i dunno. i have a orange tabby female too

 

Do you mean the tan/sandy ones, or the orange?

 

Here's her picture...

http://www.catforum.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=869

Thanks!

 

Ah she's an orange tabby. I see quite a bit of them actually here, but not sure if they're 'rare'.

 

40% of orange cats are female and 60% are male. Now, I think I'm remembering the "why" correctly; let me give it a shot...

It has to do with the gene for orange color which is on the X (female) chromosome. A male will be orange if the X chromosome from his mother is orange, while a female must have both chromasomes code for orange to be orange. If only one is orange, she will be a calico or tortie. This is also why calico males are rare; they have abnormal chromosomes (two X's). The genotype for male calicos is XXY and they are sterile because of it.

Cheers,
Dr. Jean

 

I always heard male calicos were considered rare.

 

yay! genetics lesson!

 

Genetics lesson indeed! Just don't tell my genetics professor Dr. Linhart at Colorado what I said---he'd probably clobber me!

Cheers,
Dr. Jean