All tabby cats have an ‘M’ marking on their forehead, and on some this mark is very distinct. The ‘M’ is often referred to as ‘the mark of the true tabby’.
There are several legends about how tabby cats got their ‘M’.
The most popular of these legends tells us that when the baby Jesus was lying in the manger he started to shiver with the cold. Mary covered the baby with blankets but still he kept shivering. Mary then ask all the animals to move closer to the manger so that their body heat would warm Jesus.
The animals stood as close to the manger as they could but the baby Jesus remained cold and shivering. After a time a small cat with tabby markings jumped into the manger and snuggled next to Jesus. Before long the baby had stopped shivering and was sound asleep, contented and warm.
In her gratitude to the tabby Mary made the mark of her own initial, upon the cat’s forehead so that tabby cats will forever remind the world of how they saved Jesus from the cold.
A legend from the Islamic world recounts that Mohammed had a tabby called Muezza who once saved his masters life by slaying a snake that had crawled up Mohammed’s sleeve. Later, when it was time to attend prayers the cat had fallen asleep upon the sleeve, so to avoid disturbing Muezza, Mohammed cut the sleeve from his garment. From that day on all tabby cats were born with the ‘M’ marking on their forehead to remind all that see them that Mohammed loved cats, and that cats should always be respected. 