6 Fun Facts About Orange Tabby Cats
1. The orange tabby cat is not actually its own separate breed of cat.
Whether you call them orange, red, ginger or marmalade tabbies, orange tabby cats are not a specific breed of cat, rather it is referring to their fur color. Orange tabbies can be many different breeds, from Persian and Maine Coon to your standard Domestic Short Hair!
2. Many orange tabbies will develop little black freckles on their nose and mouth area.
Not only do ginger cats come with perfectly kissable pink noses, they may also develop adorable little freckles! These freckles will normally develop around the gums, lips, or nose area and can continue to appear throughout their life. These freckles are caused by a benign genetic called lentigo which increases the number of pigment-producing cells (epidermal melanocytes) around the lips, nose, and eyes and results in those little black freckles. They're like little sprinkles of joy! These freckles are normally harmless, but any change in size or pigmentation should be checked by a veterinarian.
3. They come in 4 beautiful coat types: Classic (swirled), Mackerel (striped), spotted and ticked (agouti).
- Mackerel: Mackerel tabbies are striped and may be tiger-like in appearance, with a classic ‘M’ shape on their forehead!
- Classic: the classic tabby pattern usually consists of a dark swirl or bullseye around your cat's midsection
- Ticked: Most common in breeds like Abyssinian, ticked tabbies can fool you into thinking that solid ginger cats exist - but they don't! Ticked tabbies have an almost speckled pattern with tabby markings on their heads.
- Spotted: Spotted tabbies appear, well, spotted! Their stripes or swirls are broken up and appear as ovals. This marking is most commonly seen in Bengal cat breeds!
4. Most orange tabby cats are males: 80% male, and 20% female - No wonder they are usually mischievous!
Interestingly enough, most orange tabby cats are indeed male! It's all thanks to their genetic makeup. According to Spruce Pets, the gene O codes for orange (referred to as Red in genetics) fur and is carried on the X chromosome. Because females have two X chromosomes, this means that a female orange cat must inherit two orange genes (one from each parent). But a male tabby only needs one O gene, which he gets from his mother.
5. All orange cats are tabby cats, they do not have a solid coat!
Without getting too deep into genetics (it's complicated, folks!), thanks again to their genetic makeup, all orange cats will have tabby markings of some kind. This is because of the agouti gene. The agouti gene determines whether a cat has a tabby pattern or not. However, when the red pigment gene is expressed, the non-agouti gene does not work. So you can't have a non-agouti gene with an orange cat - meaning they will have some type of tabby marking, whether it is classic, mackerel, or ticked.
6. Orange tabby cats get a lot of screen time!
Beyond the famed lasagna-loving Garfield, orange tabby have graced the silver screen - more than you may have realized! There are live-action kitties like Goose (Captain Marvel) Orion (Men in Black) and Jones (Alien), ... wow, there are a lot of orange tabbies in space, aren't there? And don't forget Orangey in Breakfast at Tiffany's. And you can't forget about Puss in Boots, who melted everyone's hearts with iconic big kitty eyes!
Does your orange cat have particular characteristics? Tell us about them! We love to learn more.
My swirl Orange guy has many toes. So, his name is Toesy. He and his sister, who looks nothing like him, were found about 15 miles away and were feral. My granddaughter played with both cats when they were young, but they don’t remember her anymore. Toes like to sleep between my knees, where it’s warm. Both he and Zizi are inside/outside cats. Toes loves kibble..but I try and get him to eat some canned food as the Vet says it’s good for male cats. Both cats are fixed…and love to lick one another’s faces when in the mood. They both like to sit on the window-sill when I’m washing clothes in the laundry room. Toes will tolerate people, but don’t pick him up. When I read the other posts, it seems that this is common with orange cats. We had a long-haired orange guy when I was a child. He would crawl along the windows from the porch until he came to the one window that opened. That was about a story and a half up from the ground! We’d open the window for him. Toes loves to climb anything as well. So happy to have saved these kitties…now two years old.
i adopted an orange striped 5 month old kitten from an animal shelter. I named him Sinbad because he is so into everything. He is so smart & learns quickly. He sleeps curled up alongside my neck & purrs all the time. I may have rescued him but the love he shows me can’t be measured. i’ve had a lot of cats, & each one had their own personality. Humans should show the love & loyalty given by a pet.
You said 10 facts, I only got 6! >^..^<
Tigger is a stripy tabby and true to his namesake he can be bouncing off the walls chasing my other cat one minute, stropping because I have gone to work the next or even being all lovey dovey. He is so full of energy.
He was a rescue from a skip where he was crying in a box. As a kitten he used to drink out of the dogs raised water bowl which was funny, he’d even check with his paw there was water in the bowl. Though we don’t have the dog or the bowl now he still checks his own cat bowl water level with his paw. He strops when I am getting ready for work and sometimes stays on my bed all shift. He also hates me being late home from work. When he gets fed now he wants his head kissed or rubbed each time. He has to go to the bathroom with me where he lays in the sink drinking from the tap. He follows me everywhere. We used to be able to cuddle him like a baby and sometimes he still allows that. He loves laying on the floor on his back. If he hears the door he’ll watch from a distance but he doesn’t like other people much. He sleeps between my ankles. Tigger will go to bed with me then when I am asleep go and wait for mum to go to bed, once she’s asleep he comes back with me for the rest of the night. He doesn’t actually meow it sounds more like he’s screaming mom. His eyes and fur seem to change colour depending on his mood, if he is feeling down his fur is paler, devilment mode is black eyes and very bright ginger. He used to try and catch things on the tv screen and once watched a police car disappear off screen and wondered where it went. This lil guy is such a joy to have around I don’t know what we’d do without him, I love him to bits.
I have a runt stripped Tabby named Romeo who is just turning 5. He LOVES toys and he is a one person cat, mine. Scared of other people so his nickname is “Sissy Pants”. He follows me everywhere, sleeps with me. He still acts like a kitten and he is very small so he is SO fun. When I’m in a room and close the door, his paws and whole front legs are under the door-can’t imagine what he looks like on the other side. When I got Romeo, I already had a Burmese, large 20 lbs guy cat named “Loverboy”. Romeo was only 5 weeks when I got him and I had Loverboy for years. Loverboy treats Romeo like a little “son”, often they are sleeping together and Loverboy’s front legs are around Romeo’s neck. Every once in a while, Romeo will swat at Loverboy, a chase goes on that sounds like elephants running through the house. I have to break it up or else lit’l Romeo gets beat up. But will he learn not to mess with Loverboy? – no. Unprovoked, Loverboy will just cuddle and wash Romeo but like a Dad, Loverboy won’t let Romeo show lack of respect. Loverboy sleeps with me too, so I have a bed with 2 interwined furry babies and Loverboy snores.
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