Hi everybody, Kissy here! I’m really excited because this week I get to have the whole column all to myself! As you can see from my photo, I’m an orange tabby cat (which Mama sometimes calls a “marmalade cat”) … and a quite beautiful one at that, I might add.
When Mama adopted me and showed my pictures to the world, lots of people remarked on how rare orange female cats are. Mama says she’s seen quite a few orange girl cats, so together, we set out for some answers. We interviewed Dee Walter Kruleski, a professor of biology at HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, who told us the facts about female orange cats and lots of other cool facts about cat fur color inheritance. So, without further ado, let’s get on with it.
Kissy: I’ve heard that female orange cats are very rare. Why is this?
Dee: Well, it’s not that orange female cats are rare, it is simply that an orange cat is more likely to be a male. For a female cat to be orange, she must inherit two orange genes — one from her mother (orange, calico, or tortoiseshell) and one from her father (who must be orange). A male cat needs only one orange gene, which he gets from his mother (orange, calico, or tortoiseshell). This is because the gene that codes for orange fur is on the X chromosome, and like humans, females have two Xs and males are XY. Genes on the X chromosome are said to be sex-linked.
Kissy: Wow, so that means my father for sure was an orange cat. How cool is that? Is the same thing true for orange tabby (marmalade) cats? Mama says she’s seen a lot of female orange tabbies.
Dee: Yes, although the striping pattern is coded for by a completely different gene.
Kissy: Why is it super-rare to see a male calico cat?
Dee: Because in order for a male to be a calico, he must have the feline equivalent of Kleinfelter Syndrome and he is an XXY male. Because a calico male has an extra X chromosome, he is most likely sterile (cannot father kittens).
Kissy: Can you explain a little bit about how fur color inheritance works in calico/tortoiseshell and orange cats?
Dee: Well, orange fur is due to what is known as dominant epistasis. It actually changes black pigment into orange! This is an example of gene interaction — where one gene changes the expression of another.
Calico or tortoiseshell coloration is the result of something called X-inactivation (also known as dosage compensation). Female mammals (including humans) have one X in every cell inactivated (shut down) as an embryo. In approximately half the cells, the paternal X (one from the father) is expressed, and the other half of the cells the maternal X is expressed. So when you look at a calico cat, where you see black fur –that came from one parent and where you see orange fur, that came from the other parent. Thus all female mammals are genetic mosaics!
Kissy: Wow, that’s amazing. And complicated! How many genes are involved in determining a cat’s fur color?
Dee: Many! Here are a few of them:
- Agouti vs. non-agouti: Provides the lighter fur background with striped cats.
- Black vs. non-black
- Color deposition: Determines how pigment is deposited, and also affects eye color.
- Dilute vs. non-dilute: Gray is a diluted form of black and tan/beige is a diluted form of orange.
- Spotting: If two dominant genes are inherited, a cat will have white on more than 50% of their body. If a cat has one dominant and one recessive gene, then the cat will have white fur on less than 50% of their body. If she gets two recessive genes, there will be no white on the body!
- White vs. non-white: Just one white gene and the whole cat will be white! It is called a masking gene. A white cat could have the genetics to be a calico, black or any color cat but the white gene hides the other genes’ expression and the cat appears all white. White cats are not albinos unless they have red eyes. Albino cats are extremely rare and albinism is the result of color deposition and not the white gene.
- There are also genes for tabby stripping, silver tipping and seal-pointing.
Kissy: Wow, that’s cool. I must have one dominant and one recessive spotting gene because I’ve got a little white spot on the end of my tail, and that’s all the white fur I’ve got. Anyway, Mama says some purebred cats are more likely to inherit certain illnesses. Are there any kinds of inherited illnesses or problems that tend to occur more in orange or calico/tortie cats than in the general cat population?
Dee: Not to my knowledge.
Kissy: Are there other sex-linked inheritance traits in cats (other than the obvious plumbing and hormone stuff)?
Dee: Many! Believe it or not, most genes on the X chromosome have nothing to do with sex but how the cells in the body work. Fortunately, there are few sex-linked genetic disorders known to occur cats.
Kissy: Any other cool stuff you want to tell me about orange cats, calico cats and sex-linked inheritance?
Dee: I think it really cool that cat coat color is used in virtually every biology and genetics textbook to illustrate X-inactivation and sex linkage. My students must solve genetics problems, and predicting the appearance of kittens is fun!
Kissy: One last thing: Mama says you run a cat sanctuary. Would you like to say more about that?
Dee: Shawnee Om Shanti Sanctuary is a living memorial to my daughter and only child, Shawnee, who died unexpectedly in 2001. It started with me feeding feral and dumped cats in the woods where I used to live. I gradually had shelters built for them, trapped and had them spayed/neutered and vaccinated. Last year I was forced to move, so we built the cats a swell two-story house, complete with a play yard and fenced to keep them safe. We are continuing to work on it — the “Cat House” has electricity, is insulated and has heat and fans. Soon we will be adding a big porch to the cat house! I hope to post videos of the sanctuary on YouTube in the near future. We are located in South-central Pennsylvania.
