Hey Pam! and anyone w/ ginger kitty experience......

[Gina]

My youngest is a ginger and white tabby. You told us you have a ginger, on the "q" about weird tastes....well, you said that if he knows you have yogurt he won't give up, meowing constantly. Well, I have 7 critters http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif, and Rufus the baby is the same. He's more persistant, and never shuts up giving out! He really does go on. The others do let there presence be known but not like he does! My "q" is this: is this a particularly ginger cat trait? Yours does it, mine does it, .... http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/redface.gif am I talking out of my hat? Can anyone add to this/ (please tell me I'm onto something, and not talking through my hat http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif)!!

[4 feline house]

Of all the cats I have owned and fostered, only one has been orange (which is what we call them across the pond), but he was also pretty persistent and mouthy when he wanted something, whether it was one of his treats (he was the olive eater I mentioned in a previous post), wanted past a closed door, or even wanted in my lap when I was busy doing other things that prevented giving him attention. He would even resort to tearing through the house if he felt I was ignoring him, because he knew that drove me crazy and I would eventually give in to what he wanted if he started on one of his tears! So maybe it is a ginger/orange trait.

[Pam]

Hi Gina and other orange tabbie lovers! My orange Tabby, Trevor, (aka Mr. Orange Man) is definitely very insistent in getting his point across in other areas too. If I should close a door and he wants to be on the other side of that door he will scratch and scratch and meow and meow until you just have to open it for him. My other cat, Andy, will give up after a couple of minutes but not Trevor! He will keep it up until he gets a human to give in to him! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif My husband says he has me programmed, although I have seen him open the door for him many times too! He will not be ignored! He also loves to be brushed. He will occasionally go to where I keep his brush and meow and meow. He really gets into the whole brushing thing. If I should open that drawer to get something else out he is right there thinking that it's "brushy time" and then the non-stop meowing and rubbing up against me starts! These are his main personality quirks....the yogurt, closed doors and brushing. He definitely makes his desires known and I am there to fulfill all of his wishes! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif

[4 feline house]

Spencer-Don't want to dwell on anything really delicate, but my orange tabby (Toot) was neutered as a kitten, but when he was about 5 he persistently "mated" with some in-season fosters I had! I thought maybe he was "tetched in the head" so, even tho he's gone now, I'm glad to hear he was probably normal!

I had once made the observation that I had never known of an orange girl, did the research, and discovered a figure close to your 60%. They went on and on about how orange was not really orange, it was the absence of black - I'm pretty smart, but my eyes starting crossing by then and my quest to learn cat genetics was very short-lived! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif

[gini]

Hi,

I was adopted by an orange tabby about a year and a half ago. My neighbor, the owner
of an orange tabby for over 20 years, says that orange cats have an "attitude". Well,
Mr. Rascal showed up with just that attitude.
You had to admire him as he announced to all of the females in the neighborhood that he was visiting again. However, it was always
2:30 - 3:00 AM. It was clear he had no home and was in the market for one, and he decided that I would do. We made a little
trip to the vets and he has forgiven me.
He still holds his tail up just as high as
always. Talk - he never shuts up - but he
has so many vocal sounds that it is just fun
to figure out what he is trying to say.
Actually he is a very good communicator because it doesn't take too long to figure out what he wants. He loves to be combed
and brushed and he drools all over the place.
Does anyone else have this problem with orange tabbies? All I know is that I am
just nuts about him and very happy he chose
to live with me.



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[Helen]

Hi to all you ginger freaks. I've always had a soft spot for ginger boys, but I think this came partly from my ancient grandmother, long dead now, who came from an old farming family in the north of England. They naturally always had cats, needed them for rodent control, and her attitude was "we try to only ever have gingers, they're simply the best cats!" She was quite convinced of this. She meant in terms of catching mice, health, and generally being trouble-free in most ways. I think as well it came down to the fact that the majority of gingers do seem to be boys, as in those far-off days, neutering was uncommon, and they didn't want hoards of kittens around. I've been fortunate to have had one ginger gentleman, Oliver, who was a complete star - but of course, so is my lovely black and white Sadie!



