Garry Marsh and wife Joan, both 57, adopted Polly, a ten-week-old tabby from a local cat rescue centre last weekend:
…But it was only as they admired their new pet’s colouring three days later that they noticed the marks. Mr Marsh, a teacher, said: ‘We were commenting on how symmetrical her tabby patterns seemed when Joan suddenly noticed the letters.
‘Once somebody points it out, it is obvious – the word stands out a mile.’
Tabbies have an ‘M’ marking on their forehead, between the eyes, with various legends suggesting why this is the case. One suggests that the Virgin Mary made the mark of her own initial out of gratitude after a tabby snuggled up to the baby Jesus in the manger to stop him from shivering.
And an Islamic legend says that the Prophet Mohammed had a tabby called Muezza that saved his life by killing a snake which had crawled up his sleeve. When the cat later fell asleep on his arm, he cut his sleeve off so as not to disturb the cat.
From that day on, all tabbies were born with the ‘M’ marking to signify that Mohammed held the animals in high esteem.
Wow, I had never noticed the ‘M’ before. Good letter.
🎭 