JaneA Kelley is a punk rock cat mom and award-winning blogger. She is a regular columnist for Catster Magazine, and she and the Paws and Effect Gang share a home in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
I really enjoyed our interview Kissy! And you have GREAT genetics as you are a most beautiful kitty!
*purrrrrrr* Thank you, Dee! Mama and I sure do appreciate your taking the time to answer readers’ questions. You should see the comments on our Facebook page, too — apparently our talk has set to rest some concerns a reader had about the lifespan of her ginger tabby … and you even shared a couple of things that a vet didn’t know! :-)
I have an orange female tabby. Last spring she turned 18 years old. She has been an outdoor cat for most of her life. 2 years ago she got hit by a car and it fractured her pelvis. The vet said she would not require surgery but she would heal. She said that my cat wouldn’t be able to run ever again and that she wouldn’t be able to jump or climb. Despite the odds of a full recovery, my cat Goldie will run, jump and even go for walks with the dogs still. :) She had a fast recovery that surprised every vet that she has seen since. She is a strong cat that is even more loving now then she ever was. I look forward to the next few years with her.
Maybe you should bring her inside ?
Can’t believe after something like that close call and the rare occurrence of such a recovery you have not done so.
Believe it. People suck at caring for cats. Elderly cat gets hit by a car and fractures her pelvis – let her back outside! Shameful and heartbreaking.
She never stated she lets the cat outside on her own anymore…just that she simply takes her for walks with her dog… lighten up 😬
Hi I have a female orange girl as well. My tigger is so special as she has 6 toes. Yes 6 toes. I was told when I got the cat it was a boy with 6 toes.
I just never thought anything about it until yesterday. I was brushing my baby and found he is a she. Lol.
I have 2 kittens I adopted from an 8 kitten litter. (A lot of kittens!) One is a tan and white male and the other a orange female. They both carry Egyptian genes. Someone found the calico mom and adopted her, brought her in to get her spayed, and found out she was pregnant. I now know what Luna’s (the orange female) dad looked like, which is pretty cool. Not exactly sure what Solis’ dad did, because due to the vast number of kittens, our vet believes there were multiple fathers. Out of all my friends with orange cats, my one friend has a short haired male orange and a long haired female orange, and another friend has a short haired white and orange male. However, in her litter, there were two other orange males, but both had some white on them. Luna is completely orange.
Fun fact- we did not know the mom’s name when we adopted, and since we kept in touch with the lady who took care of them and got them adopted, we found out the calico mom is named Luna as well!
This is my cat Jingle Bells. My son got her for me for Christmas. She was born Nov. 16, 2007. She is very picky but if you let her come to you she is the most loving baby.Every night she has to sit under the faucet in the bath tub until she feels like she has had a good enough shower.Then she comes to you for loving and for you to put her bed with her blanket and tuck her in.
Very interesting Kissy, and I would love to see pictures of that two-story cat house. Maybe in a future post?
Dee said that she’ll share some videos of the place on YouTube, and when she does we’ll definitely share them here and on our Facebook page.
My 2 female oranges were born from a non orange mama cat. She’s a Siamese.
I know cause I was there when they were born and I know they are female as I’ve had them spayed.
Great post! One of our daddy cats was orange, and we had orange kittens, many girls, as the moms were either calico, tortie or brown patched tabby, therefore all carrying the orange gene too…and that makes one from each parent. Your explanation is understandable to ‘lay people’ too, which is nice as so many genetics books are way complicated!
*purrr* Dee must be a great professor, too, because it takes a great teacher to help people understand complex stuff like genetics.
wow – thanks for the info.
Mama and I were delighted to write this article because we learned a lot of cool stuff, too.
And here I thought ginger cats rocked because we were linked to the king of the jungle. Now you’ve gone and let the cat outa the bag. What am I gonna DO??? Why’d ya hafta go write such a good article???
Just meowin’…
Aww, Brew– don’t feel bad. We’re still the kings and queens of all we survey! Tee hee hee!
Wow, Kissy, you are a writer and a journalist! We’re so proud of you.
Love, Churchy and Tereza
Sex-linked orange cats are 51% male and 49% female.
FaRADaY: MOWZERS! We loves the science stuff too! We give this four paws up – waaay up! (But canz we still call you a redhead, that’s what we wanna know!)
Maxwell: uhh, Miz Kissy, I just gotta say you make a pawesome rePAWter. Are you gonna do morerepawting in the future?
Whew, our heads are spinning and it’s not the heat! We’ve seen about the same number of orange girls as orange boys, but they’ve mostly been orange and white, not so many solid orange or marmalade–and some people call them red and some call them yellow, they must be awfully special to have all those names!
We learned about tortoiseshells years ago, and again when Mimi and the Fantastic Four joined us and they are all black, except JB who has actual white spots; everyone has a few white hairs. But Mimi was obviously careful about an all-black papa for most of her litters, and in fact there were two in the neighborhood in those years.
