Are tabby cats friendlier than other cats? best answer
Although anecdotally, cat owners have said that tabby cats are more loving than no tabbies, there is no conclusive scientific evidence to prove that tabby cats are more loving towards humans. A tabby cat is a type of cat that has a distinct form of coat which commonly involves stripes in it's legs and having a signature"M '' marking in it's forehead. Apart from the striped markings, tabby cats also have dots (especially in its abdomen) ,flecked, swirled and bland. Tabby cats are not a special type of breed, they are cats who have a distinct coat pattern which differentiates them between other cats. There are mainly five types of tabby cats who can be recognized using their coat patterns. They are,
1. Classic tabby
Classic tabby cats have which and well recognizable swirls across their body and this thich type bullseye shaped pattern resembles the clouded leopard and classic tabbies are unique and beautiful when it comes to having this coat.
1. Classic tabby
Classic tabby cats have which and well recognizable swirls across their body and this thich type bullseye shaped pattern resembles the clouded leopard and classic tabbies are unique and beautiful when it comes to having this coat.
2.Mackerel tabby
Mackerel tabby cats are a very common form of tabby cat who, like all the other types of tabby cots, have a clearly recognizable "M" mark in their forehead and there are stripes in their legs up to the torso and neck and the coat color is dark to light grey in color. Mackerel tabbies are the most common among all tabby cats.
Mackerel tabby cats are a very common form of tabby cat who, like all the other types of tabby cots, have a clearly recognizable "M" mark in their forehead and there are stripes in their legs up to the torso and neck and the coat color is dark to light grey in color. Mackerel tabbies are the most common among all tabby cats.
3. Ticked tabby
Ticked tabbies are comparatively rare and the coat pattern involves a brownish grey with dots or stripes.
Ticked tabbies are comparatively rare and the coat pattern involves a brownish grey with dots or stripes.
4. Spotted tabby
Spotted tabby cats have dark spots on the body with a light to dark grey coat. The other coat colors are brown, reddish and silver.
Spotted tabby cats have dark spots on the body with a light to dark grey coat. The other coat colors are brown, reddish and silver.
5.Orange tabby also known as ginger tabby
Ginger tabbies are thought to be very friendly towards human beings and the Ginger tabby resembles the mackerel tabby with the difference being its orange color. The orange color is either dark or washed and has stripes and dots in its body. A survey done with more than two hundred people (Link- https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0376635716303308) found out that Orange tabby cats are friendlier than other types of cats. The survey was done by the Anthrozoology Research Group, School of Psychology and Public Health in La Trobe University, Australia and the research was done on six cat personality traits which are,
Playfulness
Nervousness
Amiability
Dominance
Demandingness
Gullibility
This study does not conclusively prove that orange tabby cats are friendlier than other cats and the survey is taken only from a very group of people and many biases could have been present when taking the opinion of the participants.
Ginger tabbies are thought to be very friendly towards human beings and the Ginger tabby resembles the mackerel tabby with the difference being its orange color. The orange color is either dark or washed and has stripes and dots in its body. A survey done with more than two hundred people (Link- https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0376635716303308) found out that Orange tabby cats are friendlier than other types of cats. The survey was done by the Anthrozoology Research Group, School of Psychology and Public Health in La Trobe University, Australia and the research was done on six cat personality traits which are,
Playfulness
Nervousness
Amiability
Dominance
Demandingness
Gullibility
This study does not conclusively prove that orange tabby cats are friendlier than other cats and the survey is taken only from a very group of people and many biases could have been present when taking the opinion of the participants.
Tabby cats are beautiful felines and their special markings have drawn humans who prefer these types of cats. There are many anecdotes of tabby cats showing more affection than cats with normal coat patterns. biologically there is no hard evidence to prove this point. Research has been done to determine cat behaviors especially among multicolored cats and this research could suggest that coat patterns of cats could determine cat behaviour. A research published in the "Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science '' from the University of California points out that multicolored cats are more aggressive than other cats. The abstract of the research said the following,
"The authors explored a possible relationship between coat color and aggressive behaviors in the domestic cat. This study used an Internet-based survey to collect information on coat color, affiliative behaviors toward cats/humans, agonistic behaviors toward cats/humans, other “problem” behaviors, and cat and guardian demographic data. A total of 1,432 cat guardians completed the online survey; after exclusions based on study protocol, data analysis included 1,274 completed surveys. Guardians reported sex-linked orange female (tortoiseshells, calicos, and “torbies”), black-and-white, and gray-and-white cats to be more frequently aggressive toward humans in 3 settings: during everyday interactions, during handling, and during veterinary visits. Kruskal-Wallis 1-way analysis of variance was used to compare possible differences between the 2 sexes and among different coat colors. Analyses of aggression due to handling, as well as aggression displayed during veterinarian visits, showed little difference among coat colors in these settings."
(Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science Volume 19, 2016 - Issue 1-https://doi.org/10.1080/10888705.2015.1081820)
"The authors explored a possible relationship between coat color and aggressive behaviors in the domestic cat. This study used an Internet-based survey to collect information on coat color, affiliative behaviors toward cats/humans, agonistic behaviors toward cats/humans, other “problem” behaviors, and cat and guardian demographic data. A total of 1,432 cat guardians completed the online survey; after exclusions based on study protocol, data analysis included 1,274 completed surveys. Guardians reported sex-linked orange female (tortoiseshells, calicos, and “torbies”), black-and-white, and gray-and-white cats to be more frequently aggressive toward humans in 3 settings: during everyday interactions, during handling, and during veterinary visits. Kruskal-Wallis 1-way analysis of variance was used to compare possible differences between the 2 sexes and among different coat colors. Analyses of aggression due to handling, as well as aggression displayed during veterinarian visits, showed little difference among coat colors in these settings."
(Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science Volume 19, 2016 - Issue 1-https://doi.org/10.1080/10888705.2015.1081820)
The above study could prove to some extent that coat color or pattern could determine the behavior of a cat. The behavior of a cat depends on several factors such as genetics, type of breed and even coat and color patterns as well. It is a fact that some cat breeds are more loving and less aggressive than others. For example, the Ragdoll cat is very loving towards humans and shows far less aggression. Aggression levels can be seen in other animals such as dogs and the type of breed determines the aggression level. The Dogo argentino, pitbull terrier are types of dog breeds which are extremely aggressive and potentially dangerous dog breeds and are trained and used for hunting of other large, medium and small animals such as Cougars, Foxes and Rabbits. On the other hand, dogs such as Golden retrievers, Labradors and Poodles are very friendly and loving towards humans. A study published by Milla Salonen and other scientists (Lin-https://rdcu.be/cpLNM) have found that cat behaviour varies depending on the breed. The study titled "Breed differences of heritable behaviour traits in cats" said the following,
"We examined breed differences in behaviour in a sample of 5726 cats in 40 breeds, some of which had to be grouped, forming 19 breeds and breed groups. We used logistic regression and took into account environmental factors (weaning age, access to outdoors, and presence of other cats) as well as general factors (sex and age) by including combinations of these variables in the analyses"
This study also said the following,
"Large breed differences were observed in social behaviour. British Shorthair cats had the lowest tendency to seek human contact, whereas Korat and Devon Rex cats were the most likely to seek contact from people. Previously, Persians have been ranked low in friendliness, attention seeking, and sociability, and in our study, they had the highest probability for low contact to people if we only compare breeds that have also been examined in previous studies"
"We examined breed differences in behaviour in a sample of 5726 cats in 40 breeds, some of which had to be grouped, forming 19 breeds and breed groups. We used logistic regression and took into account environmental factors (weaning age, access to outdoors, and presence of other cats) as well as general factors (sex and age) by including combinations of these variables in the analyses"
This study also said the following,
"Large breed differences were observed in social behaviour. British Shorthair cats had the lowest tendency to seek human contact, whereas Korat and Devon Rex cats were the most likely to seek contact from people. Previously, Persians have been ranked low in friendliness, attention seeking, and sociability, and in our study, they had the highest probability for low contact to people if we only compare breeds that have also been examined in previous studies"
It is clear that the cat behaviour varies based on the breed but there is very little evidence apart from the personal anecdotes of cat owners to prove that tabby cats are more loving than other cats. The argument that tabby cats are friendlier than other cats could come from human bias, misunderstandings and others.
Conclusion
The friendliness of a cat is determined by genetic factors, the type of breeds and others but there is no conclusive evidence to prove that tabby cats are more loving towards humans than cats with other coat patterns. The tabby pattern is only a coat pattern and whatever is known about tabby cats is based on anecdotal evidence which has human bias and prejudices. In conclusion, there is more research needed to prove whether tabby cats are friendlier than other cats but anecdotal evidence and a survey suggest that tabby cats especially orange tabbies are friendly and loving towards humans.
Conclusion
The friendliness of a cat is determined by genetic factors, the type of breeds and others but there is no conclusive evidence to prove that tabby cats are more loving towards humans than cats with other coat patterns. The tabby pattern is only a coat pattern and whatever is known about tabby cats is based on anecdotal evidence which has human bias and prejudices. In conclusion, there is more research needed to prove whether tabby cats are friendlier than other cats but anecdotal evidence and a survey suggest that tabby cats especially orange tabbies are friendly and loving towards humans.