# What's with all the Orange Tabbies? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 27, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-orange-tabbies/534039 "2010-03-27T18:42:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-orange-tabbies/534039/21 "2010-03-28T01:07:05Z")
Because ums a big fattumus? Yes hims is. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-orange-tabbies/534039/22 "2010-03-28T01:35:54Z")
> [@sweetie pea](#): > > I’m so jealous. > I’ve turned over every damn calico and tortoiseshell I’ve ever met since I was a little kid, and I’ve never seen a male. You might be interested in [this](http://www.amazon.com/Cats-Are-not-Peas-Genetics/dp/0387947965) book, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-orange-tabbies/534039/23 "2010-03-28T01:52:43Z")
So what cats on TV haven’t been orange tabbies? On _the Simpsons_ Snowball I is white and Snowball II is black ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-orange-tabbies/534039/24 "2010-03-28T02:06:52Z")
Cartoon cats are all kinds of colors. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-orange-tabbies/534039/25 "2010-03-28T02:10:11Z")
Does [this cat](http://www.flickr.com/photos/7971087@N03/2559981833/) count as an orange tabby? The color in the photo is quite accurate; she is a washed-out orange color that I have heard referred to as “buff” or “champagne.” FWIW, she is the most dog-like cat I have ever known. She loves everybody and will come greet guests with great affection; she isn’t the least bit shy. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-orange-tabbies/534039/26 "2010-03-28T03:10:30Z")
> [@Countrypolitan](#): > > I have an orange male. He’s super friendly towards me, but he’s a big fraidy cat with strangers and loud noises. He doesn’t have a problem smacking the dog, though, even though she’s 10 times his size. You just described my [Buffy](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v220/Guinastasia/Kitties/buffychair.jpg), except that she’s female. She’s extremely affectionate with the family, but she’s terrified of strangers and noises as well. (In fact, whenever there’s a thunderstorm, she kind of skulks low to the floor, like she’s trying to sink into it.) We also have a lighter, more “buff” colored orange female, [Luci](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v220/Guinastasia/Kitties/luciandannie21.jpg), who just turned a year old (that’s her and her sister, Annie – sorry, I haven’t uploaded any newer pictures – she’s gotten a lot darker since that picture was taken, although not much bigger). Luci, on the other hand, seems to like loud noises, or at least, she’s indifferent to them. Despite Buffy’s shyness, I’ve noticed that she seems to be smarter than the others. I have read the orange cats tend to be more intelligent than other cats. (No cite, sorry!) ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-orange-tabbies/534039/27 "2010-03-28T03:44:34Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Does [this cat](http://www.flickr.com/photos/7971087@N03/2559981833/) count as an orange tabby? Yep. She probably just has the recessive “dilute” version of the color-density gene, which tends to wash out colors to a variable degree. > [@](#): > > FWIW, she is the most dog-like cat I have ever known. She loves everybody and will come greet guests with great affection; she isn’t the least bit shy. Just anecdotally, my [Rupert](http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff114/Timur_photo/cats/IMG_3942Large.jpg) is exactly the same. [Big](http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff114/Timur_photo/cats/IMG_6173Large.jpg), [goofy](http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff114/Timur_photo/cats/IMG_6138Large.jpg) and [dog-like](http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff114/Timur_photo/cats/IMG_3964Large.jpg). To the point of “jumping up” on strangers like an ill-mannered dog ( rearing back on his hind legs, with his front paws on someone’s leg ) and playing tug-of-war with toys. He loves everybody, climbing all over strangers and especially adores my neighbors’ two large dogs. ETA: > [@Guinastasia](#): > > Despite Buffy’s shyness, I’ve noticed that she seems to be smarter than the others. I have read the orange cats tend to be more intelligent than other cats. (No cite, sorry!) Might be true in general ( I have no idea ), but I’m pretty sure mine is a happy idiot :D. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-orange-tabbies/534039/28 "2010-03-28T17:15:17Z")
I think my boy Becket (on the right in [this photo](http://www.image4u.org/host/file.php?userid=interface2x&file=elliebecket.jpg)) is pretty smart, but mainly in the most annoying way. Like he’s figured out the most mischievous way to act and the best way to get around my attempts at stopping that behavior! Luckily, his sister Ellie (on the left) is extremely laid back and on occasion even a little skittish. She is mostly orange but has a tiny bit of white near the end of her tail. ---