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Helen

[Gina]

Well gang! No one has contradicted the general consensus! Orange/Gingers are full of verbals, mainly male and very loveable. Don't you guys think it's fun to watch them throwing shapes as they walk around our homes, like they own it, only to bring forth the most wimpish sound ever to come from a male...."meow"?, I half expect a lions roar from Rufus! This "q" has been great fun! Any one new who wants to post, to agree or disagree, jump on in! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif !

[Keds]

My childhood pet of 18 years was an orange (no white) female cat. I was four years old and wanted an orange cat, and the dandelions were out in May, so she became Dandy. She was beautiful, loyal, brave (she survived getting locked in the neighbor's shed for two weeks), sensitive and a wonderful algebra tutor who would happily sit on my books to relieve my frustration. She lived with one dog and three other people, whom she all ignored until I left for college. She was not very vocal at all, though she would very patiently wait for her one piece of popcorn she was allowed once in a while. When I came home for college, if she happened to be outside, I would call her and soon she would come running from the woods. She always drooled when she was happy; she drooled a lot. I feel like I buried my childhood when she died, and though my husband and I now have a great seven month old black and white kitten, Simon, I miss her. Here's to orange kitties.

[Karen]

Anyone else have a girl orange kitty? Maybe it's just the boys who are so vocal!

[Gina]

Well, a friend of mine has Rufus'(my ginger/white) sister, who is also ginger and white! Their mother is tortie/calico. In Ireland we call the type a tortie! Correct me, but calico ie tri colour, I think is the same thing. Anyhow, getting back to Rufus' sister: she's a piggy! she's persistant about food, not as vocal as Rufus but gets her point accross,and she drools, just like him! She sleeps more, and at 15wks old, she certainly sleeps more than him! She's all I got to go by http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif!

[Sia2]

Originally posted by Karen:
Anyone else have a girl orange kitty? Maybe it's just the boys who are so vocal!

I have three kitties, with my youngest being a little orange female, Callie. Someone had thrown her out of a truck and my boyfriend just happened to be following behind the car. He pulled over and found the most precious completely orange tabby kitten I had ever seen. So, of course, we kept her and now she's almost full grown at nine months. She is the loudest, whiniest, most persistent cat I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. She cries to have the bathroom sink on, she cries for your straw, she cries if her food dish isn't completely full, and she cries if she any bedroom door is closed. My mother has a siamese who is pretty vocal, but Callie has him beat. My other two are pretty quiet (two littermates, a black female, Shadow, and a gray male, Whisper), so maybe it's an orange cat thing. : P

[andi666]

The love of my life,Dio, was a big orange Tabby.(We lost him to cancer two years ago) He was the one to turn my husband in to a cat lover. Dio was eveyone's buddy,personality plus!He could always get his point across,through actions and through "words" he could talk your ear off.Boy, if he didn't like you he would let you know. We had a friend of my husband's stay with us one summer. The first night he was with us Dio peed in his suitcase. The second night He peed on his head while he was sleeping. We never figured out why Dio didn't like our friend, but we were lucky he could laugh it off.
I love the two kitties we share our home with, but Dio was "THE ONE"

[4 feline house]

Following up on Gina's tortie/calico "side thread" - in most of the books I've referred to, it says that most cat fancy clubs consider the tortoiseshell to be only black and orange, and consider a calico to be black, orange, and white. In one book I read it went further to say that in reality (and this was a book on genetics) a calico is nothing but a tortoiseshell and white, and after informally studying (I've had two calicos and a tortoishell point-the most unusually colored cat I've ever seen- in the past) I think that's true, and all the calicos I've seen have the typical "and white" pattern. Anyway, for what it's worth...

[Gina]

OmG! LOL! they stories here are so funny! Andi, re: peeing ing the suitcase, ands on the guys head! LOL! I can imagine your reaction when he told you LOL!

4 feline house: I just wasn't sure, thanks for clearing it up, fair Play! You know what they say? "Everyday's a school day!"

Anyhow, Rufus' mom is the "w/white" colour http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif

She's just georgeous!...Gina!

