8 Things You Didn’t Know About Orange Cats

MyFriend Team
- April 7, 2023

Orange cats have been taking over our hearts way before TikTok, more specifically, it started in 1978 with the Monday-hating lasagna-eating character like Garfield! But these marmalade-patterned felines aren’t just famous for their adorable looks. Their quirky, friendly, and affectionate nature was what really won our (and the internet’s) hearts.

Photo credit: Wikipedia

Even the cat emoji is an orange cat! 😺💖 These little furry ginger extroverts are full of surprises. In honor of their clumsiness and playful nature, MyFriend has gathered the top 8 things you didn’t know about orange cats! Let’s check it out 👀

Any cat can be an orange cat 🍊

No matter what feline breed, they can be a marmalade masterpiece! Although it’s more common to find ginger cats in Persians, Munchkins, American Bobtail, British Shorthair, Bengal, Maine Coon, Abyssinian, and Egyptian Mau cats, they can appear in all breeds.

Almost impossible to find an entirely orange cat! 🐈

All orange cats are tabbies! That means they all have a pattern that either consists of stripes, whorls, spots, and you name it! Full of differences, the cause for this is because all orange friends have the agouti gene. This gene variation is expressed as the alternating of two or more colors in their coat. So that’s why you’ll never find a solid-colored orange cat!

They have something in common with red-headed humans! 😮

Ginger cats actually possess a pigment called pheomelanin in their genes, which gives them their orange color! This pigment also exists in humans with red hair, so they both share the same exact compound that contributes to their luscious locks!

They are playful like the rumors say so! 🧶

As cited by a review from Karen Wu, an assistant professor of psychology at California State University, LA, male orange cats tend to have higher risk-taking behaviors compared to their female counterparts. Making them more open to approaching humans, and less adverse to taking risks – which might result in the playful and affectionate behavior we can see!

Black spots around the lips 👄

If you have an orange cat, you might’ve noticed that they have little black spots on their nose and lip area. These spots are harmless! They’re called lentigo and it’s from a genetic condition that increases a specific type of pigment-producing cell, called epidermal melanocytes. All orange cats are susceptible to these little black specks around their nose, eyes, and gums! These spots don’t just come up in orange cats, but they can also come up in felines of all colors and patterns!

There are more males than females! ♂️🐱

According to Dr. Jarold Bell, a professor of genetics at Tufts University in North Grafton, Massachusetts, over 81% of orange cats are male. The reason for this is that the orange gene is carried on the X chromosome – so a female cat will need to have the orange gene on both X chromosomes, whereas the male orange only needs the gene on one X chromosome, as males have X and Y chromosomes.

They’re pretty famous felines

As mentioned before, the obsession for ginger felines didn’t just start after the internet took over. From Jonesy from Alien (1979), Spot from Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), The cat from Catdog (1998), Puss from Puss in Boots (2022), Bob from A Street Cat Named Bob (2016), to of course, the infamous Garfield (1988) – it can be said that the world loves ginger cats – and therefore Hollywood does too!

Why is Garfield orange? It’s just common sense! [According to his creator]

Ever wondered why Garfield was orange? According to the book In Dog Years, I’d be Dead: Garfield at 25 published in 2002, Jim Davis, the creator of Garfield mentioned that the reason was that “In my head, the sky is blue, the grass is green, and the cat is orange.” reflecting on the question of why Garfield was orange. To Davis, it just makes sense!

There’s just something so adorable and charming about these orange cats. Whether it would be their physical appearance, mischievous nature, or adorable personality, they have earned their place in our hearts.

Do you have an orange friend around? Let us know if you found any of these cool facts interesting! 🧡

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