**Author:** ![Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nefarious_chipmunk/32/1045_2.png) [@Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefarious_Chipmunk)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-orange-tabbies/534039/29 "2010-03-28T17:43:59Z")
FWIW, my orange cat,[Rajah](http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h292/heraldgwena/DSCN0022.jpg), is easily the most trainable cat I have ever had. He learned to ring a bell, to be let outside, with almost no effort and he would have learned to use a toilet if his sister, [Lucy](http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h292/heraldgwena/Pets/DSCN1895.jpg) hadn’t been so opposed. ---
**Author:** ![Tabithina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@Tabithina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabithina)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-orange-tabbies/534039/30 "2010-03-28T18:05:22Z")
My orange cat is probably the smartest one I’ve ever had. He likes toys that involve something dangling from a stick that we wave around for him until he gets tired. When not in use, these toys are kept in a plastic shoebox on top of the fridge. When Seymour wants to play, he hops up there and selects a toy with his teeth and claws, drags it to the edge until it drops, and meows until a human notices that he is bored and in need of entertainment. He can be aggressive, but responds to training pretty well, especially considering that he was a feral kitten when my son found him, and we had to slowly socialize him before we could touch him. I think that if we had gotten this kitten when he was a bit younger, he would have been the right type of animal for filming. [Kitty pic.](http://s54.photobucket.com/albums/g116/LaughingLark/Seymour/?action=view¤t=talktothepaw2.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-orange-tabbies/534039/31 "2010-03-28T18:44:56Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Does [this cat](http://www.flickr.com/photos/7971087@N03/2559981833/) count as an orange tabby? The color in the photo is quite accurate; she is a washed-out orange color that I have heard referred to as “buff” or “champagne.” > [@Tamerlane](#): > > Yep. She probably just has the recessive “dilute” version of the color-density gene, which tends to wash out colors to a variable degree. Interesting, we had two buff males (uncle and nephew) and both of their moms were orange tabbies. I always wondered how they got to be that color 🙂 I didn’t realize that orange females were supposed to be unusual considering we had four of them when I was a kid, and only one of them had any non-orange to her. They were all related, though, mom and her three daughters. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-orange-tabbies/534039/32 "2010-03-28T19:17:17Z")
> [@ghardester](#): > > An interesting thing about orange tabbies is that they are almost always male. There are exceptions, but if they are female they usually have a small amount of a third color on them somewhere. > > And almost all three color cats are female. Males are either one or two color cats. Again, there are exceptions but it’s a quick and handy thing to know. > > This does not work in the reverse, females can be one, two, or three colors. Last kitten season we had a wave of orange tabbies from a beach community. I fostered many of them (they were a little wild and needed socializing), the ratio of males to females was reversed and most of these kittens were female, except for one that has some white on it, they were all orange tabbies and tge females outnumbered the males about 3 to 1. I am partial to orange tabbies myself. Last year I lost my 19 year old male, he was very sweet and he acted as the mommy for all other kittens I brought home. ---
**Author:** ![HepToTheJive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7bcc69/32.png) [@HepToTheJive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HepToTheJive)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-orange-tabbies/534039/33 "2010-03-28T22:02:34Z")
> [@missred](#): > > Strictly anecdotal, but IME, orange tabby’s personalities tend toward the dog-like. The ones that I’ve shared my abode with did things like coming when called and tricks that no other colored self respecting cat would consider. Perhaps they’re more easily trained for film purposes. My anecdotal evidence correlates with yours. My orange tabby is very smart and mellow, he will play fetch with just about anything - this I didn’t even teach him and we had him since he was 2 months old. I did however train him to come to his name, I also trained him to stop moving when I snap. He is very social and greets new people amiably. My other cat, a female torti, is, well, not as smart. We had her since she was a kitten too. Great cuddler though. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-orange-tabbies/534039/34 "2010-03-29T17:37:13Z")