[daisy]

Back in 1993, we adopted a tortoiseshell-and-tabby stray whom we named Cherry. She gave birth to four kittens, all females, and two of them were orange, which we named Ginger and Honey (one of the remaining cats was colored like her mother, the other one was beige). Among the kittens, it's the orange cats, Ginger and Honey, that were the most vocal. So I guess being vocal is an orange cat thing, regardless of gender! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif I myself was not aware that 60% of orange cats are male until my vet pointed that fact out to me last weekend. Anywho, this message thread has been really informative! And I love the stories! Give your ginger cats a kiss on the forehead for me!

[Gina]

Hey people! did you see the cat of the day photo? Peanuts and Pumkin! Ah! the cutiest ginger puddings I ever did see http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif !

[Gina]

Hey Spencer! way to go! a new purdytat! Wow!...but...eh?...by "foster" do you mean you got to give her back?

[4 feline house]

To add to Spencer's info-
Some of the groups that have shelters also have foster programs, to decrease the number of animals that have to be euthanized. For instance, the North Texas Humane Society has a very large shelter, but still does not have enough room for all the healthy, otherwise adoptable pets. Nt only are they a non-profit animal welfare organization, they also contract with alot of the smaller Fort Worth suburbs to provide municipal animal control services, and they are also the official cruelty investigating authority for the western part of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, so even with their large facility they are short on space. (Yes, Spencer and I are neighbors!) So they accept volunteers to foster animals. NTHS will screen the potential adopters, who will adopt the animal while it's still in foster care, or take back the animal when it is ready to be adopted, for instance, a litter of babies that were weaned in foster care. There is no need to take them to the adopt-a-pets in these situations, because their adoptions are handled through the shelter. The adopters visit your home with a shelter employee/volunteer, or you can take the animal up to the shelter for a potential adopter. That way you don't have to worry about strangers coming to your house. Most of the shelters that have foster programs will handle medical care, but food is up to the foster parent.

It's a very worthwhile and noble thing to do if you have the space and time, and no pet restrictions in your lease. Let's all hear it for Spencer, and anyone else out there who fosters! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif

[Linelle]

Cosmo is our first orange cat. I had been told they are something else, and it's true! He's incredibly sweet and has a very expressive face for a cat. He's always been a biter when he plays, or to say, that's enough. He's also been Cat of the Day!
http://catoftheday.com/archive/2000/April/17.html

[Catcrazed]

Our ginger (Orange) Tabby never shut's up! She must be part Siamese as I've heard they are very talky indeed.

[Catcrazed]

And she is Definitely a she! Few! She gives new meaning to the phrase catty. She is suuuuch a gossip!

[nsweezie]

Orange is my absolute favorite color for cats. My Scooter is orange and white, and he is a real talker. He meows all the time, when he wants something, or just to let me know where he is.
Scooter had 2 brothers and a sister in his litter. One brother was orange like him, one brother was black, and Scooter's sister was orange too.
I have one question- does anyone else's orange cat have freckles? Scooter has several on his nose, and around his mouth. My vet said that freckles are actually quite common in orange cats.

[This message has been edited by nsweezie (edited June 10, 2001).]

[4 feline house]

Yes! In fact, my vet said it was a virus that usually showed up by the time they were adults, but it does not make them sick or anyhting, so you don't have to worry about it.

[Pam]

Yes, Trevor has those freckles. The vet also told me it was common in orange kitties.

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[Gina]

This is goin' a while! Wow!

"Cosmo":- What a fantastic Ginger specimen! He's georgeous! Hhhmmmm!

Rufus has freckles either side of his nostrils, which make him look as though he's been digging in the dirt! He actually does dig sometimes....weirdo cat! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif !

Also, he's not the baby anymore, Merlin is and he's black, with the palest green eyes I've ever seen in cat!

[Buddy2101]

Hey my ornge kitty Hoss never meows only when he feels he is bing miss treated (being picked up touched looked at) but our other ornge kitty Buddy never will shut up he loves to voice his opionino! But for that we are great full because oen day we were out fora walk and he got scared slid out of his leash and took off. We formed a search party. We were walking and we were yellign kitty kitty buddy !! (the neigbors thought we were crazy) But here we are yellign so we sarted t ohead home when we ehard a meow! We all yelled Buddy and startd to call him! He was hideing under a shed! So eb thankfull fro your kittys voice!


