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.
Our first orange cat, Butterscotch, loved to join conversations, too — and would move his head toward each speaker in turn. He was my buddy. Our present orange, Simba, is the most intelligent animal we’ve ever had. He has to watch everything you do closely, and this includes the plumber and the furnace repair man. If he had thumbs, he’d rule the world. If it’s plastic, you hide it. All our cupboards have latches of some kind. The vet says even his teeth are beautiful.
I foster for a local animal shelter, our orange tabby is a foster failure. Will had undeveloped lungs when he was little so of course I have him extra attention. As hee grew out of this issue be became our family cat. Will is very much a lovey cat but he’s very shy around those who don’t live in our home. He’ll run and hide until the guest has left. I wouldn’t trade my love bug ever.
I have an orange tabby named Dexter, who’s eight. He is very smart- he learned to open drawers as a kitten, and has a knack for finding plastic to bat around. I’ve been able to teach him a few commands, like ‘get down’ ‘come here’ ‘hold you’ and ’let’s go.’ He is super attached to me, and sleeps on my back or my head at night. When he was small, he would nuzzle into my hair and purr, and now, at nineteen pounds, he still tries but it mostly just smothers me. He also has separation anxiety, so if I’m gone too long, he’ll empty out my sock drawer, open the kitchen cabinets, and sometimes empty the tissue box. Lastly, he’s obsessed with plastic bags and similar items, and he will scratch at them and rub his nose on them and just purr. It’s so weird.
My almost 5 year old orange/white tabby, Beemer, recently became the only cat after loosing our older 2 cats. Been is now very much more affectionate and his personality has blossomed since he’s been the “only” in the house. He constantly lays with me, kisses me and reaches out with his paws to touch me.
My Tommy is a handful. A rescue cat now 5 yrs old. As a kitten he would jump up on the TV top ledge & sit there or lay down there. When he is out on our lanai he would ask to come in & when I tried to let him in he would walk away. After I left he would scratch door to come in. He loves yogurt . We share as I put a spoonful on the counter & he licks the container clean. He doesn’t like to be held . Also have a black tuxedo cat (female) He drives her crazy. She is 2 yrs older. They are both fixed. They are inside cats and never allowed outside.
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