There’s a 75% chance that an orange tabby cat will be male, due to the fact that they only need to inherit one copy of the gene for this coat color for it to be expressed.įemale orange tabby cats need two copies of the gene for this coat color, so there’s less chance of them having this coat color. Not all of them, but it’s true that the vast majority of orange tabby cats will be male. Image Credit: redwineandyou, Shutterstock Are all orange tabby cats male? It may have been a camouflage mechanism when they spent their days hunting among the grass before they were fully domesticated. The truth is that tabby cats have been wearing an M on their foreheads for many centuries, and it’s the result of their DNA, which controls their coat pattern. Others say that the M developed because tabby cats spent so long staring at holes in the wall where those elusive mice live! It’s said that the cats were stroked on the head, and the M was left there as a reminder.Įgyptian legends suggest that the M stands for “Mau,” which is Egyptian for cat. Some legends say that the M stands for either Mary or Muhammed, depending on if the religion is Christianity or Islam. There are a few different myths around how this came to be - and of course, the actual science is a little less interesting! Most orange tabby cats have the classic facial markings on their foreheads that look like an M. Why do orange tabby cats have an M on their forehead? Tortoiseshell cats with tabby markings are sometimes called torbies. The markings may be more subtle on their bodies and more visible on their faces and legs. Not all tortoiseshell cats have tabby coloration, but those that do will have patches of red and brown tabby markings. These tabby cats are more often called tortoiseshell, or tortie, tabby cats. These individual hairs are striped with bands of dark and light color. They also have something called agouti hairs. These cats don’t have distinct areas of different colored hair, and at first glance, they don’t always look like a tabby at all! Ticked tabby cats do have classic tabby markings on their faces, although these may be subtle. This pattern is also sometimes called the Agouti or Abyssinian tabby. They have barring on their legs and chest. Spotted tabbies have either large or small spots all over their sides. They have the same facial markings as a classic tabby. The mackerel name comes from the fact that the stripes look a little like the skeleton of a fish. They should be evenly spaced and branch away from a darker stripe along the cat’s spine. A tabby with this pattern has narrow and parallel stripes running along their bodies. The face has stripes on the cheeks, and a classic distinct M on the forehead, with lines running down the neck and onto the back. Some cats will have cute dark “button” markings on their chests.

The tummy is paler but may still have tabby markings.

This tabby pattern has wide swirls of darker coloration along the sides of the cat, with barring on the legs and tail.

Photos of orange tabby cats