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Nikki and Buddy

The Egyptians thought cats were Queens, cats will never let us forget it

[Pam]

Spencer...I have that picture framed on my wall!! It is precious! It is from the David McEnery collection "Classic Cats" if anyone is interested. Each year I buy his calendar! Love those photos!


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[Pam]

Andy is on my PC background. It's a close-up that I took of him that I just love. I love seeing his little face pop onto my screen when I turn my computer on each day. http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif

[Gina]

Wow! Spencer!

I am actually wearing a t-shirt w/ this hammock kitty on the front, right now!! The signature is "Harrison!" http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif

[AvaJoy]

I am finally getting around to sharing a picture (hope it comes up!) of my young ginger tabby, Meeshe. I at first thought he was to be a blonde tabby, but his coat is darkening. He was wandering about in town on Xmas Eve morning, and with a zillion errands to run I STILL couldn't stop thinking about how friendly his approach seemed; he immediately rubbed up against me as I knelt down to pet him, then tried to jump onto my lap. So on Xmas day I took my cat carrier and went back into town looking for him - no luck. In the evening I went again looking, and was successful.

Before I could take him to the vet, he stayed out on the porch (I have an elderly female cat inside) and I spotted him up on the roof several times! Quite communicative; he would jump up and hang by his front claws on the door so he could look in the door window and meow, as if to plead: "Why can't I come inside with you??". He is quite a character, and has the sweetest disposition. He has one dark whisker which looks strange because it doesn't match his coloring. I keep waiting to see when it will shed so I can save it. (I save the claws and whiskers that my Lily cat sheds, if I happen to find them. How eccentric is that??). The tip of his tail is white, not ginger. Seems to me the tips of most orange or ginger cats tails are dark, yes?

Sadly, he is FeLV+ and when the vet's office called to inform me they wanted to know if I still wished to go ahead and neuter him, or . . . Well, my response was: "Of course proceed with neuter" as he deserves to enjoy whatever life has to offer. It may not be a long one, but I will do whatever it takes to make it a comfortable one. He is thus far asymtomatic and enjoying himself immensely! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~jemdoll/meeshe1.JPG



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Regards ~ AvaJoy
=^.".^=

[This message has been edited by AvaJoy (edited June 27, 2001).]

[AvaJoy]

Yes, not to worry . . . I most definitely am keeping him separated from Lily. See my previous posts (sorry but I don't know how to include a link here.)

[Cattal]

We have finally gotten a chance to post in the Ginger Kitty forum. The past 3 weeks have been very difficult for Max and his humans...

In some ways we human's miss his middle-of-the-night antics (did I write THAT?!) that used to drive us crazy - like tearing into our bedroom and racing across the bed - with us in it. Sitting on my nightstand and knocking everything onto the floor . . .then he'd look to see if the human's notice. . .if we ignore, it is on to the next item until he gets attention (and he always manages to get it)!

Last night he was in pain, but he still managed to pound on the basement door because it was closed (Heaven forbid!). With his injury, he is not supposed to go up/down stairs, but don't tell that to Max. (For anyone who hasn't read about Max's injury check out the thread in Cat General "Hello and thank you . . .")

He also can talk up a storm - sometimes it sounds like his reply is "back talk" so I say: "Are you sassing me, boy"? He'll do it again and I'll say: "That's what I thought!"

I was not a particular fan of ginger kitties before we got Max, but I am now!

Question for all of you: Max is about 16lbs. Are your ginger's big? We usually feed him Iams Less Active but he's still big. When Max was a kitten a vet told me he was going to be "a BIG cat" - the Dr. wasn't kidding! Max is really rough and tumble - he's like a miniature linebacker. We feel lucky to live in his "Empire"!

[Pam]

Hi Max's Human...Somehow I missed the posts about Max and just now went back and read them all. Poor poor baby! I sure hope that he starts feeling good soon. It's been a long time! I had a toy poodle once who jumped up at the door once and twisted as she jumped and then let out a yelp. I could tell immediately that she had done something to herself. A call to the vet got her on the exam table in no time and placed on steroids and she recovered very quickly. It sounds like Max's solution is not that easy. I feel for you because I get myself all in knots when one of my furkids is ailing. I sure hope your next post will have some encouraging news.

