Just curious; most orange cats are males, but what is there's a lot of white?

[else]

Not important, just curious:

According to what I'm finding on google, 80% of orange cats are males, and I do have a fully orange male. But I also have a female who's orange with a lot of white.

So: Is a cat who is very mixed with white still considered an orange cat, and would it fall in that category of 80% chance of being male? Is there a line drawn somewhere, with how much white will make it no longer fit that category? Or does it only apply to the solid orange cats?
There was also a buff orange female in the same litter that my kittens came from. From what I understand, buff orange is still orange and there must be a recessive gene in place for it to become buff or pale orange instead of bright orange. Plus another recessive gene is needed for it to become female. So she's a bit of a rare cat altogether, seems like? Anywhoo, I'm just talkin' and having fun thinking about these things.

Here's a couple of pictures for fun; the tiny 3 week old kitten in my hands is the buff female at only 3 weeks and still with mommy, plus my own two kitties at various ages up to 4.5 months.

Excuse my "dirty" hands; I had been spray painting and it took days to get it all off. No scrubbing would do.

And my little guy being silly and losing his head in the middle of a nap:

 

[Jem]

Don't know the answer, but am now also curious...

This is my girl Lily......fully orange, a classic tabby pattern.

This is Lily again (left) and one of my boys Chester (right)...he has a white chest/belly and "mittens"

I actually have known a few orange female kitties...so I have wondered how accurate the "rarity" of orange females was, but I'm no expert so...what do I know?

 

[Willowy]

The reason orange females are rarer than orange males is because a male cat gets his red/not red color gene only from his mother (associated with the X chromosome), while females have 2 X chromosomes so they get a color gene from each parent. So an orange male only needs to have an orange or tortie mother (dad can be any color), but an orange female needs to have an orange or tortie mother AND an orange daddy, which just doesn't fall into place that often.

So it doesn't have anything to do with how much white they have or anything like that; it's really just dependent on how many orange toms are getting around in your area .

 

[Meowmee]

View attachment 389687

Not important, just curious:

According to what I'm finding on google, 80% of orange cats are males, and I do have a fully orange male. But I also have a female who's orange with a lot of white.

So: Is a cat who is very mixed with white still considered an orange cat, and would it fall in that category of 80% chance of being male? Is there a line drawn somewhere, with how much white will make it no longer fit that category? Or does it only apply to the solid orange cats?
There was also a buff orange female in the same litter that my kittens came from. From what I understand, buff orange is still orange and there must be a recessive gene in place for it to become buff or pale orange instead of bright orange. Plus another recessive gene is needed for it to become female. So she's a bit of a rare cat altogether, seems like? Anywhoo, I'm just talkin' and having fun thinking about these things.

Here's a couple of pictures for fun; the tiny 3 week old kitten in my hands is the buff female at only 3 weeks and still with mommy, plus my own two kitties at various ages up to 4.5 months.
View attachment 389688
View attachment 389689
View attachment 389692
Excuse my "dirty" hands; I had been spray painting and it took days to get it all off. No scrubbing would do.
View attachment 389690
And my little guy being silly and losing his head in the middle of a nap:
View attachment 389691

Beautiful kitties I have a ginger tabby tux, Merlin, who I rescued. I think your girl would qualify as bicolor/ red and white which means she has piebaldism. I think her pattern may be harlequin, but I am no expert in this.

I posted a lot of links about this on someone else’s question about bicolor cats. Here is a link that talks about some of the patterns, one article on piebaldism etc. And some on the genetics of the red gene which is pretty complicated to say the least. The red color as Willowy mentioned is more common in males. The O Red gene is sex dependent on the X. Boys have one X and a Y and Girls have 2 X chromosomes and can have different variations than males such as being tortie because the black comes through so less chance to be red depending on what the parents/ mom passed on. I think all red cats are tabbies as well since the red is dependent on agouti.

If the male inherits O it is red, red is dominant and inhibits black and other colors. If the male inherits o it is not red. For females they can have OO = red, Oo = tortie / calico or oo = black or brown.

7+ Bicolor Pattern Variations in Cats (and Why They Occur)

Cat coat genetics - Wikipedia

How Do Red Tabby Cats Get Their Color?

 

[else]

Don't know the answer, but am now also curious...

This is my girl Lily......fully orange, a classic tabby pattern.
View attachment 389693

This is Lily again (left) and one of my boys Chester (right)...he has a white chest/belly and "mittens"
View attachment 389694

I actually have known a few orange female kitties...so I have wondered how accurate the "rarity" of orange females was, but I'm no expert so...what do I know?
[/QUO
Your cats are beautiful!! And I don't know either if that whole thing is a myth maybe, but regardless, if it's true then two out of ten are girls so they're definitely out there.

