Yellow (Orange) Tabby Cats - Photo by Mrs eNil
People search for yellow tabby cats on the internet. When I first saw this, I wondered what it meant. I knew of no yellow cats, tabby or otherwise. About the same time, I was considering doing a short post on yellow tabby cats, Dorothy emailed me about a feral cat she called, Yellow Cat. And as it happened this cat was a tabby cat. That is not surprising as solid-coloured yellow cats are hard to breed or come by and tabby cats are the most common of all cat coat types.
And what is interesting is that breeders and geneticists call these cats “red” cats. Both are a little wide of the mark, I think, as they are really orange unless I have become colour blind.
Actually, I am not colour blind because the gene that causes the orange colour is unsurprisingly the sex linked “orange” (or sometimes called red) O gene. This gene is found on the X chromosome which means its inheritance is more complicated as males have one X chromosome and females have two. Therefore males have one O or o (recessive non red) allele, while females have two: OO, Oo tortoiseshell or oo (non-red).
Tortoiseshell cats are almost invariably female. The O gene creates an orange cat because it converts the pigment that makes a cat black, eumelanin into orange pigment phaeomelanin.
Yellow cats are a dilute orange and the dilution comes from the incorporation of the d gene into the genotype. However, it seems that an orange cat does not have to be dilute to be yellow. "Ginger" or "marmalade" are other terms for orange in the cat fancy.
As for the tabby coat; that is another story, which is told on this page: Cat Coats Tabby.
See also:
- Tortoiseshell cats
- Orange Maine Coon
- Orange Persian Cat
- Yellow Cat by Dorothy – this is about a feral cat with a dilute orange coat.
From Yellow Tabby Cat to Home Page
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| Mar 18, 2010 | Hi Finn It is so good to see your comments around these pages. Have you seen https://pictures-of-cats.org/my-feral-yellow-cat-comes-home-to-feed.html I included a video of Yellow Cat, as I call him. Does he look orange or red to you? I see him as truly blond, except for the redish orange tones on top. He's definitely a tabby. dw |
| Mar 16, 2010 | Orange In Danish we always talk about 'red cats', but from POC I've gotten used to 'orange'. I like that, because it's more accurate and has a pleasant sound too... And Jan. You can always cheat a little by turning up 'Saturation'. No need for expensive software - even the free IrfanView will do this trick. 😉 |
| Jan 13, 2010 | Orange tabbys Gosh what a stunning photo of this pair.My photos never look this beautiful!LOL!great information as always, Michael.I do have one question though,are these the cats sometimes referred to as Marmalades? or is that a cat of a different color?Or own separate breed? Oh,sorry, I did say one question. Dorothy's Yellow Cat is a marvelous looking big boy,and I agree "orange" just wouldn't sound right! |
| Jan 12, 2010 | Okay...you are right Yellow Cat is actually of the orange hue, but there is the very blond under fur, that makes him look more yellow to me than orange. Somehow, the nick name of "Orange Cat" doesn't resonate well. All kidding aside, those 'twin' tabby's are gorgeous. That 'd' gene adds a nice touch. dw |
Erman, I enjoyed your comment. I’d like you to write some about your first tabby and your life with companion animals in the mountains. If you can add a picture that would be great. I’ll make it an article. Thanks for commenting.
I know your loss. My tabby has passed on to cat heaven after many years of supervising my life. I was not a cat person. I was seriously ill. A big tabby sat outside on my window sill and helped me through. After recovery he helped in everything I did. When it was possible we were together. We fed and cared for livestock, built fence, cut wood, repaired equipment and most amazing of all swam in the swimming pool together.
I adopted a young rescue tabby. It is amazing how much he is like the first tabby. He does everything but swim with me. He sits on the deck. I think he is trying to figure out how anyone be so stupid as get into the water. I live far back in the mountains and my animals are totally free to come and go as they please. I have dog and cat under foot constantly.;
Sweet story Regina. I enjoyed reading it. Thanks for visiting and sharing.
Taco came to us 2 years ago with his mother, an Abyssian-like colored feral, who after feeding themfor four months, became jealous of the kitten and abused him by not letting his eat his food, cuffing him,and chasing him off. We tried trapping her but she was too streetwise for that and left. Taco was neutered and became an indoor cat loving us but afraid of anyone else including our 6 year old 5 pound tabby. Taco now weighs 20 pounds and still daily curls up in my lap for a nap.
Dorothy, your comment is lovely. Made me smile. You are kind hearted. You’ll probably need to publicise this a bit more to get a response. I’ll put your comment on Facebook and see if that helps. I have merged your 2 comments to make one.
Check this out, my name is DOROTHY, too….and I just took in a homeless, big, beautiful- yellow , male cat, this winter to get him in out of the freezing cold. I moved into a 1 bedroom Apt.-10 mos. ago. I didnt even know if pets were allowed, but I brought with me 2 cats – 1 at a time (out of a bad situation) they needed safety and love, and I had no intention of bring in pets, when I moved – I found myself , grabbing them up and bringing them along, hoping to find them homes. I cant live without them now, they have my heart. ( by the way were allowed 1 animal—-ssshhh). NOW, ANYWAY, I coaxed in this big yellow male cat in , I named him ” SUNSHINE ” . Its obvious, that someone totally LOVED HIM, and somehow left him behind. This big O bad Tom Cat, comes in my house, I see him rolling all over the floor, playing with my cats toys, hes rolling on top of the toys. HES such an amazing little talker, Ive never heard a cat, talk this much. Like Ill say, — want some kitty food? He goes -meew. Ill say, get you some kitty food. He says- meew… Like hes saying “what”?…… Or I SAID … its ok now, were going to the Kitty Doctors, be ok. MEEW. Ive got to find it though…MEEW…. Here it is I found the Kitty Doctors….Meew….I found It, were here at the Kitty Doctors….he goes MEEW . Like a child or an older person, constantly talked to him, and he learned to talk back, almost like hes answering you…. ANYWAY I have to find him a home, quickly. Were soon having Apt. inspections, and I CANT have 3 cats– I may loose my apartment. Hes so beautiful !!! call 269 3196186 if youd like this, sweet BIG BOY… THANK YOU. ,