What is a torbie cat?
Also known as a patched tabby, a torbie is a coat pattern made up of patches of red and brown tabby markings. The name is a combination of the terms tortoiseshell and tabby.
This unusual coat pattern is found almost exclusively in female cats which makes it sex-linked. Every kitten inherits one copy of each gene from both parents. The dominant orange gene is located on the X chromosome, females (XX) have two X chromosomes and males (XY) only have one.
Below is a very simplistic explanation of possible outcomes between orange and non-orange tabby cats, there are other possible outcomes for example if each parent carries a copy of the melanin inhibitor gene, or non-agouti (non-tabby). But for simplicity sake, let’s assume both parents are tabby.
Male inheritance:
- O/o: Orange tabby
- o/o: Non-orange tabby
Female inheritance:
- O/o: Patched tabby, displaying both orange and brown tabby patterns
- O/O: Orange tabby
- o/o: Brown tabby
What breed is a torbie cat?
Image, Jennifer Lamb, Flickr
Torbie is a coat pattern and not a breed and is found in both random-bred cat populations as well as some breeds of purebred. The torbie pattern is permitted in the following breeds:
- British Shorthair
- British Longhair
- Cornish Rex
- Devon Rex
- Exotic Shorthair
- German Rex
- LaPerm
- Maine Coon
- Munchkin
- Norwegian Forest cat
- Persian
- Scottish Fold
- Scottish Straight
Are torbie cats rare?
The torbie pattern is the least common of the tabby patterns, and not widespread in the cat community. On a personal note, I have seen almost all cat colours and patterns, but have never seen a torbie cat.
What is the difference between a torbie and a caliby?
Both cats have brown and orange tabby patches, the caliby also carries the white spotting gene, resulting in areas of white, most commonly on the underside and legs. If she inherits two copies of the white spotting gene, she will have more white than the cat who has only one copy.
