Are tabbies shier than other types of cats?

Are tabbies shier than other types of cats or is it just my impression?

A few years ago I rescued a very young (probably 4 weeks old) orphan tabby cat. I didnt know anything about cat care so made many mistakes (I let him roam free, didn't neuter him, etc.) and he grew extremely shy and after a couple of movings from apartment to apartment he became even shyer. He passed away a couple of years ago and now I decided to have a new cat and I really would like to have another grey tabby.
Checking a few potential cats for adoption I noticed that the tabbies are much shier than other colors. Is this so or I just didn't have the luck to find the right one yet?

Mars.

The most outgoing cats I've ever met have been orange tabby boys. Male cats seem to be less shy in general than females, but there are of course exceptions to every rule.

One of my cats, Silver, is a grey tabby, and while she is shy of strangers, she is in-your-face affectionate with my BF and I. She thinks nothing of curling up on the book I am trying to read, because she is so much cuter! She sometimes runs across the room and leaps on my lap when I am on the computer.

All I can suggest is keep looking until the right cat finds you. Have you considered adopting an adult cat from a shelter? With an adult cat, you won't have to wonder what his or her personality will be, it's already pretty much set.

I have several tabbies, none of them shy. Perhaps the personality change was because of the changes in his environment. Cats usually resist change, it upsets them.

I would also encourage you to adopt an older cat, they are harder to find homes for then kittens, and also less work. Shelter cats will bond with you immediately if you rescue them from a life in a cage.

to me tabbies seem to be friendlier. But each kitty is different.

Tabby's are just a pattern, and really they can have any personality. My guess with your guy is the shyness came from 2 factors. Males who aren't neutered can be non social or shy. Also, the changes in living spaces can have alot to do with it. Socialization as young kittens also can play a large roll in how shy they are. If you get them as young kittens, and work with them, they can be just as loving as most cats

Thanks for the answers!
I'm glad to know there's still hope for me to find my ideal friendly tabby :-)

I was thinking of adopting a kitty rather than an adult because I want the cat to bond with me. I don't want to adopt an adult that has his personality set on being shy and as far away from me as possible. I know kittens require much more work and time but as I just moved from one country to another I still haven't been issued a permission to work on my new country and it will be some time until I get one, so right now I have loads of free time to spare. That's why I decided to raise a kitten.

When I had my first tabby I was so ignorant about cats that I didnt know how friendly cats can be! My old tabby was so shy and unfriendly that although he would sleep on my feet while I watched TV he would never let me pick him up and he would jump from the second floor balcony (literally) rather than face a strange person. I was so surprised when I answered a newspaper ad from an old lady giving kittens to adoption. As soon as I entered the lady's apartment the cats came see me, jumped on my lap and started rubbing and licking me purring like little engines! :-)

Shelters? Oh I wish there were such a thing on this country....
I just came from one extreme to another. I lived 15 years in Japan, a country so rich that it's people have no idea how to spend their money so they usually respond to fashion, even on pets. It was common for people there to buy a certain race of cat just because they were in fashion and then abandon them because a new type came into the spotlight. There was a stray american short hair silver blotched tabby that used to wander in my back yard there.
Now I just moved to Romania, the other extreme of the spectrum. A country so poor that only in the 90s the number of cat breeders soared from 2 to about 10 and where people has no idea what you talk about when you ask about animal shelters. No wonder. When a government can't afford to supply their hospitals and turn off traffic lights on weekends because they can't afford the electricity bills I guess saving animals takes a very low priority. The only way I can find cats here is to answer to newspaper ads from cat mills or check the pet shops, which I guess are also supplied by cat mills.
Well, I'll keep looking for my ideal tabby.

Marcos.

Welcome to The Cat Site. Its great to have members from all over the world! It is interesting to hear about other countrys. The tabbies that i have had were all so the most friendly of the cats i have owned. Im partial to big orange tabby males.

All of the tabbies I have come into contact with have always been very friendly, well, except for one, but she was old and didn't want to be bothered, but she still slept with me .

I think cats are like people, they all individual personalities!

I have had alot of cats...most wild that I painstakingly tamed...and I have had several tabbies...it is odd but they seem to be more shy then the others...2 of the tabbies were the only ones I cant tame...they seem to want the attention...they are just less likely to approach me then the others and they seem to be more alone away from the others...Maybe all tabbies are that way...who knows....I just thought u might find this interesting...lol..

Hello,

Thanks for all the answers but now my quest is over.
No, I didnt find the tabby that I wanted but this morning I was chosen by a very nice 2 months old birman female. By lunch time I had brought her home. As we arrived home she went straight hide under the sofa but by the end of the afternoon she was already sleeping on my lap :-)
I found her in a pet shop and when I decided to get her I went home to get my carrier. When I was going back to the shop with my carrier I passed in front of building in construction and heard a meow. When I approached the fence a little stray tabby kitten came out to smell me. What irony... All these weeks in a fruitless search for a friendly tabby and now that I decided to get a birman this friendly little tabby stops me in the streets 20 meters from the pet shop... Well, I was already chosen so I had to leave him there :-(
Anyway, now I am very happy with my un-tabby little cat :-)