As an agouti and orange kitty, I was fascinated by this!
Mewsies, Kissy! My Meowmie KNOWS DrDee! She was even at her Wed-wink! AND even got to see the original Shawnee Om Shanti Sanctuary.
Dr Dee is a wonderpurr and fascinating purrson. All mine Furriends at CF2 yahoo group love her and all her kitties. and there a bunch of ’em!
On a purrsonal note, one of her Kitties, BeanerBoy is one of mine special furriends. He is orange with white bib and feet,
The interview was very insightful and easy to understand. Uhmm, I have a Calico face with white bib, tummy and paws and four white feet, but my back is brindle. I am a happy mix-up of colors!
Thank mew for sharing this with the world!
Purries
AmberRose
Hi, Kissy- you are a rocking kitteh! I have two lovely longhaired orange boys with very fluffy plumes -they were admiring your pics!- and they have a longhaired blue sister, and a shorthaired black deceased sister and their momma is a longhaired tortie, predominantly blue. I’d like to see someone figure out what color that daddy was! Thanks for the info.
Kissy – I’m an orange and white girl kitty. Am I rare too? I have a cousin who is a boy cat colored like me, but he has more orange than white.
I’m also very happy with my new forever family. They rescued me from the porch when it was really cold out. They took me even though I had a really bad infection and two breaks in my leg. It took me a long time to get better, but my human sister tells me that I probably won’t get very big…I only weighed 3.8 lbs at 5 months and now that I’m 8 months I weigh a little over 6 lbs. I hope you have a meow-velous day!
Hi Kissy! I’m a dog and I found your bloggie cuz of Mr. Jackson Galaxy. I just HAD to come over and read it since I have two Angel Kitteh siblings who were orange tabbies. One was Ripley and he was a boy. The other was Molly and she was a girl! They were littermates and my Mom knew that their Momma was orange cuz she met her. But now we know that their daddy was orange, too! This was a super great and Most Informative postie. Thank you ever so much!!
Wiggles & Wags,
Mayzie
Hi Kissy,
Thanks so much for your article. My name is Molly, and I’m a tortie… My real name is Mulligan. Which is a do-over in golf. Since my Man, who loves golf and my Lady lost their tortie, Chelsea in 2005, they named me Mulligan. As I was a do-over of Chelsea. They adopted me and my brother, KiKi (male tuxedo) together in 2006. The Lady wanted another tortie but just couldn’t look at me as it made her cry since I looked a lot like Chelsea. But low and behold, I snuggled up into her lap and KiKi came over and snuggled up with me. I was soaking wet from her tears as she looked down at me, she smiled big and told the lady at Pet Smart that she would take us home… So, I guess one of my parents was orange!!!
Kitty Kisses,
Molly
Great info! My boy is a big beautiful orange tabby. Out of a ltter of 6, with a black & grey tabby mom, there were 5 black & grey kitties….and one orange one! It was such a huge surprise to see him in there with all the others! We’d taken the momma in as a stray (found homes for everyone & they promised to “fix” ’em!)
But back to my boy! Thank you for the wonderful info. Now I know much more about why he looks the way he does! :)
Soft Hugs!
jo (momma to Pumpkin)
A friend & I were recently discussing the orange/female cat issue. Thank you for providing all of this great info! And thank you for doing what you do for the kitties. Always love to hear about passionate feline caregivers!
Very interesting, Kissy! We’ve had 5 orange females over the years. Right now we have two very orange females (one with many black whiskers!), and a beige/tan female who some say is actually a muted orange.
Dee, I was hoping for some statistics. For instance, what percentage of orange tabbies are male/female? BTW, I had a wonderful orange tabby named Punkin who was AMAZING!
Wonderful temperment!
I was discussing this exact thing with a friend who has an orange female just the other day. Here is something interesting, my black make and my tortie female had a (solo litter) solid ginger kitten, male. I think that goes against what the expert said, if I understand it correctly. (No worries. That kitten has a wonderful home and they have since been spayed and neutered. This happened when they were very young and I didn’t think they were capable yet. I learned a valuable lesson)
Dexter here! Thanks for all the awesome info on us Ginger (orange) kitties! Love your site, gonna stay connected. Visit us if you have a chance!
We have a female orange tabby cat! She was the tiniest of the litter, and we had no idea at the time how very special she was (and is!).
This was very interesting! I had no idea how complex the coloring genes were in cats. We have two orange kitties in our house – 1 male and 1 female :)
Great post! We had a female orange kitty and everyone told us that was rare. She must have had 2 recessive genes as she had no white on her.
Orange kitties rock!
I have an orange girl kitty and she is the best mouser!!! I have 2 other cats a brother sister gray/white shorthair and they just look at the mice and then take a nap!!! Tigger hears just a hint of prey and she is off on the hunt. I once found 3 dead mice under my bed (there was NO smell) Tigger had left them there for a late night snack. She’s a mushie, especially at night when I’m trying to go to sleep!!
