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.
In Jan ‘20 after my 23 yr old Russian Blue kitty passed while trying to get out of his bed I was lost. One morning in March I knew what I had to do.,,,get another kitty to love. I went to the ASPCA & found (bought) what I consider the most beautiful orange/white DLH 18 mo old kitty. I named his ’Pretty Boy’ because he certainly is. It was obvious he had not been taught anything other than to eat & use a litter box. It took several months but he is pretty well trained now & such a joy.
I’m on my second orange cat. His name is Fritz, and he’s 12 years old. He is an orange and white longhair. While Fritz can be moody, he is usually affectionate. He likes to sleep with me every night. Correction — he likes to sleep on me every night.
My family got an orange cat when I was in my teens. My brother had found a kitten left in a box in a mall parking lot and brought him home. We called the kitten Stiller or “Still Here,” since my parents’ original plan had been to give him to someone else. Mom, however, quickly changed her mind, for she had always wanted an orange cat.
Stiller turned out to be a special needs cat, for he had neurological problems that impaired his coordination and ability to walk. These days, he would probably have been diagnosed with cerebellar hypoplasia. He was still a beautiful cat, and he could be moody. He seemed to know something was wrong with him, for he tended to be clingy.
I have a male Long-haired orange tabby. His name is Opie. I also have two white female Persians. Opie is the king of the castle. He loves his sisters. He has the mannerisms of a llion tothe fullest degree. He loves to lay on my chest and he kneads. That is his way of showing his affection. At times we think he’s human he is so intelligent along With my two Persians And my Goldendoodle.. We are one big happy family.
I have 2 father and son and they are very loving and can be very in your face about it. My older one however has a bit of a emotional side as well. When he is mad at me he will show me by going into my kitchen and open every single cabinet and draw and then sit a few feet away from me giving me a go to hell look. If I catch him doing it and tell him to stop he will look right at me and open it anyways all while looking at me.He also thinks he’s a dog as his mom belongs to my lab. When he was only 3 days old his liter was introduced to my lab as mama didn’t like not having him close so he grow up with my lab acting as dad. That resulted in him having a very close relationship with my dogs to the point he starts acting like them My younger one however not so much a dog fan but will chase me down when he wants attention and it doesn’t matter where I’m. They make me laugh everyday.
KRISTN ROYCE
You should have called it an animal rescue group as soon as you saw the gaping hole in the cat’s neck. Instead you called animal control which probably means immediate death for the cat you don’t know although it had a huge hole it might have been nursed back to health and released again or maybe domesticated and found a home. I would never just call Animal Control it’s sort of like you just want to get the problem solved quick for you I’m sorry but I’ve had many many feral cats through the years a lot of them were feral somewhere born in my home and I would never just call Animal Control to dispose of them. Maybe you didn’t realize but you just led the cat to its death or maybe you thought that was the best way I don’t mean to chastise you but I felt so bad reading that.
Leave a comment