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.
All the ginger cats I have ever had were either ill-tempered.or weird (e.g:shirt-suckers).
The last one I had (which was a female), was actually the meanest cat I ever had and tortured the other one so badly that he had to be put on antidepressants.
I always say that is why orange cats are used for cartoons (such as Heath cliff and Garfield) and for the books such as ‘I Could Pee on This and Other Poems’ and ‘How to Live with a Neurotic Cat’…
I did not know that most ginger cats were female until the vet told me a couple of years ago. He said that when ginger cats are female they tend to be petite. My girl was—-she had the smallest paws I ever saw!
I’m no mathematician or anything but I’m pretty sure that was only 6 facts…. not 10!
But the 6 that were there were pretty true! I’ve had 3 Orange cats so far, one has passed away and believe me when I tell you, you NEVER forget them, no matter how much time has passed! The two that I still have are inseparable! Not biologically brothers but you’d never know it!! Ozzy the youngest (4 years) still acts like a kitten and so incredibly smart it almost scares me! And my other one Moggie is the most cuddly guy you could ever meet! Just loves laying in my arms like a baby!! I have always and will always ONLY own orange tabby males! I just love them so much!!
We’ve had 3 orange or ginger tabbys. Billy Dunk, Rusty and Taffy. Billy D and Rusty were hard out orange tabbies but Taffy was a more delicate creamy colour. All beautiful unique animals. Billy Dunk once chased a seagull down Bondi Beach and beat up a friends dog that had wandered onto our property, They were loving loyal furry friends and I miss them all. Reading the Rainbow Bridge gives me comfort to think I will see all my fur babies again one day xxxx
My swirled kitty (Tebow) likes that when he is in another room he meows loud until I call him and say"Tebow the baby".than he comes running. And we have an outside ticked (agouti) cat that we call Mommycat because she takes care of the younger cat’s and she has been around the longest. Love all of my cat’s.
My 9 yr old is anti social, resembles a Mainecoon, loves just looking out window. Wakes me up 5 every morning and just watches what I do. Doesn’t like changes at all, nor will he let anyone pick him up, I have a very hard time getting him to groomer because he’s too big and strong for me.
He has never hurt anyone but will run if anyone tries to get near him. Beings it is just him and myself I think he just don’t trust anyone to touch him. He knows my every move, whatever room I’m in he’s right there.
He is still my baby, just wants “us” in house !! ❤️?
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