Ginger females have you met one?

[Kazz]

Following on from Naomi's post about the ginger kitten, it reminded me how many people think Cleo (my cat) is a Tom I assume its because she's ginger - seems most people associate ginger with Toms. Cleo looks like a female noticably smaller and daintier than a Tom.

Has anyone else had or met a ginger female?

Oh I was also told ginger females were infertile but she was spayed as a kitten so don't know about that.

Karen

[dinahsmum]

When I was a very little girl my friends family had a fluffy ginger. She was a girl cos she kept having kittens and they kept drowning them .... different times :?

[Donna]

No idea Kazz, sorry, but would like to find out if there is a completely ginger female out there!

[Sweet]

Yes, a friend of mine has a Ginger Girl, also had her op. x

[dinahsmum]

They are much more rare aren't they? Suppose I could google - I'll come back if I find anything.

[borderdawn]

Yes they are out there! I board a couple of ginger girlies, "Mustard" comes to mind, all ginger and I am sure there are others. I did board "Minky" an all ginger girl, or boy, or BOTH!! a hermaphrodite, she was spayed and castrated, but absolutely stunk like a Tom Cat, I couldnt board her again, couldnt get rid of the smell.
Dawn.

[dinahsmum]

Don't know if this will work. It's from 'Notes and Queries' in The Guardian.
It's all X and Y again, as I suspected!

It has been my observation that in the cat world tortoiseshell (known in the US as "calico") cats are always female, while all ginger cats are male. Can anyone explain/confirm this ?

Chris Martin, Bridgeport, USA

As a cat lover myself I always considered the above assertion to be true. That is until one day, when I visited a cat protection league re-homing centre, and saw a female ginger cat suckling her litter of three (all ginger) kittens. In order to explain this we need to consider Kitty genetics. All cats have 19 pairs of chromosomes, and like humans, cats have one pair of sex chromosomes. These are the ones that make them male or female and they play an essential role in determining their colour. In females, both sex chromosomes are X making females XX. Males are XY, the Y making them male. The gene which makes a cat ginger is located on the X chromosome. The gene for mighty ginger will override all other colours. Since males have only one X, they either are or aren't ginger. Female cats have two X's in each cell. As far as the cells are concerned two X's is one too many, so each cell deactivates one of the X chromosomes in a fairly random fashion. Sometimes the ginger X will be left on producing a bit of orange fur and in some cells the ginger X will be turned off and the genes for black, brown or other colour fur will be produced. And there you have Tortoiseshell Cat. Since males only need to have the orange gene on one chromosome to become ginger, and females have to have it on two, ginger males outnumber females 3 to 1. To show both orange and another colour such as black or brown a cat has to have two different X chromosomes per cell. Therefore tortoiseshell female cats outnumber males by at least 200 to 1, although I suspect actual figures are much higher. When a male tortie does appear, (a result of a mutation producing two X?s and one Y) he is invariable sterile and may even exhibit feminine behaviour such as nurturing nearby young. So the answer to your question is that your observation is, as a rule of thumb, spot on as far as tortoiseshell's are concerned, although female gingers are fairly common.
Huw Rees, London UK

Well, I can confirm that not all ginger cats are male - we have a female one!
Jean Lewer, East Grinstead, England

All tortoiseshell and tortoiseshell and white (Calico) cats are female. But not all gingers are male, though most are. The reason is that in cats the colour gene is carried on the X chromosome. As females have two Xs they can express two colours in the coat, and if black is inherited from one parent and ginger (red) from the other, the result is a calico cat. The calico's brother, having only one X chromosome, would be either ginger or black, depending on the colour of the mother. I believe there was a case of an apparently male calico cat but it was found to have a mutation giving an XXY chromosome set-up, and was sterile. For a female to be ginger she would have to inherit red from both parents. This could happen if the father was ginger and the mother tortoiseshell for example. The white is inherited on a separate gene and is independent of the colour gene. It can appear on either sex and with any colour of coat. For some reason not understood it is usually found that in tortoiseshell and white cats the patches of black and ginger are larger and more distinct than in the plain tortoiseshell without white. A tabby pattern of stripes can also be inherited separately, resulting in a cat known as a "torby" (Tabby-tortoiseshell).
Susan Deal, Sheffield UK

I had a ginger female cat until recently - her mother was a tortoiseshell but I can't vouch for the father!
David Lawton, Woking England

Tabby cats can be transsexual. We thought our tabby kitten was a male until the first visit to the vet, who put us straight. So we now have a female cat that is very confused to be called Thomas.
Michael Mace, Chelmsford, Essex

My female cat is ginger!
Jim Ellis, Oxford, England

When I was a student our house was adopted by a beautiful female ginger cat. There can be no doubt about her gender as she give birth to a litter of six kittens, all of which were ginger and half of which were female.
Ken Donald, Chelmsford UK

