What are the differences in cats? I'm not talking about breeds, but I mean with colors of domestic ones?

Question

Like they say Torties are high maintence. Orange cats are hyperactive, etc. Also, stuff like most orange cats are boys and calico's are always girls. And the thing about white cats with blue eyes being deaf and blind (I know thats not always true, I've worked with many white cats)

Where do these sayings or rules come from? How often does it hold true? Websites would be helpful! Thanks!

I'm not shopping for a cat, I already have 6 and I work at an adoption agency. It's just that people often come in all the time with these ideas about different colors and patterns and I wonder how true they are.

Answer 1

I had the same experience doing adoptions. You wonder where the ideas do come from. Tortiseshell cats do have the reputation as being "difficult" and as someone who have known and loved one that just wasn't an issue. Orange cats are statistically more likely to be male than female and that does not mean there are no orange female cats. Some white cats with blue eyes ARE deaf and I have never heard that blindness comes with the white coloring.

The biggest misconception I found was people who said they wanted a female cat because the females don't spray. That is absolutely untrue. An unspayed female is as likely to spray as her male counterpart.

Answer 2

I'm not a believer in the talk that cats in different COLORS have different behaviors or whatever. Cats of almost all breeds come in just about every color, so how can someone say that a cat with orange coloring is hyperactive?? That's silly....

Personally, I'm not even really sure that there's a whole lot of difference between breeds, let alone colors. Some people say that Siamese cats are mean, but I have one, and he's the cuddliest little bugger ever -- and not only that, so have been every other siamese I've ever met.

I think what it comes down to the most is personal preference. Maybe people say that orange cats, for example, are bad because they just don't prefer orange cats and that's how they rationalize it. Who knows.

But the things about calicos being female, and all-orange cats being male, that is essentially true because the color information in cats is attached to their sex genes. A cat with more than two body colors (calico or tortie) must be female because that color combination is attached to the female sex gene, and therefore a male calico will be rare to nill, and if it exists it will most likely be sterile. Also, generally white cats who have blue eyes are deaf. Not all white cats have blue eyes, though. And not all cats with blue eyes are deaf (e.g. siamese cats are not deaf). Of course there are always exceptions to the rule because cats are so varietal. But much of what you mentioned are observations of normal cat types.

Answer 3

Some are true and others not (as you would expect)

Calicos and torties are 99.9% female. My vet came across a male! (Addition: She desexed him, he had all his "bits")
Torties are said to be maniacs - I have two (black torties) and one is hyperactive and the other is very laid back. MInd you the hyperactive one is just over a year old and the quiet one is 11 years old, but she has always been calm. The hyperactive one plays with my 4 year old Burmese, so I think that is just personality. Mind you the black torties we have had at the shelter all had issues. But that could have been from the treatment they had before joining us.

Most pure ginger/orange cats do seem to be males, but if they have white it seems to be 50/50. As for them being hyperactive, don't think that is true. We get lots of all sorts of colours of cats in at the shelter and the gingers seem to be pretty much the same as the others - some crazy and others laid back.

White cats and deafness - had a white cat in at the shelter with one blue eye and one green eye and he was deaf. Another white cat at the shelter had blue eyes and he wasn't deaf. I have fostered 4 white kittens so far this season, none were deaf. Seems it is a genetic thing. As for them being blind - never heard that one.

I believe the differences in cats stems from genetics, if the parents are hyperactive, the kittens will tend to be the same. Have seen that in litters - some are relatively calm all the time and others race around their pens until they fall in a heap and sleep.

Sorry I don't have any websites for you, just personal experience and observation of the cats and kittens we get in at the Shelter and the ones I have fostered and owned myself.

Will be watching this question with great interest.

Answer 4

Calico's and Torti's are almost all females and the rare male is usually sterile. It is due to the colors being linked to the X chromosome and a male cat has to have 2 X's and a Y to be calico or torti, which makes them sterile just like a human with XXY chromosomes. From my experience working as a vet tech and speaking with many vets, torti's tend to be more difficult to work with. I have had 6 cats in all different colors and both of my torti's were harder to bond with. One wasn't mean but didn't really like to interact with humans and one is very sweet and loving but is scared of everyone but me and won't let me hold her like the rest of my cats. This doesn't mean it's true of all torti's, but with the group as a whole. It seems that there are more orange cats that are male but I don't know if this is an actual fact and I have not witnessed it to affect their temperment. White animals with blue eyes (including dogs) have a much higher rate of being deaf than other colors. It is again linked to their genes. It doesn't mean that all white/blue-eyed animals are deaf and they do not have a higher rate of being blind. You aren't supposed to breed white/blue-eyed animals because even if they aren't deaf they can have offspring that are.

