Orange Tabbies

[Karen]

Originally posted by lovemymaltese
Inever knew most tabby's were males, what an intriguing fact.

It's not that most tabbies are male, it's that most "orange" tabbies are male. Any other kind of tabby it's not predictable. The reason is " a female orange cat can only happen when both parents carry the red(or orange) gene. That is why most orange cats are male; only one of their parents need to carry the gene."

[Randi]

Karen, that's interesting! I didn't know. I'd like to be able to go back and see Fister's grandparents. Fister and his sister was the last litter his mum had before she got neutered, but before that, she had 5 totally black kittens.

This is Fister's mum and sister

[krazyaboutkatz]

Originally posted by Karen



It's not that most tabbies are male, it's that most "orange" tabbies are male. Any other kind of tabby it's not predictable. The reason is " a female orange cat can only happen when both parents carry the red(or orange) gene. That is why most orange cats are male; only one of their parents need to carry the gene."

That's very interesting because my first cat Puff was a female DLH orange tabby and her mother was a DSH orange tabby. Puff had two litters of kittens and they were all orange tabby's. The father was also a DSH orange tabby. Some were going to have long hair and some were short hair. She had six in the first litter and five in the second litter. I seem to remember that there were quite a few females. I don't know what Puff's father was.

[yorkster]

Originally posted by Randi
Yorkster! How is it going with the little orange boy? Are you keeping him??

Well, yes we are keeping him- I kinda new that would happen (I admit I was sort of being sneaky, cuz I knew my hubby would not want to let him go- hehehe!)
We named him Rudy and I will post some more pics when the film is back. His best buddy right now is the dog!

[Kitty Cass]

Well I just had 3 weeks of holidays and got to spend so much time with the kittens - I need to take more photos this week as they've changed so much! They're 9 weeks old now and tearing the place apart!

Their eye colour started changing a few weeks ago - Frodo's eyes are almost all gold now, to match his fur. The other three are much slower to change, they're still sort of slate blue with the gold lightly starting in the centre outwards.

[yorkster]

Yes definately, we want to see some new pics!

[krazyaboutkatz]

I second that motion. Please post some new pics.

[soleilani]

Here's a picture of my orange and white tabby when he was a kitten. His name is Alfie, he's now 8 years old. He's pictured with his best friend, Solo, who passed away March 2002. Alf had a bit of a meltdown after Solo died, but he has two new friends and he's back to his happy, playful self now.



Soleilani

[yorkster]

Soleilani, I can't see your pic
Welcome to Pet Talk BTW

[yorkster]

right after i posted that i could not see your pic, it came up
Both of your kitties are beautiful!

[mspoisel]

Found this on a website at http://www.westcoastcat.com/scratchins/orangecats.html:

Are All Orange Cats Male?

Are All Calico Cats Female?

Dear Tabby explains the Birds and Bees and how your Cat’s Colour is Determined


All cats have 19 pairs of chromosomes. These chromosomes carry genes passed down from a cat’s two parents, and these genes determine a cat’s physical appearance, innate intelligence, susceptibility to disease and so on. There’s a copy of all 19 pairs of chromosomes in every cell of a cat’s body.

Like humans, cats have one pair of sex chromosomes. These are the ones that make them male or female and they play an essential role in determining a cat’s colour. In females, both sex chromosomes are X making girl kitties XX. Males are XY, the Y making them male. A kitten gets one chromosome from Mom and one from Dad. Moms only have X’s so the variable is given by the Dad, if he gives his X, the kitten is a girl, if he gives his Y, it is a boy.

The gene which makes a cat ginger (orange) is located on the X chromosome. The gene for ginger will override all other colours. Since males have only one X, they either are or aren’t ginger - no halfway about it. Girl cats have two X’s in each cell. As far as the cells are concerned two X’s is one too many, so each cell deactivates one of the X chromosomes in a fairly random fashion. Sometimes the ginger X will be left on producing a bit of orange fur and in some cells the ginger X will be turned off and the genes for black, brown or other colour fur will be produced. And there you have a Calico or Tortoiseshell Cat.

Since males only need to have the orange gene on one chromosome to become ginger, and females have to have it on two, ginger males outnumber females 3 to 1. To show both orange and another colour such as black or brown a cat has to have two different X chromosomes per cell. Therefore calico (or tortoiseshell) female cats outnumber males by at least 200 to 1, some stats go as high as 3,000 to 1. When a male tortie does appear, (a result of a mutation producing two X’s and one Y) he is invariable sterile and exhibits feminine behaviour such as nurturing nearby young.

Why do we have so many orange and white cats? Because white isn’t a colour but the absence of colour. The genes that cause the suppression of colour are stronger than the genes for any colour including the mighty orange. Since white isn’t a colour and is merely hiding the genes for colour, white cats often produce coloured kittens.

All this talk about birds and bees! - I’m taking a break and going hunting!

[Kitty Cass]

My Josephine's babies prove the 3-1 orange theory - there are 3 males, one female!

Here are photos from yesterday, they are 11 weeks now. Sheesh do I ever love them!

[Kitty Cass]

Here's Sam

[Kitty Cass]

and Merry

[Kitty Cass]

And my princess Mathilda (Pippin just wasn't a feminine enough name for her!)