The gene for an orange coloration is found on the X chromosome. Female cats have two X chromosome while males have one X and one Y. So, what gives with that orange coloration?Īs usual, it all comes down to genetics. As usual, it will come down to breed and environment, as well as how it is raised. You could just as easily end up with an orange cat that is standoffish, loves to play, and is food picky. (Mind, they were all bigger cats, so there might be something to the loving food part of their personality!) Orange cats are also said to be very tolerant, intelligent, and easy to tame.ĭo keep in mind though that these are generalizations. I have met extremely affectionate orange cats that came running for attention the moment they saw me and extremely standoffish orange cats that needed a longer period of time to get to know me. In actuality, most of a breed’s personality is going to come from a combination of their breed(s) and how they were raised. Orange cats also have a reputation for being the friendliest cats and for loving food! (A big chunk of this might fall on Garfield for perpetrating the myth). Orange cats can also develop black freckles on their mouth and nose! These are almost always harmless, but if they start changing in unexpected ways, talk to your vet. No one quite knows why there’s an M on their head, but ideas from range from out and out legends to being good camouflage for their eyes when they are hunting. Orange cats also often have white on them, such as on their chest, belly and/or paws and their stripes are darker than the rest of their coat.Īll orange cats have the distinctive M shape on their forehead, though it may be more or less obvious. No matter what type of pattern your orange cat has, it’s always going to look striking. They are less common than the mackerel and classic tabby coloration and are often confused with the mackerel or classic tabby. Their spots are darker in color than the rest of the body. Bi-color spotted/Patched: Patched tabbies have the spotted pattern but marked more as patches rather than swirls.But they do have the tabby markings on their forehead and their fur is striped with dark or light brown bands, so they are tabby. They don’t have spots or stripes and it can be hard to see that they are tabbies. Ticked: Abyssinian cats almost always have the ticked orange pattern (when they are orange).The spots may look a lot like stripes though and it’s unknown whether the spotted look comes off the mackerel gene or whether it’s entirely separate. Spotted: Instead of being covered in stripes, these cats have spots all over their sides (but still stripes on the tail).Classic tabby: Most common type with bold swirling patterns on their back and random dark and light orange swirls on their bodies.It’s called ‘Mackerel’ because ideally, the stripes look like a fish skeleton Mackerel: Mackerel, or tiger, have the stripes running down the side of a cat with even spacing and no broken lines.The correct coat name is ‘orange tabby’ because pure orange is not a color that exists for a cat. Orange cats are not a breed unto themselves, but there are characteristics that can be found across multiple cats of this coloration.Īs noted, ‘orange’ is a bit of a misnomer. What are the Characteristics of an Orange Cat? Orange cats can also be known as ginger or marmalade colored, depending on the owners. Orange cats tend to have gold, bronze, or green colored eyes, though like all cats, they are born with blue eyes. There are five coat patterns in orange cats: classic tabby, spotted tabby, ticked tabby, patched tabby, and mackerel tabby. They always have white on them as well though and some sort of patterning, either stripes or spots or sometimes both, as well as swirls. Orange cats can be found across multiple breeds and can be both long hair and short hair, and their orange shading can range from being quite muted to very bright. In fact, all orange cats are some version of a tabby – you cannot have a solid orange cat! (That would look rather strange, come to think of it). Orange cats are not a breed at all, but a coloration that comes off the tabby coloration. Interesting Myths and Facts About Orange Cats.What are the Characteristics of an Orange Cat?.

Orange tabby cat with green eyes