My vet said most orange tabbies are male?

Question

I know almost all calico cats are female, but i've never heard of any other coloring associate with gender. also in talking about this my coworker said tortoise shell colored cats are sterile. Anyone know of the truth to these?

The kitten isnt fully orange tabby, mostly white with orange tabby spots and tail. We were told it was a girl but the vet said it was probly a boy, but it was too early to tell for sure, but we will know for sure on monday when we take it back.

The lady we got it from also said it was 9 weeks old, so apparently she doesnt know as much as she seemed to, as the vet said there was no way it was more than 5 weeks old. but the momma had already weaned them supposedly so i figured it would be best to keep it. Am feeding it formula and kitten canned food.

Answer 1

MOST COMPLETELY orange cats are males.. but not all...
MOST TORTIES are female...but they can produce!
MOST CALICOS are female,...but not all.

If your cat has white as well as orange, it could be either male or female. Take a look...

Answer 2

I know almost all calico cats are female"

Yes, about 99%

"but i've never heard of any other coloring associate with gender"

It can be and even associated a little with personality

"my coworker said tortoise shell colored cats are sterile"

That is absolutely false. Tortiseshell cats are 99% female.

Calicos and torties get their marking from genes on the X sex chromosomes. For these markings to occur their must be two X sex chromosomes which equals female.

70% of orange cats are male but I cannot tell you why. However, it probably has something to do with sex chromosomes as well.

Answer 3

Most, but not all, orange tabbies are male. Here’s how it works: female cats have two X chromosomes. Male cats have one X and one Y chromosome.

The gene for orange fur is located on the X chromosome. If a female cat has the orange gene on only one X chromosome, some hair will be orange, with other colors also present in the hair coat. The result will be a "tortoiseshell" or a "calico" cat.

Males have only 1 X chromosome. If a male gets an orange gene on his single X chromosome, he will be orange. In order for a female cat to be orange, she needs to have orange genes on both X chromosomes. To make an orange male cat, only one parent had to be orange. To make an orange female cat, both parents had to be orange. It’s much less likely to have orange genes on both chromosomes.

The results: About 2/3 of orange cats are male. Only 1/3 of orange cats are female. A male calico or tortoiseshell cat, however, is very rare. Only 1 out of every 3,000 calicos/torties is male.

(This comes verbatim from the site given below.)

Answer 4

I must have had a mystery gender kitten. Because my kitten was orange and had a lot of white on it the vet operated on it as a female for desexing. Poor cat ended up having 2 op procedures because after the first one the vet had to go in again and cut the male bits inside......

It was sort of funny at the time but the vet said orange and white cats can be either sex.... My cat was a lovely cat. we called him Milo but unfortunately his life was ended by a car running over him. very sad at the time.

Answer 5

I had a old Orange Tabbie called Marmlade, I was told that he was male. When I took him to the Vet, the first one said he was a Female, then was not sure so fetched another vet he agreed. Rare but it does happen.
Poor thing had about 10 Vets looking in the end.

Answer 6

Yes, my vet told me the same thing about orange tabbies being male, and mine is male. We also had a tortoise shell/calico and she was female. I don't know if she was sterile, never heard that one. Just that calicos are female and orange tabbies are male.

Answer 7

Your vet is right, most orange tabbies are male. And, orange tabbies, in my experience, are the sweetest, most gentle and loving cats I have ever owned. They have the most beautiful hearts - so enjoy him.
Don't know about the tortoise shell cats, but calico cats are all female and they are smart and stinkers! They like what they like and will let you know it! But also very loving.

Answer 8

I had a male orange tabby and the vet also told me that most of the time, solid orange tabbies are usually male. I think its a recessive gene thing.

I don't know anything about the torties.

Answer 9

Yes, that's true but the sames goes that there are male calico you can also have a female orange cat. Good Question...All the best;^)

Answer 10

Not all female calico cats are sterile.My mother had one who gave birth to 5 kittens.2 were calico females ,3 were yellow Morris type males.

Answer 11

with the calicos, my aunt cat had kittens and all four were calicos but 2 of them were males. and orange tabbies arent always male. i have had a house full of orange tabbies and half of them were female