Increase my sample size and help me clarify a hypothesis about cats

[Terabith]

Are all tuxedo cats kinda jerks?  

Are all orange cats loveable sweethearts?  

[Ailaena]

My tuxedo is 100% the most amazing, loveable, chill cat I have ever had.  He’s been my best friend for nineteen years.

I was just cat-sitting for another tuxedo that came a VERY close second to mine, so my sample size of 2 has found the opposite of you 😛

My orange was also a wonderful sweetheart, though, so I can’t disagree with you there!

Edited July 7, 2021 by Ailaena

[Innisfree]

We had an orange tabby who was decidedly antisocial, I'm afraid. Definitely not a loveable sweetheart. But maybe she had a troubled youth. This was in my childhood, and I can't remember how old she was when she adopted us. Youngish, certainly, but I don't think she was a kitten.

[elegantlion]

8 minutes ago, Terabith said:

Are all tuxedo cats kinda jerks?  

Are all orange cats loveable sweethearts?  

My tuxedo cat was the best. He would sleep beside me, he knew my moods and would cuddle when I was down. If he were like a dog, he would be a lab. 

My orange cats were sweet to who they wanted to be sweet toward. We had one that loved select people. My son has one now that loves him best and tolerates me when I visit. I'd say he's more territorial. 

[Terabith]

My tuxedo cat is a jerk, although he adores my husband and thinks he walks on water.  We have a tuxedo summer cat who is shy but also has a definite kinda jerky energy about her.  Summer orange cat and my childhood orange cat were/ are both massive sweethearts.  

Okay, so far it is looking like there is not a strong personality/ coat color correlation.  Science!

[Indigo Blue]

I had a 17 year old sweet tuxedo and a childhood sweet orange tabby.

[Shoeless]

Female orange tabby cats are crazy. 

Male orange tabby cats are lovies.

My tuxedo cat is nice, but not the loveable squish monster yet. I am working on him, but he's still a bit timid.

[Murphy101]

What?! Our tuxedo kitties are little house mama cats. Smart and affectionate in a motherly way. Hermione the Cat used to meow really loud whenever out other pets were being stupid. Lol. Lulu kitty (a torti) had a nerf addiction problem.  If there was anything nerf in the house she’d find it and eat it. And let me assure you that cat was loved or we would not have paid nearly 2k for intestinal surgery to save her after that. Anyways. Hermione would shove Lulu kitty and hiss at her to keep her off anything nerf and then she’d meow loudly and point at it with her paw when we came to investigate her noise.  She would scratch the back of leg if I didn’t answer a crying baby fast enough for her too. She’s run to whoever was crying and  give them a nuzzle.  Or she’d lay on their back or near their side and purr really hard to soothe them. If that didn’t work before I got to them - she run to find me and meow and stuff and if that didn’t work she’d take a like clawing to the back of my leg to prod me to hurry up.  A few weeks after we found out Hermione had cancer and probably wouldn’t live her see her 17th birthday, I came home and hermione came in the garage from outside. I was really shocked bc she hated leaving the house and had happily been an inside cat her entire life. . But when I got closer I was like noooo. Too small/young and the face markings aren’t quite the same - NOT Hermione. So this kitten just follows me in the house and made herself at home and said hello to everyone and then went to lay next to Hermione and they groomed each other and meowed nicely at each other a bit. We were all like this is so friken weird but Hermione absolutely sent us a new caretaker.  New Hermione was named Katniss and has been with us several years now.  And she is also very den motherly to everyone, including the new dog and kitten. 

[Pen]

50 minutes ago, Terabith said:

Are all tuxedo cats kinda jerks?  

Are all orange cats loveable sweethearts?  

no

I had an awesome sweet wonderful tuxedo cat

[Pen]

How about is it true that tortoise shell cats have tortytude ?

[EKS]

52 minutes ago, Terabith said:

Are all orange cats loveable sweethearts?  

I have a good friend who has tons of experience with animals (vet tech and pet groomer for years) who claims that orange anything will have a bad disposition.

[Terabith]

My tuxedo cat will get mad at me, hold a grudge, and like 15 minutes later attack my oldest kid to punish me.  He adores my husband and likes my youngest and is a very clever and very handsome cat, but he is a world class jerk.  

He smacks the old, sweet, lovable calico around but is scared of every cat in the neighborhood.  

[Terabith]

2 minutes ago, EKS said:

I have a good friend who has tons of experience with animals (vet tech and pet groomer for years) who claims that orange anything will have a bad disposition.

I've known like five orange tabby cats (all male, though), and they were all lovable sweethearts.  

