Words with Webster: Mackerel and Blotched, Plus Friendly Fill-Ins

We have two fun features for you this Friday. First up is Words with Webster, in which he tells us the difference between mackerel and blotched tabbies. Then, Paisley does Friendly Fill-Ins.

Words with Webster

Hi, friends! I’m Real Cat Webster, welcoming you to this edition of Words with Me. Today we have two words that are kind of related. They’re both used to describe types of tabby patterns in cats. Mommy gets them confused all the time, so I thought I should explain them to her in pictures.

Let’s start with “mackerel.” Mackerel tabbies have narrow stripes that are parallel to each other, like the fish:

A mackerel tabby cat, Nouki.
By Quixo2b (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

A mackerel fish.
Image via Adobe Stock.

A “blotched” tabby has dense markings that sort of swirl around and form a bulls-eye pattern on the cat’s side:

The "blotched" or "classic" tabby. This is Buzzing Silver,
a silver tabby short-hair belonging to Mrs. J. C. Mitchelson
of Tariffville, CT. She won numerous prizes in the show ring.
1909 photo by D. B. Champion (Everybody's Cat Book). Public domain.

This is also called a “classic” tabby pattern, which is kind of confusing since we know from recent DNA studies that the blotched pattern only appeared thousands of years after the mackerel pattern. But humans often do things that don’t make a lot of sense, so there you have it.

By the way, “tabby” is not a breed of cat; it’s a coat pattern. There are also spotted, ticked, and patched tabbies. To learn about them, and to learn more and mackerel and blotched tabbies too, take a look at this article from Cats Center Stage.

Friendly Fill-Ins

And now it’s time for Friendly Fill-Ins, from 15andmeowing and McGuffy’s Reader. They are a fun way to learn a little bit about the authors of the blogs you read. The first two questions are from Ellen of 15andmeowing, and the next two are from Annie of McGuffy’s Reader. Real Cat Paisley provided all the answers this week.

1. My next conquest will be the dog. I’ve noticed she doesn’t fear me as much since I started wearing this #%&! cone. This must change.

2. Fireworks … I don’t see the point. Now string … string is exciting!

3. This week, I am thankful that my surgery turned out okay.

4. Freedom means not having to wear a dumb cone or an equally dumb gowny thing.

Real Cat Paisley is slowly getting used to
this little gown we got her to replace the
detested Cone of Shame.