Brown Mackerel Tabby – A Complete Guide To This Beautiful Pattern

The brown mackerel tabby is just one color that this beautiful coat pattern comes in. Similarly, mackerel is just one type of tabby pattern.

Brown mackerel tabbies have black patterns over a warm, brown or bronze base color. The mackerel pattern has narrow stripes that look similar to the bones of a fish – hence the name of the pattern.

Your tabby’s pattern won’t affect his health or temperament, so all tabbies have similar temperaments.

Let’s take a closer look at how this pattern happens and what to expect from a brown mackerel tabby.

Quick Links

• What is a tabby cat?
• What is a mackerel tabby?
• Mackerel tabby colors
• Genetics of the brown mackerel tabby
• Tabby history
• Brown mackerel tabby temperament
• Brown mackerel tabby health

Let’s start by taking a look at what a tabby cat is.

What is a Tabby Cat?

The term ‘tabby’ actually describes the coat pattern on your cat. It doesn’t refer to a single breed. Loads of different breeds, and mixed breeds, can have the tabby coat pattern.

In fact, the tabby pattern is the most common pattern seen on domestic cats around the world.

The striped tabby pattern helps cats to camouflage in the wild, so they can catch their prey more easily and hide from predators.

Within the tabby pattern, there are three types of markings. These are:

• Spotted
• Ticked
• Mackerel

The last of these is the pattern we will focus on in this guide.

What is a Mackerel Tabby?

So, ‘mackerel’ is just one type of tabby pattern that cats can have. But what sets it apart from the other types?

The mackerel tabby pattern is the most common type of tabby pattern.

Mackerel pattern tabbies have narrow stripes, reminiscent of a fish skeleton because they run parallel to one another.

Just like all other types of tabby, the mackerel tabby will have a distinctive ‘M’ shaped marking on its forehead.

It will also have black outlines around its nose and eyes.

Patched mackerel tabbies can have that mackerel pattern, but also patches of other color.

Mackerel Tabby Colors

We’re focusing on the brown mackerel tabby today. And, this is the most common color for cats with this pattern.

Brown mackerel tabbies will have black markings over a warm brown or bronze base color.

But mackerel tabbies can also come in the following colors:

• Blue
• Cream
• Red
• Silver
• Chestnut
• Cinnamon
• Cameo
• Lilac

So, how does the brown mackerel tabby pattern come about? Let’s dive into tabby genetics.

Brown Mackerel Tabby Genetics

Cat color genetics can be quite complicated. So, today we will only touch on those that create the tabby pattern and brown color.

Cat colors are created through two pigments: eumelanin (black) and pheomelanin (red). Eumelanin is the one we need to focus on.

Although the default color of this pigment is black, it can be turned into brown if your cat inherits the recessive ‘b’ gene from both parents.

But, this is just how the brown color happens. So how do our cats get that beautiful tabby pattern?

Tabby Pattern Genetics

Tabby patterns get determined by genes at the T locus.

‘Locus’ is the words to describe a place on the genetic code where the genes for a particular characteristic are located.

Mackerel stripes are determined by the T^m gene at the T locus.

Classic tabby blotching is caused by the T^b gene, and ticking is caused by T^a.

The mackerel pattern is dominant over the blotched pattern, which is why it is more common.

But, ticking is dominant over mackerel stripes.

Inheriting the Mackerel Pattern

Your cat receives one tabby gene from each parent. So let’s take a look at which combinations could result in this pattern.

• T^mT^m – Mackerel pattern
• T^mT^b – Mackerel pattern
• T^mT^a – Ticking pattern

So, as long as your cat inherits either two T^m genes, or one T^m and one T^b, you will have a mackerel tabby.

The ticking gene overrides both other patterns, but since it is also quite contained within a small number of breeds (notably the Abyssinian), it doesn’t stop there being a lot of mackerel tabbies!

Brown Mackerel Tabby History

Now that we’ve learned a little more about how the beautiful mackerel pattern happens, let’s take a closer look at the history of this interesting coat.

As we mentioned earlier, tabby just refers to a pattern. So, its history is widespread across a variety of cat breeds.

If you’re interested in learning more about the history of a specific cat breed you can take a look at our complete cat guides for more information.

However, the mackerel pattern is often considered to be the original tabby coat pattern.

There is a lot of myth and theory about where the word ‘tabby’ came from, as well as what the ‘M’ on a tabby’s forehead means.

But you can read more about these historical debates here.

Brown Mackerel Tabby Temperament

If you’re considering bringing a brown mackerel tabby into your home, you’ll want to learn a little more about their temperament.

Generally, tabbies are known for being sweet, outgoing, and social. They’re great cats to bring into the family if you have children.

Remember to look at specific breeds for more information.

Brown Mackerel Tabby Health

Many people wonder whether a cat’s coat color and pattern will have an impact on its health.

However, you don’t need to worry about this with the brown mackerel tabby.

Although deafness has been linked to white color coats in cats, the brown mackerel pattern has not been linked to an increased risk in health conditions.

The best way to get a healthy cat is to choose a reputable breeder.

Brown Mackerel Tabby – Summary

Brown mackerel tabbies are the most common type of tabby coat pattern.

They have a reputation for being a great ‘first cat’. Of course, to find out more about the personality and health of various breeds, you should take a closer look at the breed as a whole.

If you have a mackerel brown tabby, we would love to hear more about your kitty. Tell us what they’re like in the comments!

References and Resources

• Jacobberger, P. ‘Coats and Colors: How Does the Description Work?’, The Cat Fanciers’ Association (Accessed April 2020)
• Hartwell, S. ‘Colour and Pattern Charts’ (Accessed April 2020)
• Griffin, B. ‘Cat Identification’, University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine
• Kaelin, C. & Barsh, G. ‘Tabby Pattern Genetics – A Whole New Breed of Cat’, Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research (2010)
• Kaelin, C. & Barsh, G. ‘Genetics of Pigmentation in Dogs and Cats’, Annual Review of Animal Biosciences (2013)
• Lyons, L. (et al), ‘The Tabby Cat Locus Maps to Feline Chromosome B1’, Animal Genetics (2006)
• Eizirik, E. (et al), ‘Defining and Mapping Mammalian Coat Pattern Genes: Multiple Genomic Regions Implicated in Domestic Cat Stripes and Spots’, Genetics (2010)