New research into the domestic cat tabby pattern does not fully explain how the pattern is created

Cat embryo developing its coat pattern thanks to the Dkk4 gene

The news media is having a field day in declaring to the world that we now know how tabby cats get their stripes. And they give thanks to the team of scientists at the Hudson-Alpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville, Alabama, USA who conducted the research. I am sure, like me, the science journalists …

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Was there a tabby cat in the stables near Jesus in a manger?

Proof that a cat was in the stables with Mary and Jesus!

As Christmas is drawing near, I thought I’d look into the evidence as to whether a tabby cat genuinely was in a barn or stables where Mary took Jesus and placed him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn (a guestroom). One point to clarify is that the …

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Evolution of the blotched tabby pattern of domestic cats

Development of the blotched tabby domestic cat

The time when the blotched or classic tabby pattern, as it is called, emerged among domestic cats is of interest to people in the cat world. The tabby coat is the most common in domestic, stray and feral cats. This is unsurprising because the wild cat ancestor of the domestic cat, the North African …

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Half a dozen facts about the grey tabby cat

Grey Tabby Cat Licking Foot

Here are 6 facts about the grey tabby cat… Spelling I am dictating this. The software spells “grey” rather than “gray”. That tells you that I’m in the UK although I nearly always write about American cats! That is because the best stories about domestic cats come from America and there are more domestic …

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What is a tabby cat?

Spinning wheel cats image

A tabby cat can be any one of the following: a random bred domestic cat, a feral cat, a stray cat, a community cat or a purebred, pedigree cat and even a wild cat; all of which have or can have a certain type of coat. That coat is the original domestic cat coat …

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