Although it is not an exact science, sometimes cats are more or less likely to be a certain gender based on their coat color. In particular, calico or tortoiseshell cats are almost always female. On the other hand, orange or orange and white cats are almost always male.
White cats are some of the rarest, making up only about 5% of the total cat population! With their striking snow-white coats, they look dazzling and very unusual and, of course, they are even more special to their families who love them.
Chances are, you're right. Most orange cats are male and most calicos are female. The color of a cat's coat is closely linked to its gender. As you may recall from high school biology, mammals have two chromosomes that determine their sex—XX for females and XY for males.
Are All-white Cats Rare? They are! All-white cats make up only about 5 percent of the general cat population. All-white cats lack something called melanin, a pigment that occurs in both humans and animals and is responsible for giving color to hair and skin.
White cats make up only 5% of the general cat population. But they have captured the imagination of so many. And, for the most part, the things they symbolize are positive — rebirth, happiness, money, prosperity, healing, spirituality and even tolerance.
Black/White Cats or Gray/White Cats
These cats can be quite resourceful and clever. They are very active and are great mousers. However, they are usually less affectionate than other colored cats.
Cats who are solid white or mostly white may have blue, green, gold or copper eyes. The most common eye colors range from greenish-yellow to gold.
The dominant white gene (WD) encodes complete white coloration by disrupting replication and migration of melanocytes into the skin. It is also associated with blue eyes and deafness. Because it's inherited in a dominant manner, one variant is enough for the trait to be expressed.
A white cat must have a white parent. A white cat breeds as both a white (which you see) and a masked color (which you don't see) and can produce based on both white and the unseen color/pattern.
Siamese. Also referred to as “foreign white,” pure white Siamese cats lack the classic darker-colored “points” on the ears, face, legs, and tail. Moreover, all Siamese kittens are born white, developing darker colors as they grow. These cats love their families and prefer to be the center of attention.
The color of the kitten may suggest its gender. Almost all (but not ALL) kittens of calico (black, white and orange) or tortishell (black and orange) color are females. More orange kittens are male than female although the association between color and sex is not as strong as in the calico/tortishell colored kitten.
Since male cats typically only have 1 X chromosome, they can never have both black and orange fur. Female cats, however, can be both orange and black, as they can have orange in one X chromosome and black in the other. Calico cats should therefore always be female.
Two X chromosomes are needed for a cat to have that distinctive tri-color coat. If a cat has an XX pair, she will be female. Male cats have an XY chromosome pair, so they can't be Calicos.
Calico cats are almost always female because the locus of the gene for the orange/non-orange coloring is on the X chromosome.
The white cat can either pass their true color to their young, or their true color + the masking gene, making them white as well. Many white kittens are born with a small spot on their heads which shows their true color, and the spot may fade over time.
A study described by the University of California, Berkeley discovered that: "Overall, orange cats and bi-colored cats were characterized as friendly, while black cats, white cats, and tri-colored cats were regarded as more antisocial.
One litter of kittens can contain cats of all different colours, particularly if the mother has mated with more than one male. Male kittens will always inherit their colour from their mother, whereas female kittens will be a combination of the colours of each parent.
Hereditary deafness is a major concern in white cats, and even more so if one or both irises are blue in color. Researchers found that only 17 to 22 percent of white cats with non-blue eyes are born deaf.
Overall, orange cats and bi-colored cats were characterized as friendly, while black cats, white cats and tri-colored cats were regarded as more antisocial. White cats were considered to be more shy, lazy and calm, while tortoiseshell cats were more likely to be depicted as both more intolerant and more trainable.
Like calicos and tortoiseshells, tuxedo cats are not a breed. Instead, they are defined by their distinct black and white bicolored (or piebald) coats that resemble traditional formal wear. However, while calico and tortoiseshell cats are predominantly female, tuxedo cats can be either male or female.
5% of the general cat population is white cats (i.e. pure white). 15-40% of these pure white cats have one or two blue-eyes. Of those white cats with one or two blue eyes, 60-80% are deaf; 20-40% have normal hearing; 30-40% had one blue eye and were deaf while 60-70% had one blue eye and normal hearing.
The odd-eyed coloring is caused when either the epistatic (recessive) white gene (which masks any other color genes and turns a cat completely white) or the white spotting gene (which is the gene responsible for bicolor and tuxedo cats) prevents melanin (pigment) granules from reaching one eye during development, ...
Indoor white cats live just as long as any other type of cat, which according to the ASPCA is 13-17 years. As long as an albino cat lives indoors, they too have normal lifespans.
No, cats with white coats are not albino. There's a key difference: White cats simply have a gene for white fur, while albinism is a genetic condition that results in a complete lack of color pigmentation in the skin, fur, and eyes.
The most rare eye colouring in a cat is dichromatic, where the eyes will have a combination of two distinct colours within both eyes. It's caused by the cat having different levels of melanin in distinct sections of their irises.