Pixie-bob or American Bobtail?

It so happens that this polyfooted mackerel tabby cat is a Pixie-bob, er.. or an American Bobtail! Is this a mackerel tabby coat or a spotted tabby coat? Lying down the coat is striped. Standing up the coat is spotted. Is the coat silver, grey or grey brown?

You can see how it gets complicated identifying a cat breed unless you are an experienced person in the cat fancy. Well, the answer might be in the breed standard for the Pixie-bob which, as I understand it, is that the coat should be a brown spotted tabby pattern only (TICA breed standard).The spotted pattern on a Pixie-bob should be ‘muted with heavy ticking’ (ticking produces that salt and pepper appearance).

Octavia, the cat in the picture has a grey/silver coloured coat. On that basis, this cat can’t be a Pixie-bob. But…could someone claim that Octavia’s coat is brown, a sort of steely brown? I sense that she is a Pixie-bob because of the polydactyl feet and the ticked coat. The American Bobtail can have a wide range of coat types and colours. Can someone from the cat fancy please leave a comment :)!

Here is Octavia:

Polydactyl mackerel tabby cat a Pixie-bob

Octavia, a polyfooted mackerel tabby Pixie-bob (or American Bobtail) with a gorgeous coat.

Incidentally Pixie-bobs are known for having polyfeet in the same way as Maine Coons. The phrase ‘polyfeet’ is not a real word but a very understandable one nonetheless. I am sure most people have heard of polydactyl cats – cats with feet that have more than the usual toes due to a genetic mutation. There are no health issues with this mutation. In fact poly cats are popular cats. In days past, sailors used to select polydactyl cats as ship’s cats as they believed they could walk on deck better with extra grip! I don’t think that is true by the way – I mean polyfooted cats are not better sailors.

The Pixie-bob is good with children. Not many people know that. You can see here again in a different picture on this page with some information about polydactylism.

Note: “Pixie-bob” is also spelled as “Pixiebob”.

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