Calico cats are always female (or XXY males) as the mix of colour is generated by the fact that in each cell in the embryo, one of the X chromosomes is 'switched off'. This process is random, meaning that some groups of cells have the paternal X active and others have the maternal X active. In fact this process happens in all female mammals, but not all mammals carry skin/fur colour on the X chromosome so it isn't so apparent. Ginger cats can be male or female. The ginger colour is recessive and carried on the part of the X chromosome not matched by the Y. Thus, any male cat inheriting this from the mother will be ginger, whereas female offspring, inheriting a differnt colour allele from one parent are more likely to mask the ginger. Female ginger cats inherit the recessive ginger allele from both parents. (Colour blindness in humans works the same way)
Ann, Leicester UK

As a child I had a ginger cat called Sadie. She had a litter of 5 kitten, all contained within the same birth sack and all female (identical quintuplets). She was pretty clever, I was grossed out as I was only five and witnessed the birth! Then she ran away.
Shelley, Nelson New Zealand

Approximalty 99.5% of tortise shell cats are female. About 75% of ginger cats are male. It has been previously clearly stated how the calico and tortise shell cays come about, and why they are nearly always female. However, the Ginger cat mystery is still not clearly explained.
I was wondering the same. We have a 2 week old kitten who has a white belly and chest, and the rest of him is a mix of ginger and black. We assumed that colour could only be female but it looks like we were wrong.
Liz Gregory, Blackpool UK

My Japanese uncle once had a male calico cat. He told me they were extremely rare, and that he had been offered a large amuont of money for it by a (Japanese) sailor, as they considered them very good luck.
Sandy, Melbourne, Australia

We were also told this same story and thought we would never find a ginger female. This weekend we found one - at a flea market - she is gorgeous - our vet could not believe she was female until he had checked it out for himself. Her name is Ruby.
Jill Coetzee, Johannesburg, South Africa

There was more but it made the post too long

[borderdawn]

The first ad I googled for Red female kitten, showed a red (ginger) spotted female BSH kitten!
Dawn.

[dandysmom]

DM, that was a fascinating, informative post! Thanks! Explains why I've never seen a female ginger...they're out there, but not as many as toms! Cat I grew up with was a semi-longhair ginger tom.

[Moli]

Years ago I fostered a ginger kitten, we named it Fergus, it was very small, never got to adult size, when he went to be done, discovered he was infact a Fergie...

[Booktigger]

I think the stats might be something like 75% of gingers are male. I have met a ginger female - DiddyDawn had one, and there is at least one on another forum I use - both ginger tabbies, as it is very rare to find a solid red. And I am sure the cat we were asked to help with last night was a ginger female, but I could be wrong there, waiting for hte owner to speak to me.

[Naomi]

All the ginger's I know are Tom cats and all the tortoise shell cats I've known have been female.

At first I thought Ginge was a female until I finally managed to grab him and take a closer look :oops:

[borderdawn]

All the ginger's I know are Tom cats and all the tortoise shell cats I've known have been female.

At first I thought Ginge was a female until I finally managed to grab him and take a closer look :oops:

:oops: :oops: Did he smile?:-D :-D :-D

[Liz]

We have a ginger girl she is now one and a proper feisty little spitfire - she is a feral, came with her brother Lynx who is a blonde ginger she is a pure ginger and has a heaart shaped set of stripes on her chest, She is called Lunar as it took us 5 months to see if she was a she or he despite previous fosterer saying he my Lunar is all girl - shaved area on side was the big hint!

[logoes]

No, I've not met a ginger female, but older son worked for a man who had a ginger female and she had a litter, we had a tom kitten from that litter, a beautiful cat, unfortunately finished as a RTA when about 3 yrs old, Logoes

[Naomi]

:oops: :oops: Did he smile?:-D :-D :-D

No he took serious objection and hissed at me. Can't think why tho? :D

[Booktigger]

I have also fostered a white and ginger cat, but she was more white than ginger. My Ginger looks feminine though, bless him!!! WE had a ginger cat as a childhood who also looked feminine!! My mum used to call him a he/she.

[whiskey]

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/clydey/stella2.jpg


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/clydey/Photo0031.jpg
this is stella my ginger female people tend to think she`s a tom cat :-D :-D

[dandysmom]

She's a beautiful cat, Whiskey!

[Amanda]

I'm embarrassed to say that I too was one of these people who thought all gingers were toms :oops: that is until just 2 days ago, when I visited Linda who has 3 females, all ginger :smt049 (should have taken some pics, shouldn't I!)

Whiskey, your Stella is stunning btw :smt049 :D

[borderdawn]

Thats a beautiful Cat Whiskey.
Dawn.

[ruby]

hi, i have a ginger girl called ruby, and shes definitely a girly girl princess type, ps thats oliver in my profile pic

[dandysmom]

Hi, Ruby! Can you post a pic of your ginger princess? Would be nice to see her!