Thank you for sharing! I have an orange boy and I always wondered why orange boys were more common than orange girls.
When I took genetics in high school, my stepdad used our calico cat to help explain mosaics to me and how this occurs gene-wise. :)
Hi Krissy,My Kitty Bonesy was all white when we Adopted him with just hint orange on tios of his ears.
now 14 years later he had more than 50% of his Body is orange.
he has Blue eye’s and is the most Bluest eyes I have ever seen.
he’s my Baby and never been 1 day with out me we Travel everywhere together.
your Mama sounds like a wonderful Mama she really loves you .she is so very Lucky to have you as her Baby..
maybe next time she will post more Pic’s of you and Her..
till next time Krissy..
sue and Bonesy…
Wow! Thanks for sharing this. I was told one of my orange cats was a female when I adopted him, and I knew it was pretty rare. Turns out it is a boy though, and I began to wonder if it is possible to have an orange lady cat. Now I know the answer.
Hi, Thank you so much for teaching me why it took me such a long time to find an orange missy cat. A year ago, a friend told me about this neighbor who had kittens (well, not her but her lady cat). One of them was a little orange girl. I just jump on the occasion and got myself a pretty little Fantine that is an adorable compagnon. And her mother was a calico! Anyway, thank you for the info.
I didn’t know most orange cats were male! My cat Sally is an orange female tabby and I also had a female orange tabby growing up named Bets. Sally has a chicken allergy though, is that common to orange female cats? But as long as she eats her limited ingredient green pea & salmon food, she doesn’t scratch. I just love orange cats, they are so beautiful!
Very interesting!!! Makes me see my kitties in a whole different way! Thanks for posting :)
We have a dark tortie whose mom is calico.
The tortie has just a few white hairs on the back of her neck, so of the three toms around at the time, we figure her dad was the tuxedo. The litter contained the tortie, one tuxedo, two orange & white, and one tabby.
And mama’s fixed now, so no more babies for her!
HI, I loved the article! I was wondering if you could direct me to where I could find out more information about cat colors. I have a male cat with a long tail, legs and ears that’s base color is grey with a cream color on his stomach and a few other small spots. The cream color is tinted orange and under the grey you can see markings that resemble the markings on a Bengal cat. He is a very interesting looking cat along with an interesting personality. Thank you!
Amy
This is the most interesting article on gene and coloration I have read in a long while. I will definately share it. I hope you are able to continue your work with the ferals.
Hi, that was a great article. When I first left home and moved into my apartment, I found a orange male tabby I called Calico. Than there was long-haired Alfie , than organgeTosca, offspring of a male long-haired orange Persian father and a cream colored Siamese-cross mother with auburn markings. Tosca had. short hair , inquisitiveness , high energy-got to be in the midst of things Siamese traits, with the happy disposition of a Persian. But he looked like neither parent. How is that possible? I had to find him another home because my allergies kick in if I am around Persians. Tosca now resides with a family that fosters cats and loves his new role as foster dad to new arrivals. I am told he does an amazing job with the ferals they take in. He always did love to be around other cats. Hi , I am Monkey-Poo, I am a female blue tortie with a small patch of white hair on my shoulder, how did I get that way? Much enjoyed your artickule, pawsome.
It is funny that Dee talked about cat coat used in biology textbooks. I remember sitting biology 101 in college being very bored and daydreaming, and then all of a sudden the professor had a picture of kittens on the screen and I suddenly woke up. It is one of the lessons I remember the most.
Thank you for the interesting information. I have 3 10-year old orange tabbies from a litter of 4. Two of them have a tiny bit of white on them, and two are solid. They and their mama were rescues. I know the daddy was an orange tabby, too, but what was remarkable, and had my vet scratching her head was the fact the mama was a flame-point, long hair Siamese (flame-point meaning her points were orange). In that litter of four, she produced two females and two males. All of them are short-haired and striped orange just like daddy. Again, thank you for the info.
I have a pride of kitties in my home of all colors, including a true Albino! Chaos was the product of an albino boy & a calico mom. The resulting litter was 5 kittens: 3 albino boys, a black girl, & a mackerel tabby girl. His eyes were originally bright unsettling pink as a baby, but now they’ve settled to a soft purple color. Truly striking!
Thank you for your very informative and interesting article. I volunteer at a local cat rescue which I enjoy immensely. I am trying to work out how I can enclose my yard to prevent my cat from escaping, (he has figured out how to use the extra large dog door, so I keep him and all his gear in the bathroom from dusk until morning daily). This keeps him safe as he can climb our seven foot high fences even with his nails kept short. Any suggestions would be most welcome.
I’m in S central PA also. Are you involved with a cat rescue here?
I have a total of 23 cats. I was looking for the rarity in the orange female. I have a new set of three kittens, the female one is a more solid dark orange with the white marbling. Oddly tho, the mother cat is a black/grey tabby, but I am positive the father is orange (he is an orange main coon and fathered our other two kittens with a solid black female, one tortie and a solid black long hair). Strange mix, have never seen a female orange kitten come from a non calico/orange/tortie momma. Her momma was also a black/grey striped cat, and has a grey striped brother and tortie sister, so the orange gene has to be in there somewhere…
This was fascinating!
