Oddly, this was a question that baffled me the other day as we were looking at a bit of documentation from our vet, which identified our dignified but very grey and not at all striped or patterned housecat as a “tabby”. This baffled me because I always thought “tabby” meant “striped” but a quick check of my dictionary indicated the aforementioned “any housecat, especially a female”. Which he definitely is not, being a neutered male.
This all after my first trip the vet involved the following conversation:
Me: “I have two cats and they need a checkup.”
Vet: “Okay, what kind of cats are they?”
Me (in a voice that indicates that the idea of ‘types of cats’ had not previously occurred to me): “…uhm…?”
Vet: “Well, are they short or long haired?”
Me: “Oh, short.”
Vet: “Domestic shorthair then.”
Me: “Yes, that’s it.”
So beats me where the “tabby” on the form came from.