To answer your question about weight...I think my Trevor maybe wins the prize for the heaviest orange kitty on Pet Talk. :o He had topped out at 22 lbs. at one time and now maintains about a 20 lb. physique. Just like Max, if he wants to be on the other side of a closed door he will pound until he gets his way. :D He also eats IAMS less active and once in a great while he will get a treat of Fancy Feast. It's really hard to monitor what he eats, though, since I have two cats. Somehow I think Trevor gets the lion's share. Keep us posted about Max!!

[ August 04, 2001: Message edited by: Pam ]

[Catcrazed]

My kitty, z-13, has freckles

[Cattal]

CUTE Ginger Tabby Kitten! (http://today.iwon.com/pet.html)

I also like to check out the pet of the day at Iwon.com - if you check today - 8/10 follow the link. If another day, go to Iwon Pets, and click on 8/10 from there. Too cute! Makes me *almost* wish Max could have stayed a kitten!

BTW, it is Friday evening and we still have no more news than we did before we took Max to the vet. As a matter of fact, he had to stay an additional evening. We miss him terribly. They did some sort of scan on him today - I hope it helps. To think I was looking to buy pet insurance just a few weeks before this incident!

Be well.

[4 feline house]

Did they say why he has to stay overnight again?

[Cattal]

4 feline, he had to stay the extra night because the Dr. did the major tests on Friday instead of Thursday. Because they gave Max anaesthesia (I know that's spelled wrong, sorry) they require an overnight stay.

Please visit the "Hello and Thank You ..." thread for the latest . . .and keep the positive vibes coming...

[Cattal]

Max's spinal fluid analysis was NORMAL! Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayer's - we're just going to give nature a chance now. Max needs time to heal ( as do our wallets!)

Be well! :D

[sammi]

Wonderful news!!!! Hope everything stays normal. Happy for you and Max! :)

[yorkster]

I wish I had seen this subject before (I'm a pretty new member). It is interesting and now I know why both my cats are the way they are! I have a seven year old half Maine Coon and the other half I don't know. He was a sad little stray I brought home one day years ago. He had such personality that I fell in Love with him! What a talker he is. Sometimes loud, sometimes just a sqeak, sometimes a little 'chirpy' noise. All I know is that he always has SOMETHING to say! He is also very playful, but at the same time easy-going. He luvs to be held upside down so he can look around the room like that. He also likes to play fetch and climb up onto the most impossible places- he'll try anything. And when he wants attention, (which is often) he is very affectionate- gives big kitty kisses in your ears. He is obsessed with human ears! When I met my husband, he had not really been around cats, and was not to keen on it at first. Well, it took about a week of being around my cat and he was hooked! Now when he comes home from work the first thing he does is find the cat and spend a good half hour with him. We recently just got another orange & white boy kitten (7 months now), and talk about attitude! He is also a talker with quite a variety of sounds, and demands a lot of attention. I have had a lot of cats in my life, but my two orange boys have personality plus! I guess now I know why. It's orange/ginger cats for me!

[NoahsMommy]

Meshee is such a cutie and reminds me of my little Noah. He is a light orange tabby kitten and has the same coloring on this tail. What cuties!! :D

I hope Meshee is doing OK, that is so wonderful of you to take care of him and love him. He has good humans! :)

[NoahsMommy]

Doh! I didn't know there were TWO pages...oops!

I hoep Max feels better too! Poor baby! :(

[AvaJoy]

Thanks, Noah's Mommy ~ Meeshe is doing so well that it is hard to believe he is FeLV+. His build is lean, yet every time I pick him up he feels heftier, which is a good sign that he is putting ON weight; not losing it. Last vet visit he was thought to be anemic (pale pink gums), which indicates a serious downward turn for FeLV+ cats. However, labs showed no anemia, so the vet now knows his natural coloring is a bit on the pale side . . . what a relief!

Have you posted a picture of Noah anywhere? I'd love to see Meeshe's lookalike! :)

Also want to send get well wishes to Max ~ such an ordeal he has been going through ~ hope health returns to him very soon! :)