Only a ginger can call another ginger,’ginger’ – Tim Minchin
That is, unless you are talking about a cat!
There is complex genetics behind a cat’s coat colour, especially so when it comes to orange (ginger) cats. There’s a common belief that ginger cats are always male; That’s not entirely true; orange cats are usually male. Here’s a bit of simple science. The gene that codes for orange fur is carried on the X Chromosome. Female cats have two X chromosomes, males only one X and one Y. For a female cat to be orange, she must inherit two orange genes, one from each parent, meaning she needs to have a ginger father as well as a mother who is ginger, calico or tortoiseshell (calicos and tortoiseshells also carry the orange pigment gene). Ginger males can come from ginger, calico or tortoiseshell mothers with any father. So around 80% of ginger cats are male.
Jim Davis, creator of Garfield is quoted as once saying “In my head, the sky is blue, the grass is green and cats are orange”.
We have a lot of regular ginger visitors to the Cat’s Whiskers, including two females – Molly, who is 16 years old and ginger and white, and Millie, who is a long haired ‘full’ ginger and very unusual. And whilst all our gingers are super, a special mention to two of them; the very lovely and hugely friendly Norman, our oldest guest at 22 years of age, and the delightful Nobby, who has only just started coming to stay with us in the last 6 months or so. These are both very special to their human dads, and have helped them through some tough times in recent years.. The pictures show just some of our regulars.
If you’d like us to feature your own fabulous felines, just drop us a line by e-mail or using the Contact Form on the website. We look forward to hearing from you.
We are always ready to take on your furry friends at The Cat’s Whiskers cattery.
Call us, email us, whenever.