I was a shelter administrator several years ago and while there, we acquired a lovely female orange cat. Her stripes were very muted so in some light she looked overall a very nice apricot colour. We called her Rosebud. And then we discovered that she was pregnant. We sent her to a foster home as there was some feline virus or another going through at the time. We sent her to one of our most valued volunteer’s family’s home. A bit of a mistake as the volunteer’s Mom insisted that Rosebud and her babies should not be disturbed and the kittens were half feral. She didn’t dare contradict me though when I went to see them and I gave them all a good dose of handling.
What was interesting about them from my point of view was they were all Siamese. There were four boys – all flame points – and two females which were seal points. This combination I assumed was due to an absolutely Siamese male. Rosebud was a stray and there were no shortage of stray Siamese males about. But everyone of the kittens was very definitely Siamese. Points, blue eyes, shape and attitude.
I adopted one of the males and he has never lost that little bit feral aspect. He loves me and likes to snuggle against me but he won’t let me pick him up or cuddle him at all. And he’s very suspicious and hostile to strangers in the house. He’s now 11 years old and not likely to change his ways. He’s not a lap cat, but he’s endlessly entertaining.
Well how lovely to meet you and you are beautiful :) our ginger girl Dinnermintz is our second ginger girl :) she came along as a foster of mine..after three times home with me to get well we just had to adopt her and not long after we had to say goodbye to our 17 year old ginger girl..so was meant to be :) a great post and very informative..and yes everyone even new vets assume she is a HE :) hugs Fozziemum
Is it true that one litter of kittens can have several fathers?
Hello, my name is Amazing Grace. Long story, my five sibs and I were up for adoption, a brother and sister were adopted. Mom cat got mad and took the rest of us off to the woods. My adopted mom came to get me and of course, I was not there. So she said “If I ever see that little kitten again, it will be by the Amazing Grace of God.” Well, four days later, my yellow tabby mom took us back to the house and my adoptive mom was able to take me home. My interesting story is that there were five of us kittens in the litter and we all looked exactly alike, no dab of white anywhere, no different face shape, no size difference, we were absolutely identical. Of course three boys and two girls. But it was so amazing no tiny difference of any kind. We are a bright orange color, with beautiful necklaces and bracelets and even those were the same….exactly. Mom cat was sort of a faded yellow color and her markings were not so pronounced. Dad must have been like a light bulb turned on though, our color is intense.
I truly enjoyed reading this interview! Thank You both Dee and Kissy for explaining the colouring values of cats! I truly enjoyed learning how my cats got their colours. I have a black and white male, a orange tabby male, a calico female, a white and black spotted female, a honey tanned male and a calico striped female tabby.
Dear Kissy,
I’ve enjoyed your article and the many responses. One Lady asked how to keep her kitty inside a back yard. I used to (over 20 yrs ago) have an adult care home in the middle of Phoenix,and each lady had her own cat, so it was absolutely necessary to devise some way to make sure all kitties could always be accounted for. I did just that after much innovative thought! The back yard was large with a 6 foot fence, and as I recall, the total cost for additional materials was about $30, and less than one day’s work. If you would like, I will type up the instructions, etc., and send to you to forward to whomever you wish. Often thought of trying to sell the idea, but I’m now 82 and I’d rather just have people be able to have a good kitty-proof back yard. P.S. I rescued a tiny orange feral kitty 12 years ago and she is my best friend!
I have an orange female taby cat .sometimes she can be really anoiing she will try to get out any time she can:-/
I really enjoy reading about orange tabby cats i got an orange tabby cat for my bithday /christmas present the other day he is a kitten his name is Jack Barry i want to learned everything about him and thank you so much for some of the information about the orange tabby cats
Thanks for the info, Kissy and Mama. We recently acquired a little stray orange kitty and thought it was surely a boy cat. We were surprised to learn that she is a girl. Her name is Pippimary, and she is a lot of fun. We have fixed her pretty feral mama and feed several fixed feral cats in our neighborhood.
Just wanted to say that I have long haired orange female named Marmalade….
My tortoise shell cat got pregnant by a black and white cat does that mean the Orange baby is a boy?
Yes it does, and please have your cat spayed! >:(
Agreed. If you have a cat, A) why are you keeping her outdoors where she can get knocked up? Cats allowed outdoors have much shorter lifespans than strictly indoor cats, and suffer from many more illnesses. B) Why haven’t you spayed her? The world doesn’t need more cats when there are so many at the shelter waiting for a home. Please be more responsible as a cat owner.
who are you to tell people how to be a responsible cat owner by getting them spayed? i look at my cat as my own child, and she just had her first set of kittens, and i love them as my own as well. some people look at cats, as FAMILY and not just some animal to love on when they’re down. do you practice what you preach? do you foster cats until they get forever homes? do you rescue stray or pound cats? you know how many cats i have currently, that i foster and give forever homes? how many strays i took in? i have over twenty, three just had kittens and they ALL have separate areas to nurse and protect their kittens, would you tell your daughter to get a hysterectomy because the world is overpopulated by humans? or your son a vasectomy? no, you wouldn’t would you, so you spay and neuter your cats all you want, but i continue living my life as a cat lady happy and loved. so dont try to shove your views down another’s’ throat!
