New kitten - Black tabby?

Question

When I first got my kitten I thought he was just black with some stray white hairs on his front and legs. But when I look closer, he's actually got a very faint, very dark tabby pattern. He's so handsome! Is there a name for this? I googled 'black tabby' and just got loads of pictures of ordinary tabbies and black cats.

Answer 1

All cats actually carry the gene for one of the tabby patterns, they then have a separate gene for agouti which determines if the pattern shows or not.  Often the tabby pattern is incompletly mask even in cats that are not suppose to show it.  That is what is occuring with your cat.   They are commonly refered to as ghost tabby markings  This is more commonly seen in kittens and your will likely not show as your cat gets older.

Answer 2

I had two cats from the same litter, Stan and Ollie, and Stanley had a beautiful stripey coat and Oliver was all black but when you saw them in the sunlight Ollie's coat really matched Stanley's They were beautiful boys and lived to be 18. I still miss them both. Enjoy your beautiful boy.

Answer 3

I've seen a lot of black cats with a tabby ''undercoat''. I'm not sure if there's a description for the coloration, but I love it. Usually happens when there's Tabby genes in the litter (Most I see have a Tabby parent or siblings)

Answer 4

I have one like this but he is a very dark grey.  You cannot see his markings unless he is in the sun.  He has very interesting ones, circles and stripes.  I do not think there is any other name other than Tabby.  But they are very cool :)

Answer 5

how about "SECRET"

since it's a secret tabby!

Don't know if ther is really a name for such kind of markings or not