its often difficult to see exactly which pattern it is... may be easier if they become shawed in a hot summer.

but there are also the ticked tabby, without (clearly) visible pattern on the body... But they usually do have some stripes on legs and even shoulders.