You wouldn’t ask your human child to get a hysterectomy or vasectomy, no but human babies are not being killed by the millions due overpopulation like animals are. I think of my cats as my children as well and I do practice what I preach. I have fostered, adopted, rescued and TNRED cats for many years. I urge you to educate yourself on the benifits of spay/neuter and the effects that one unspayed can have on the cat population. Animal shelters across the country are overflowing with unwanted cute kittens that you are creating on purpose. Please stop.
Again people can do whatever they like so if they clearly disagree with your point of view please refrain from continuously trying to shove it down their throats. You can’t tell someone they are uneducated just because they don’t agree with you. One can understand your logic but not come to the same conclusion.
For example you say spaying would prevent cats from over populating clinics but it will also weed out the human friendly genes that cats currently have because obviously cats that trust humans would not have children and the cats that avoid humans would. See now should I tend you to educate yourself? No I’m not that rude.
The best solution would be to tax for cats, sounds absurd and unlikely to happen but it would stop humans from breeding to many kitties, but also encourage human friendly genes in them.
Anyways people will do what they wish as they have their own conclusions and goals.
I know you love your kitties and don’t want to neuter them. If you did though, just think how many you could take home from the rescue centre if you didn’t have kittens to take care of. Then they wouldn’t be put to sleep. Not all rescue cats are feral or unwanted. Sometimes circumstances play a part for example, the owner may have passed away or the cat may have got lost and the owners not found. We all love cats – it is those who are cruel to them we should be against.
BTW her is my ginger baby girl Pickles. She is adorable.
Terrific. Now spay your damned cat and swallow!
Well, outside they are exposed to disease and cars and it’s dangerous. They can get lost and you never see them again. Inside they are safe and sound. As for spaying, there are too many cats without homes as it is. Breeding means more cats to compete for finite resources and forever homes. And, not spaying or neutering increases a cat’s chances of getting cancer. Allowing a cat to have just one litter increases that chance. So no, I would not risk my cat’s life just so kids could “see the miracle of birth.” Just not a good idea for several reasons. Anything that contributes to pet overpopulation is a bad idea so although I’m sure you have the best of intentions, spaying and neutering is important.
Well she could be breeding… she never said that she let her cat out to go get pregnant by a stray… she could just be stating the she bred her tortoise shell cat with a black and white cat. People just jump to the worst conclusions. Not saying your right or I’m right I’m just saying get the facts first…
I have a one year old female yellow and white cat . I have owned many cats in the past . My cat Honey West to sooo very sweet, she acts more like a dog. She is very routine , she plays ” FETCH ” and likes to go OUTSIDE to go to the bathroom. She gives me kisses all the time . I love her so very much .
Out of the 10 cats born, three of them are female orange tabbies. One pure black male, one beige siamese female, one halloween-colored female like their mamas, and 4 orange tabby males.
I had a orange cat she was so nice and sweet my brother had to put her down she was only 18 almost 19 loved her very much
My childhood pet was a female long haired orange tabby with a white bib, paws, and tail tip and amazing green eyes. She was a real beauty and so so sweet, her name was tangie short for tangerine
I have a female orange flecked tabby that has very dark orange rings around her tail. The mother was a mackerel tabby cat, so does that mean the father was orange? I also have an all-black female cat that has several white hairs. Some on her chest, one or two behind her left ear, one near her tail, and a couple on her head! These hairs are always white, while the rest of her is jet black!
I love having the sun on my face and the grass under my toes and would be depressed if I had to watch from a window my whole life.
We’ve always had cats, passing away from age 13 to 22 years old.
We were taught about animal overpopulation as kids so we spayed/neutered all our pets and we adopt.
I’m 58 yrs. old and the over population problem still remains.
Midnight, a kitten, came from our vets office where a pregnant stray was dropped off Midnight went on to have 1 litter for the kids to ‘experience birth’, (highly over-rated) then was fixed. The kids kept 1 kitten, Tigger.
Tigger lived for 22 years. (old age)
Midnight lived for 13 years. (kidney failure)
Kitten Boy was abandoned in a park and was eating out of trash bins. I thought he was 3 months old for his size; He was 8 months old. He was so hungry, he’d steel sandwiches off the counter and run. Kitten Boy passed at 13 years old. (cancer)
Whiskers was 4 weeks old, left in a dumpster on a 90+ degree day. She is 15 years old and still here. In the summer, she choses to live outside, only coming in to eat.