[ruby]

i wish i could but cant get to grips with the posting pics. but she does look a bit like whiskey, she has never brought a mouse in or caught a bird, wheras titch my black girl is a little tomboy.

[Luke]

This thread has been most intersting, as you all know i'm waiting for my ginger with white markings kitten, Kismet, to be old enough to come home now! Kismet is a believed female..and i was quite shocked actually, as gingers allways seem to be males!
I have known, personally or heard of, a few female gingers-one springs to mind was a ginger girl with a two white toes on her left front leg who belonged to my paternal grandparents, she was a very affectionate girl and had such a great name-Helen as in Helen Shaprio:-D:-D
Also-was a very intersting read DM, and also explains (sort of) quite a bit..

[alexgirl73]

This was quite a fascinating thread to read as it had never actually occured to me about never having seen a ginger female.

[adam2019]

My new kitty is ginger (a girl) and she has has got white socks.

[Soupie]

Not at all rare in pedigree breeds :)

[MadCatLady]

Hello!

I thought it was generally ginger Tabbys who are boys, but cats with ginger patches ie white & ginger can be either way inclined!! ;) Have yet to meet a full tabby ginger girlie but then my vice is for black or bald beasts... mainly coz everyone thinks I am a witch with all these black felines around!!! :twisted: and they think I am just twisted when they see the Bald!!!?? :-D

[pookyandjo]

i know this is an old post... but my ginger girly (moggie) is all ginger... she doesn't have any white on her at all...and i have to say she is the most affectionate, independent, fearless, cheeky, bold cat i have ever had!...and talk!!! hello!! she never shuts up!.. a friend of mine who breeds ragdolls said that she may have a little bit of ragdoll in her... (it would have be almost minscule) as she is very floopy like a ragdoll when she is picked up and/or carried

[moonstone]

My sister had a ginger female cat:D she thought it was a male until she took it to her vets for castration:oops: she was long haired and gorgeous:D
I have also heard (when i was a member of the CPL)of a MALE tortie:o

[dandysmom]

My sister had a ginger female cat:D she thought it was a male until she took it to her vets for castration:oops: she was long haired and gorgeous:D
I have also heard (when i was a member of the CPL)of a MALE tortie:o

Rare, but they do exist and are almost 100% sterile.

[Luke]

Had Bella who was ginger and white, have known a few solid gingers..hear of my grandparents having one, Helen as in Shapiro, many moons ago who apparently had 65 kittens respectfully in her lifetime (in the days when cats weren't "done").
Same grandparents also had a tortie and white, quite strongly marked too, tom cat named Puzzle who wasn't "seen to" till nearing his geriactic days, and he sired kittens! As at the time they had a persian who was strictly a housecat, they took her on from one of my aunts as an adult, she came into heat..and Puzzle managed to puzzle her in his own way it seemed:lol: He was still going when I was very small, though not quite fully male in those days. He's the only tortie tom i've ever heard of fathering young though.

[dandysmom]

Had Bella who was ginger and white, have known a few solid gingers..hear of my grandparents having one, Helen as in Shapiro, many moons ago who apparently had 65 kittens respectfully in her lifetime (in the days when cats weren't "done").
Same grandparents also had a tortie and white, quite strongly marked too, tom cat named Puzzle who wasn't "seen to" till nearing his geriactic days, and he sired kittens! As at the time they had a persian who was strictly a housecat, they took her on from one of my aunts as an adult, she came into heat..and Puzzle managed to puzzle her in his own way it seemed:lol: He was still going when I was very small, though not quite fully male in those days. He's the only tortie tom i've ever heard of fathering young though.

Wow! One for the books, Luke! :shock: :-D

[farthing]

Our little Candy is ginger, except for white toes. She is veru feminine looking, but a little thug. She beats up everybody else and needs to be sedated for any tests, in fact we had to put her in a crush cage when we first got her vaccinations as she would rip your hand off. We got her at the age of 10, so I hate to imagine what kind of kitten she was.:D

I think it is pure torties that are rare as males and pure ginger females are rare- if they have white it is less uncommon.

[Phoenix]

I've known a female ginger in the rescue ;)

[pcspik]

Out of the 4 ginger cats we have in my local Cats Protection, one is female. So yes, I have met one, in fact it was yesterday.

We have had ginger females before then, but never had a tortie (or indeed tortie and white) male. We have a fair few torties at the moment, but they are all female!

[farthing]

here is Candy.
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk67/halfpenny_bucket/cats/DSC00435.jpg

[dandysmom]

She's a sweetie, but she has white feet!

[farthing]

I did say she had white toes, and a terrible temper, a true red head.:lol:

[dandysmom]

I did say she had white toes, and a terrible temper, a true red head.:lol:
I loved your description: a little thug! Perfect! :D