Walk into any shelter in India and at least half the cats will have stripes, swirls, or spots on their coats. Most people call them tabbies and leave it there, as if tabby were a breed like Persian or Siamese. It isn't. Tabby is a coat pattern, one produced by a specific gene, and it appears in Bengals, Abyssinians, Maine Coons, British Shorthairs, and street cats with equal ease. The pattern itself comes in four distinct forms, each with its own look and its own name.