FOR PEOPLE WHO DUMP CATS OFF IN WOODS- CATS DON’T AUTOMATICALLY TURN WILD AND SURVIVE. Our cat whiskers catches birds in the air, mice shrews, etc. We moved, kept Whiskers inside 2 weeks until she refused to use the cat litter box (she prefers to go outside) so we let her out. She was gone 12 days. We found her at a house for sale 1/2 mile down the road, skin & bones. We nursed her back to health, built her a cattery with a door into the house. This spring, she slowly started going outside again, through the cattery. Now she’s plump, happy, in and out the cat door day and night, but sleeps in the house.
WE ARE GUARDIANS OF ALL ANIMALS ON EARTH, SO STICK YOUR NECK OUT THERE, BUT DON’T TAKE ON MORE THAN YOU CAN CHEW. =)
i have a girl tabby cat and the cats name is pixie and she ls verry cute to and! she ls verry loving all so to and she ls rare
My cat is a ginger female, although her belly and chest and paws are white! She’s so pretty :-)
Shes pretty
She is so pretty. I hope a can find a female with her ginger coloring.
I think the ratio of sex linked orange cats is 51 males and 49 females.
Wow that’s amazing not only do I have a kitty that looks the exact same she is also a polydactyl that we found eating our trash. Took her to vet and found out she’s pregnant. Hope we can find them all homes, and she will be fixed asap. Thanks for the information, great to know.
I have a orange female her name is Baby Girl.
Thank you for this! A handyman just visited my apartment and was so happy to see my female orange cat. He told me that only 20% of orange cats are female, so I had to look this up. Thanks for the great explanation!
I have full orange short hair cat he is male and he has pick ears and a pink noise and strips run from his tail to his head he is my baby and he is a pretty 2yr old cat.
This is Tig-Tig, she came to live with me after her owner, a friend of mine passed away.
Our cats look identical. I just picked her up and began noticing how many ginger kittens have such similar features.
Any idea what she will look like when she grows up? this is mine, her name is Cashmere.
This was my lil guy in April of 2009…
This was my lil guy before getting fixed..
They sometimes get larger after being “fixed”.
Some people see a pic of someone else’s cat an state that their cat is obese an needs to be on a diet,etc. No honey, he’s been neautered! Gotta love the keyboard know-it-alls! Lol.
And now no matter how little we feed him or how much we TRY to get him to play..
HAHAHAHA!! Cats do live tubs and sinks…when they’re empty. Lol. He’s adorable!
Yeah, she will look the same but bigger.! Lol. ?
A stray was dropped off pregnant near my house 2 weeks ago, yesterday morning she gave birth to a pure white (for now) boy my moms calling Zeus and a CONFIRMED by a vet little orange girl we’re calling Djinn
I rescued my baby girl, Pumpkin, from our back alley around 6-8 weeks of age. She is almost 5 now and I just discovered how rare she is as a female orange tabby while at the vet getting her vaccinations up to date. She was already special to me and the best cate I have had, but this makes her even more of a gem in my book!
My orange manx/ tabby female mix, SweetPea. I just love her golden eyes… ?
she looks like a slim version of my Bella 😂 https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ecc829207a87d9c174d5c655a3f4e6f6fc64d43b3dccc3f148bdb2c447e785a7.jpg
This was so much fun to read! I was looking for info on this because my daughter and I saw a little orange girl at an adoption center the other day. Of course, we were ready to take her home, but my husband and I are in a stalemate about possibly adopting a Maine Coon (his favorite). I don’t care, I just want a sweet cat. I just did some research and wrote a blog post about cat ancestry ( UnderstandingIsLoving.com/how-cats-domesticated-themselves/ ) that made me love cats even more. I hope you’ll take a look :) Thanks for this post!
I fostered a cat for a month and a few days, and he looks just like yours! I have never seen a cat like this before, and I thought his fur was so beautiful. He left a few days ago to a new home and I already miss him so much, he’s just a little baby. :,) at least I know he’s fine and I could take care of him, took him of the streets and gave him food, water, love and warm blankets for a month https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c6acb6b9f84460aa465c0160d9f3ca52f8e0cafede5f4cb037517560de2c74b4.jpg
Look at that! Great job fostering! If it makes you feel any better white with orange cats are known as jerks for their prime years (1-3 years old). My cat Trout absolutely fit that mold. He’s finally coming out of it though!! I love this look, they look like those buttered popcorn jelly belly jelly beans >.<
YES! They absolutely are. Eddie (this little pumpkin) was so calm and lovely, but super annoying when food was on the game. and i don’t know why, but EVERY TIME i tried to pet him, I almost lost my hand. several times.
And my mother have another one, ginger with white belly. His name is Max and he’s 2yo. He’s just a jerk since day one. We HAVE to pet him, he demands. He keeps screaming when we’re eating to give to him too, even tho he already ate. And if things aren’t just like he wants, he pees every place you can think of. HE PEED ON MY GUITAR! I don’t know how i didn’t kill him. The only one who is kinda of an angel is my 5 months old, Maggie. My baby Calico. (I’m defending her, but she’s kinda a bitch too, lol.)
