What (breed) mix? 🐱👀 Need more info than Tabby!

[catsnhums]

Searching for more info on mix...key words/details, all I know is tabby with his “M” but there’s def more to him! He’s big boned. Extremely chatty. Ravenous appetite. Mighty warrior. Very playful. Demands attention.

 

[Elphaba09]

He looks like a domestic short-hair to me, but maybe someone else can see something I am not. I have nine cats and most of them are domestic short-hairs. Our Simon is big-boned and solid and a good 13 lbs. Simon is a brave cat who goes after dogs when they visit. Fennimore is also big-boned, has a massive appetite to the point he is on a diet, and weighs 18 lbs. All but one of my DSH is chatty. Astrid and Tara are particularly chatty. All nine demand attention, but Fennimore will climb over the others to be pet. He also comes over and sits on them if they are on my lap and he thinks he should be there instead.

Tabby is a coat pattern, and he definitely is that! A mackerel tabby with white. The M on his forehead comes from the coat pattern.

 

[lutece]

Such a handsome boy! I would also describe him as a brown mackerel tabby and white domestic shorthair. Most cats are not any particular breed, and are not "mixed" with specific breeds (unlike dogs), so we call them domestic shorthair or longhair depending on coat length.

Tabby refers to his color pattern, not breed. Tabby cats have stripes and/or spots, on an agouti (ticked) background. Your boy is a mackerel tabby, which is characterized by relatively narrow vertical stripes, similar to tiger stripes.

He sounds like a wonderful cat! He doesn't need a breed or "breed mix" label to make him any more special... he is already special enough as he is

 

[Willow's Mom]

He is fantastic! I did a bit of research on my own because I was too embarassed to ask here. My cat is different than my dogs: although there is such a breed as the "American Shorthair", it has been derived from cats like Willow, whereas my mongrel dogs were derived from the neighbour's chihuahua jumping the fence when the Jack Russell was in heat or somebody thinking it would be cute to cross a Chihuahua with a Yorkie.

I've seen cats like your boy before and they certainly are special, there certainly is a "type" or cluster of personality traits that go together, and they are more likely to be mackerel tabbies than other patterns. I've also seen "types" or clusters of traits that go together that are representative of my Willow, who is very different from your boy.

What the breeders are doing with American Shorthairs and British Shorthairs is to preserve the genetic diversity of our moggies, as well as producing predictable bloodlines. I hope they have learned from the mistakes of dog breeders.

Our cats are working cats who came over on the Mayflower and other ships. They were highly valued for controlling the rodent population. They didn't just save food, they saved lives because the rodents carried disease.

They also make amazing pets.

 

[catsnhums]

Thank you all, for the in depth replies!

I’m aware cat genetics are a tricky thing and whilst I don’t want to know just for “labeling”
... I do believe in ~the more info you seek, the more equipped you’ll be to help~ when it comes to cats! I do think certain types of cats are more prone to certain behaviors or health issues and just like humans, the more info, the better to help.

Background:
This beautiful boy belongs to one of my close friends, or should I say my friend belongs to this beautiful boy! Lol! My friend’s never grown up with cats, so it’s been hard for him to have the info to deal with behaviors that are “troublesome” to him. Particularly with eating and food (getting into food/crying for more food than what the vet recommends/very chatty/acts out/throwing up). My friend has been using some negative enforcement to correct the behavior, which upsets me. Not to the level of abusive but still a level that’s definitely upsetting to the cat.

Idk tho, a cat is doing something one may not like... with my cat (Female, 18y/o, DSH Siamese mix Lilac Point)... there’s always a -valid reason- behind it from her perspective and there’s always -a way- that I can figure it out and help her get what she needs without negative enforcement to correct the behavior. It just takes a lot of detective work, trying trying trying, and love!

Anyway, thank you for the info again!

Looks like we’re thinking~
DOMESTIC SHORT HAIR (DSH)

Descriptors:
BROWN (color variation)
MACKEREL (one of the several types of the tabby pattern: narrow vertical stripes, similar to tiger stripes)
TABBY (a type of coat pattern: with stripes and/or spots, on an agouti -ticked- background. usually with a distinctive “M” pattern on the forehead.)

The white chest spot, and white socks tho?

 

[lutece]

The white markings come from the "white spotting" gene, which is responsible for a wide range of white markings in cats, all the way from "tuxedo" markings (like this guy) to "van" markings (mostly white with color restricted to the head and tail).

 

[lutece]

As far as behavior issues, cats have individual personalities and learned behaviors, just like people. Although pedigreed breeds may have behavior tendencies (such as having a higher or lower activity level), cats have not really been selectively bred for specific behaviors like dogs have... so the behavioral differences between breeds are not as significant as with dogs, and behavior traits aren't an indication of breed ancestry.

If you're trying to sort out behavior or compatibility issues, you could talk about that here if you like, but one of the other forums might be a better place to discuss that. Hope you get it worked out!

 

[She's a witch]

lutece so how much white a tabby cat must have to be labeled: tabby and white? is there any rule on percentage of body parts that must be white?
C catsnhums I simply love his stylish front socks! they hardly cover his fingers, this really must be uncomfortable ;-)

 

[lutece]

so how much white a tabby cat must have to be labeled: tabby and white? is there any rule on percentage of body parts that must be white?

With a big front "bib" and large belly spot like this guy, I'm pretty confident that his white markings are due to the dominant white spotting gene, so that's why I would label him "with white."

Some cats have just a few white toes, or a small white locket or belly spot. Since this can be due to a recessive factor or even just a random quirk of development, I wouldn't label those cats "with white."

Even with pedigreed cats, many of the breed standards explicitly have a clause allowing "lockets or buttons" on an otherwise solid or tabby cat, with no penalty and without changing the color class to bicolor. Looking through the CFA standards, the following breeds have a clause allowing lockets or buttons: American Bobtail, Cornish Rex, Devon Rex, Japanese Bobtail, La Perm, Lykoi, Manx, Norwegian Forest Cat, Ragamuffin, Scottish Fold, Selkirk Rex, Siberian, and Sphynx.

 

[She's a witch]

With a big front "bib" and large belly spot like this guy, I'm pretty confident that his white markings are due to the dominant white spotting gene, so that's why I would label him "with white."

Some cats have just a few white toes, or a small white locket or belly spot. Since this can be due to a recessive factor or even just a random quirk of development, I wouldn't label those cats "with white."

Even with pedigreed cats, many of the breed standards explicitly have a clause allowing "lockets or buttons" on an otherwise solid or tabby cat, with no penalty and without changing the color class to bicolor. Looking through the CFA standards, the following breeds have a clause allowing lockets or buttons: American Bobtail, Cornish Rex, Devon Rex, Japanese Bobtail, La Perm, Lykoi, Manx, Norwegian Forest Cat, Ragamuffin, Scottish Fold, Selkirk Rex, Siberian, and Sphynx.

Thank you! So now I know my girl is tabby, no white, even that she has a pretty white locket