We are now on our second male orange stripey, and like his predecessor he is big, fat, and as smart as a dull rock. The first one was at least useful – he was a great mouser. If he smelt or saw a mouse, he would sit and stare at the spot literally for days. We figured he had such a short memory he could not get bored. Our current boy is just an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-orange-tabbies/534039/35 "2010-03-29T19:38:04Z")
Surprised the OP forgot to mention Spot, Data’s orange tabby on TNG. Although now that I think about it, was that a tabby? > [@Markxxx](#): > > So what cats on TV haven’t been orange tabbies? The gray cat that lived with the Halliwell sisters in **Charmed**. Lucky, the cat from **Alf** was a gray and white. Dana’s cat from **The L Word** was a furry dark gray cat. Angela’s white catsicle from **The Office**. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-orange-tabbies/534039/36 "2010-03-29T19:46:53Z")
Miss Kitty Fantastico ( **BtVS** ) was a black/gray/white kitten. Too bad about the crossbow. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-orange-tabbies/534039/37 "2010-03-29T20:21:56Z")
Hmm. Non-orange tabbies in the entertainment world? The kitty in _Bell, Book and Candle_, Piewacket, was a Siamese. And seemed sweet and friendly, too. Sylvester the Cat is black and white. Tom Cat (of _Tom and Jerry_ fame) is grey and white. The two demonic cats in _Lady and the Tramp_ are Siamese. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-orange-tabbies/534039/38 "2010-03-30T05:54:17Z")
> [@](#): > > So, okay, DC in “That Darn Cat” was a siamese, and Sassy in “The Incredible Journey” was a Himalayan, which is just a long haired siamese. No, a Himalayan is a Persian with colorpoint (Siamese type) markings. A Balinese is a longhaired Siamese, that is, it’s a Siamese with the longhair mutation. Balinese have sort of medium length hair, with plumy tail.. Siamese and Persians have distinctly different body and facial types and especially have different personalities. A Persian is generally so laid back that it’s ridiculous, while Siamese are known for their outgoing personalities and athleticism. Sassy is a Himalayan, though not as laid back as most Persians. Sassy was a Himalayan. She tolerated, and even cooperated, with the two dogs. Most Siamese will not demean themselves by associating with dogs. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-orange-tabbies/534039/39 "2010-03-30T06:23:26Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > “Harry and Tonto”: Tonto was an orange tabby. > > “Mllo and Otis”: Milo was an orange tabby. > > “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”: Cat was an orange tabby. > > “The Three Lives of Thomasina”: Thomasina was an orange tabby. > > “True Grit”: General Sterling Price was an orange tabby. > > “The Brady Bunch”: Fluffy (was that the name? I know Tiger was the dog.) was an orange tabby. > > The cat that sat on the edge of the bathtub in whatever Clint Eastwood movie that was, was an orange tabby. > > Morris of Nine Lives fame is still an orange tabby. > > On the commercial where the cat has to hire a bloodhound to find his litterbox, the cat is an orange tabby. > > Even Garfield and Heathcliff are freakin’ orange tabbies. ☹ You left out my favorites, who even got a poem written about them\*: Felis Cattus, is your taxonomic nomenclature, an endothermic quadruped carnivorous by nature? Your visual, olfactory and auditory senses contribute to your hunting skills, and natural defenses. I find myself intrigued by your subvocal oscillations, a singular development of cat communications that obviates your basic hedonistic predilection for a rhythmic stroking of your fur, to demonstrate affection. A tail is quite essential for your acrobatic talents; you would not be so agile if you lacked its counterbalance. And when not being utilized to aide in locomotion, it often serves to illustrate the state of your emotion. O Spot, the complex levels of behaviour you display connote a fairly well-developed cognitive array. And though you are not sentient, Spot, and do not comprehend, I nonetheless consider you a true and valued friend. [RIGHT]–“Ode to Spot,” Data, “Schisms,” _Star Trek: The Next Generation_[/RIGHT] \*Data had more than one cat named Spot. Either that, or it somehow flipped genders. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-orange-tabbies/534039/40 "2010-03-30T06:29:19Z")
I had an orange tabby that was a complete asshole cat to most people. The only person he ever showed any affection for was me. Hated kids, hated men, tolerated other girls my age. The complete opposite of my current cat (not orange), who is a total slut and will make love to anyone who walks through the door, including the cable guy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-orange-tabbies/534039.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-orange-tabbies/534039.md?page=3)