The part about the male father cat MUST be orange is not true.
My male pure black cat was the father & my tortie female cat had 1 orange kitten out of 5 kittens. (The others were 3 pure black & 1 torti.)
Inside or outside cats?
Inside obviously!
But was the orange kitten male or female? If it was male, it could have received the orange X from its mother. If it was female, it’d also need an orange X from its father.
He was male.
I have a one year old orange female tabby who is a loving, playful, and gets along with my two yorkies
“Kissy, I’m just looking over your pics and you’re purrrfect.” -Oscar
I have a ginger and white (or buff and https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5e54995c8fc1c4a272278f556345c299584d7a6de953041da6b55d3b481d6a0d.png white,im not really sure which) marbled tabby female kitten named Lillian! Shes beautiful ,i rescued her and her siblings from outside,i found them in my backyard. Their mom was a feral tortoiseshell,and from reading this i now know that Lillians dad was orange! Ive heard that cats can have kittens by multiple different male cats tho,so all the kittens might not have had the same dad. In the litter i rescued there was Lillian (ginger and white),Phillip (orange),Moo (black and white harlequin),Tiger lily (tabico -tabby calico),and Cheshire (grey/silver tabby).
my ginger girl bella is 11 now and i had no idea female ginger cats were that uncommon 😮 heres a photo of her as a kitten and her now 😊 shes my big tubby baby ❤ https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/97cc5978951fa324d588f0bc48feab63f8c9aee429cfc4a668945aa97f57fff9.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/76e33ee6a94ca19b8fc728a074d5b58af1bc9f7440515fccf0837b96cea1752b.jpg
Can anyone help me out… My tan (not orange) and white female had 7 tan kittens. They are almost 8 weeks old. This cat has had a verity of colored kittens in the past and I usually post them for free but there have been times when someone picked one up and said how rare it is. Are these kittens rare? Like I said they are not orange – 5 of them are pure tan and the other 2 have a little bit of white one them also.
I have three orange females.
My one female just had a litter of 4 orange kittens!! Don’t worry…..they all will live on my farm and help keep our home mouse free!! It’s a ginger army!!
Im so lucky my mama had 1 ginger and white female and she is such a sweet little thing.. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9fd8a8b0ac218e03bbc4343c2d41b188350e1db9e5ef0995fad59862400900e8.jpg
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I have been trying to find out about my cat. She is a long haired yellow cat and my vet says was born without a tail. She has yellow eyes too of course, since most of the photos I see are just that. I have never been a cat person, but I rescued this one and she won’t leave me alone. lol Seriously I rescued her from the top of a neighbors house in the winter with snow on it. I thought she would scratch me as I got her down the ladder, but she didn’t. She was nearly starved to death and I fed her and locked her in a room with a pigeon I had on the mend. Oh, I do sound like a crazy old woman, but she gained weight and then I gradually let her out. She wasn’t too sure about the greyhounds, but just kept her distance. Now years later, we moved and our son was taking our old house. He wanted the cat. I of course was glad to be rid of her, not that I have anything against her. We have down sized to chihuahuas now after losing the greys to cancer one by one. Well, the cat stayed there about 6 mo. and on one visit she ran out the door and jumped in my car. She had never been in that car before, but she got in the back. I took her home and told the kids to come and get her. They said that cat knew where she belonged. Now she sleeps at my feet at night. She uses the dogs door for her business, but doesn’t leave our property. Is very quiet, no meows, except when her food bowl is showing the bottom. She is a very big cat about 12-15 lbs. We have had her for about 10 years now and I have no idea how old she is, only that our vet says that she had been fixed. I do know that the previous owners had been evicted from the house that I found her on top of several weeks before. I guess I will have her till one of us dies. I never had a cat to lick my toes before. Oh, her name those kids had named her was Tinkerbell, I call her Tink.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f4915f8eec45bc6d137dc4017adee7a8148754321ece44b86c80f863bbcf4ade.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c92b5b121a4041c4f6b83c79c64dfc3d7072a9f59200a4bb81aa44af64521105.jpg
I enjoyed reading this about the orange tabby cats, my male is on the left, he is part Turkish Angora and
is 5 years old now. My female is on the right, this picture was taken about a year ago she is about 18 months old now and an absolute sweetheart
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I am searching and searching for a little sister for my little man (Scupper)….an orange long haired would be over the top!!
I just had my kitties to vets for there pre neutering consultation I have a ginger female called amber and a toitoise shell called coco they are both sisters from same litter and get on resonably well live them to bits
My tortie colored female cat bred with an orange male. It was her first liter and she unexpectedly had 8 babies. 7 orange tabby cats and 1 “look-a-like” tortie. Shockingly enough, we recently discovered 3 of the 7 orange tabby’s are females. Is that really uncommon.
i have a orange female tabby and all nine of her kittens were also orange ,so what color would their father be?
We’re guessing orange because (we think) you need two orange cats to produce nine orange kittens!