All cats are special but orange-colored cats are in a league of their own. Who doesn’t love a gorgeous ginger colored moggie? There are plenty of famous orange cats attesting to their popularity and fun loving spirit. Here are five fun and fascinating facts about marmalade-shaded cats!
Famous Orange Tabbies Abound
Everyone loves Garfield, an irascible cartoon cat who just happens to be orange. Other famous orangie cats include Winston Churchill’s cat who was named Jock, and a feline named Stubbs, who was voted in as the honorary mayor of an Alaskan city. And you may remember the cat named Orangey, who starred in Breakfast at Tiffany’s—he stole the show!
Orangies Love to Eat
Orange cats love to eat! Ok, all cats love to eat, but orange cats will never miss dinnertime. They love it all, three square meals and snacks to boot. This means that careful pet owners should be on the lookout for signs of obesity and stop that right in its tracks. Being overweight can cause all sorts of troublesome (and expensive) problems that kitty doesn’t need.
One Gene Is Responsible for Orange Cats
Did you know that fur coloration is due to specific genes? The gene responsible for the lovely shade sported by orange cats is called pheomelanin. This gene can also be “diluted,” which just means that a dark orange cat can give birth to kittens ranging from light orange to very pale orange that looks cream in color.
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Orange Cats Are One of Five Tabby Patterns
All orange cats are tabby cats, and the classic tabby pattern has five sub-patterns–all have a distinctive “M” shape their forehead. A classic or swirled tabby pattern makes the fur appear to be swirling and sometimes there is a “bullseye” mark on the flanks. Conversely, a spotted tabby looks as if the swirls are stripes that are broken up.
A ticked tabby pattern results in the fur looking like a solid color. But the fur is “banded” with each strand having multiple colors. From a distance, the bands blend together, and the moggie looks like one color.
A mackerel tabby has a long stripe running down the back, plus stripes that spread out from the spine and encircle the legs and tail. Finally, a patched tabby or tortoiseshell tabby has black and orange coloration and is seen only in females.
What?????? Four well behaved orangies???? pic.twitter.com/9R1StLseAm
— Cats with Aura (@catwithaura) November 15, 2025
Some Orange Cats are Female
For every three male orange cats there is roughly one orange female walking around. Thus, it’s not true that every orange cat is a male! But it is true that every orange cat is special.
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