Answer 5

I don't believe that these rumours about cat personality traits would really hold much merit. I think you would have to meet each individual cat to really know what their individual personality was like. It's like when people say that redheaded people are firery, or blonds have more fun. However, when it comes to cat personalities, I do find that males tend to be more cuddly than females. As for the calico female/ orange males thing that is true and I have explained it below.

As for the blue eyed blind thing, I think this stems from the fact that albino cats, which have white hair and light eyes (pink or blueish pink) have eyes that are extremely sensitive to light. However, not all white cats are albinos and not all white cats are blind. There does however seem to be a link when it comes to cats with blue eyes and white fur and deafness. The artical I read explained this as being due to the fact that pigment cells and an important lining on the inner ear were derived from the same stem cells. Also cats who have white fur, one blue eye and one different colored eye are often deaf in the ear on the blue eyed side. The artical said that between 60 to 80 % of cats with pure white fur and one or two blue eyes are deaf, but it also said that only 5% of the population of cats are PURE white.

Calico cats are almost always female, because orange color and black color are linked to the x chromosomes. White color is not linked to the x chromosomes. Cats have thirty eight chromosomes, they get one x from their mother and one x from their father. So in the case of a torti or a calico they would get an x with a black color gene from one parent and an orange color gene from the other. During developement one x chromosome is randomly deactivated in each cell, the cell will display the color of the active x chromosome. If the black chromosome is deactived the cell will display an orange color, if the orange chromosome is deactivated it will be black. This random deactivation of chromosomes results in the fur pattern seen in calicos and tortis. You therefore need two x chromosomes for this to occur and since males only have one it is ussually not seen in males. However, sometimes a genetic mistakes results in males with an XXY compilation of chromosomes, these males have two x chromosomes and can therefore be calico. They are however sterile.

I have heard orange cats are more often male. I think the explanation for this would be a bit like the explanation for any x linked trait. A female needs an orange gene on both her x chromosomes (has to get orange gene from both mother and father cat) to be orange, while a male only needs one. If a female does have an orange gene on one X chromosome color genes on her other x chromosome will interfere with the orange genes and change the color her fur will be.Males only have the one chromosome so they will display pure orange more frequently. A female must have gotten two orange genes to be orange and this happens a lot less frequently than just getting one.

Answer 6

Cats that vary in colors often vary in personality too. I have a torties and she's not high maintance at all. SHe's a hand ful. I've heard that too about the cats being blind...but never deaf. Here's a good place to read up on some of this kind of stuff

http://www.cat-world.com.au
and look under cat links.

This might take a while to read all the articles but you might be able to narrow it down by disease.

Answer 7

A true calico is always female. That is a genetic thing. The tortie I had was not so much high maintenance as she was the queen of her area ( my house), for which she demanded respect. Even from my one hundred and fifty pound dog. Most of what you say probably comes from old wives tales.

Answer 8

I have both a high and low maintence (females) tortie
one is the easiest of my cats to care for

I have a calico who is female, and a sweetheart, very gentle and quite
the same with my grandmother's cat

I have a fluff grey tabby (male) who is a Don Juan (he loves petting 24/7 and kisses!) He melts when you pet him.

The outdoor cats (our neighbor's, which are family) that we care for,

a white/orange (very muscular) male
is manly, but sweet

and the seal point siamese is a ice princess who hated to be approached (as I've seen with all siamese I have encountered (3.5 to be exact)

The black cats I've had were very intellegent and SWEET

The black and white spotted cats, were male and very large and smart

the black with white spots were (2 male 1 female)
the males being skinny sweet and smart
the female being crazy and skinny

the white cat with blue eyes, seemed to distrust me, and have a bit of seeing issues, maybe?

hope this helps! =)

Answer 9

I have been a vet tech for 17 years. I have worked in a cat shelter for 6 years. I can say 100% that Torti and Calcio cats are MORE difficult and tempermental than others. SOME may be fine, but as a whole, that is how they are. There is NOTHING that ANYONE can say that could change my mind!!!! EVERY vet I have ever worked with feels the same!!! They are the worst patients too!!!!

Answer 10

I believe it is a personal preference thing, which cat you get..Cats, like people have their own little personalities, if you like a playful cat, watch how the cats act and then choose one. Yes, all Calico cats are girls...the orange thing, well, that just isn't so, there are male and female. So, Pick a cat you like, along with his/her personality.