 

[else]

The reason orange females are rarer than orange males is because a male cat gets his red/not red color gene only from his mother (associated with the X chromosome), while females have 2 X chromosomes so they get a color gene from each parent. So an orange male only needs to have an orange or tortie mother (dad can be any color), but an orange female needs to have an orange or tortie mother AND an orange daddy, which just doesn't fall into place that often.

So it doesn't have anything to do with how much white they have or anything like that; it's really just dependent on how many orange toms are getting around in your area .

Good to know! Thank you very much!

 

[else]

Beautiful kitties I have a ginger tabby tux, Merlin, who I rescued. I think your girl would qualify as bicolor/ red and white which means she has piebaldism. I think her pattern may be harlequin, but I am no expert in this.

I posted a lot of links about this on someone else’s question about bicolor cats. Here is a link that talks about some of the patterns, one article on piebaldism etc. And some on the genetics of the red gene which is pretty complicated to say the least. The red color as Willowy mentioned is more common in males. The O Red gene is sex dependent on the X. Boys have one X and a Y and Girls have 2 X chromosomes and can have different variations than males such as being tortie because the black comes through so less chance to be red depending on what the parents/ mom passed on. I think all red cats are tabbies as well since the red is dependent on agouti.

If the male inherits O it is red, red is dominant and inhibits black and other colors. If the male inherits o it is not red. For females they can have OO = red, Oo = tortie / calico or oo = black or brown.

7+ Bicolor Pattern Variations in Cats (and Why They Occur)

Cat coat genetics - Wikipedia

How Do Red Tabby Cats Get Their Color?

Oh wow, that definitely sounds pretty complex! Not an easy, straight forward answer possible I understand, so I appreciate you taking the time to explain! I look forward to looking at those links, thank you very much!

 

[Meowmee]

Oh wow, that definitely sounds pretty complex! Not an easy, straight forward answer possible I understand, so I appreciate you taking the time to explain! I look forward to looking at those links, thank you very much!

You’re welcome I am starting to study their coat color and pattern genetics so I am enjoying reading about it. I had known some of it years ago having looked up my own kitties various colors and patterns and then had read a lot more after getting my Quinn who is a siamese cat. It is so complicated isn’t it? There are so many inter connected things which align together to create the final result.
I was helping tnr a colony at someone’s house 3 years ago with a large number or ginger cats and as far as I know all were male except for the girls who were calico/ tortie, and I volunteered for a rescue for several years where I noticed all of the ginger cats up for adoption were male, it is not a scientific study but it does seem to be a trend for sure. But I think I have seen some ginger female cats listed for adoption at various sites. The genetics clearly allow less chance to have a full ginger cat and more chances for other results for the girls.

Here is the link for that other article on piebaldism / bicolor etc. I added it in but it didnt save for some reason.

How the Cat Got Its Coat (and Other Furry Tails)

 

[else]

You’re welcome I am starting to study their coat color and pattern genetics so I am enjoying reading about it. I had known some of it years ago having looked up my own kitties various colors and patterns and then had read a lot more after getting my Quinn who is a siamese cat. It is so complicated isn’t it? There are so many inter connected things which align together to create the final result.
I was helping tnr a colony at someone’s house 3 years ago with a large number or ginger cats and as far as I know all were male except for the girls who were calico/ tortie, and I volunteered for a rescue for several years where I noticed all of the ginger cats up for adoption were male, it is not a scientific study but it does seem to be a trend for sure. But I think I have seen some ginger female cats listed for adoption at various sites. The genetics clearly allow less chance to have a full ginger cat and more chances for other results for the girls.

Here is the link for that other article on piebaldism / bicolor etc. I added it in but it didnt save for some reason.

How the Cat Got Its Coat (and Other Furry Tails)

 

[else]

Yes, it sure is complicated! But it sure is interesting, and fun to learn, too! But I really don't know how anyone can keep all this straight, so good for you for being willing to study it. And yeah I feel like more ginger cats are males than females, but I've also seen at least one female, plus the one dilute orange / peach kitten in my hands above. That's definitely a female and as far as I know dilute orange still falls under orange. Pretty cool to be dilute plus female. I've seen dilute males before, but not females.

My young adult daughter read the articles you posted (I have not had the time yet but I have the tabs open to read as soon as I get a chance) and she's convinced my female is harlequin, like you also suggested. And she looked up more pictures and I think so too. Not that it really matters in the end, but it's just fun, ya know?