(Re-posted with permission from Bareen)
When a siamese have patterns they are called lynx point, not because of the pointed fur on the tip of their ear.
What is a tabby? (
http://www.balinesen.ch/tabby.htm )
Tabby is the "natural wild colour pattern" (the original color) of domesticated cats. If your Siamese or Balinese cat has stripes on the head and legs, it is a "tabby". (In the United States "striped Balinese" are called lynx-pointed Javanese.)
All tabbies have thin pencil lines on the face, expressive markings around the eyes, and a tabby "M" on the forehead. The ears have a paler thumbprint in center, called "wild spot". The body shading may take form of ghost striping in adult cats. The nose leather is in adult cats light in the middle with a darker surrounding. If you look up close at the light parts of a tabby's points, you will see that the individual hairs are striped with alternating light and dark bands, like the fur of a rabbit or a squirrel. This banding is called "agouti."
The first tabby Siamese appeared already around 100 years ago. The pattern arose from unmeant matings between Siamese cats and domestic shorthairs. This is why this colour first was not accepted. However, after clean breed was proven over several generations, in 1966 Tabby-Points were accepted by the british Siamese Cat Club. Afterwards, step by step the other associations followed with their acceptance too.
Tabby patterns
There are four different tabby patterns:
A mackerel tabby has narrow stripes that run in parallel down its sides. This is what some people refer to as a "tiger." This is the most common tabby pattern.
A classic tabby cat has bold, swirling patterns on its sides like marble cake, often with a circular "bullseye" on the side, or a "butterfly" on the back. This color is also called "blotched tabby".
A spotted tabby has spots or rosettes of solid color, as on a leopard. Sometimes these are large spots, sometimes small spots, and sometimes they appear to be broken mackerel stripes.
A ticked tabby (sometimes called "Abyssinian tabby" or "agouti tabby") does not have stripes or spots on its body, the ticked hairs are found uniformly over the entire coat, giving a flecked or freckled appearance. However, like all tabbies, it has tabby markings on the face and agouti hairs on the body. This is the color of the Abyssinian cat, but it also appears in orientals.
Tabby colors
All Balinese colors exist also as tabby or tortie-tabby varieties (exept white). You can tell what color a tabby is by looking at the color of its stripes and its tail tip. The color of the agouti hairs (the "ground color") varies also, some cats may have a washed out grey ground color and others will have rich orange tones.
A seal tabby has black stripes on a brownish or grayish ground color. The black stripes may be coal black, or a little bit brownish.
A blue tabby has gray stripes on a grayish or buff ground color. The grey stripes may be a dark slate gray, or a lighter blue-gray.
A chocolate tabby has brown stripes on a cream ground color. The black stripes may be deap brown, or a little bit "caramel" brown.
A lilac tabby has light grey stripes on a pale grey ground color. These stripes look peach-colored rather than lilac.
A red tabby has orange stripes on a cream ground color. The orange stripes may be dark reddish orange, or light "marmalade" orange.
A cream tabby has cream or light orange stripes on a pale cream ground color. These stripes look sand-colored or "light orange"-colored.
Red- and creme-pointed Balinese often show tabby-pattern even if the cat is genetically a non-tabby.