[Hen]

our orange cat has always been half misanthrope, loving to our kids, who he views as littermates, I think.  He would "talk" to them and snuggle with them but ignore us unless he was demanding food.  He was also a known bully to other cats in the neighborhood (except 2 that he was friends with) and sometimes chased dogs.  He is now elderly, 14 I think and he is now a grumpy old man, who hollers for his food, but is more chummy with my husband and I and will "talk" to us now.  He is still not a lap cat for us, but will sleep with the kids. 

[Drama Llama]

The obvious solution to this problem is kittens.

Get an assortment of kittens.  For scientific purposes.

 

[mommyoffive]

I have never even heard of a Tuxedo Cat.  I have no clue as to what that is.

[mom2scouts]

Nope, all of my tuxedo cats were great cats. We lost one last year that was the sweetest cat I've ever had and I've had a lot of cats in my life. Cats usually just end up here, but if I ever get the chance to pick a cat again, it will be a tuxedo cat. I have two orange cats. I love them, but they are the dumbest animals I have ever had. One of them is nice to people, but can't get along with any of our other cats. The other is afraid of everything but also wants to be a loveable sweetheart. He can't decide if he wants to run away or sit on a lap.

[Katy]

My dad had a tuxedo cat that was amazing when I was growing up.  He was nice to the whole family but had a strong preference for my dad.  When he came home from a major surgery the cat never left his side for his entire recovery.

My dad had rescued the cat from a dumpster as a kitten.

[MercyA]

1 hour ago, Terabith said:

Are all tuxedo cats kinda jerks?  

Are all orange cats loveable sweethearts?  

I have no idea.

Yes. 🙂 

[Ausmumof3]

We had a ginger cat when I was a kid who had no interest in anything aside from food and sleep so no not really.  

[fraidycat]

My orange cat is totally a loveable sweetheart to everyone. His name is Boo, but his nickname is Mr. Noodle because he is so chill that he is 100% relaxed deadweight in your arms, like a limp noodle. Upsidedown, upright, laying on his back or front doesn't matter.

 My sister's orange cat is also a loveable sweetheart... to certain people, most people he ignores, and there are a couple that he barely tolerates. He is chilling out with age.

I don't know any tuxedo cats in my close circle.

[Kassia]

My friend's tuxedo cat is so sweet and snuggly and loving.  

We had an orange cat that we adopted as an adult - he was like Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde.  He was fine most of the time, but had a terrible scary mean streak (he would attack us for what seemed like no reason at all).  I was actually scared of him when he was like that, but DH just got mad.  

We have a black cat now and she is the absolute best cat.  We think of her as a therapy cat - she has helped my kids through some pretty hard times - and she's just really special in many ways.  

[Laura Corin]

We had a ginger Tom- fixed but quite late I think - when I was a child, who never cuddled and spent his nights fighting. He would come home scarred.

Edited July 7, 2021 by Laura Corin

[scbusf]

I am a die-hard cat person. But cats in general are jerks. 

[BlsdMama]

9 hours ago, Terabith said:

Are all tuxedo cats kinda jerks?  

Are all orange cats loveable sweethearts?  

Our tuxedo is incredibly sweet. Except... he’s an unneutered male farm cat who marks everything we own. So, he’s not a favorite here, but he is kind. 
 

We have three really great cats, but the most gentle is a muted calico. I thought I was a dog person my entire life until about 5 years ago. Jasmine (gray and white) changed my opinion of cats entirely. She’s still my favorite. 

Edited July 7, 2021 by BlsdMama

[TheReader]

9 hours ago, Terabith said:

My tuxedo cat is a jerk, although he adores my husband and thinks he walks on water.  We have a tuxedo summer cat who is shy but also has a definite kinda jerky energy about her.  Summer orange cat and my childhood orange cat were/ are both massive sweethearts.  

Okay, so far it is looking like there is not a strong personality/ coat color correlation.  Science!

Our tuxedo cat is kind of like that. She adores my husband, and disdains me. She has been known, no lie, to meow incessantly waiting on me to sit down.....so that she can walk across me to wipe her paws off before curling up in DH's lap. Not kidding. She will sit in my lap if and only if there are zero other laps available and she's desperate.  *She was in the shelter 6 months before we got her, and was 2 yrs old when we adopted her, and her first 1.5 yrs is unknown, so......? That could be a factor.

Our previous tuxedo cat wasn't like that, though, but I don't remember her personality too much. 

We've only had one orange cat and he was orange/white,  not a full orange cat; he was fun I think, and then became a massive hunter when he went to live at my dad's.  I don't remember his personality a whole lot, either (those 2 were siblings, so maybe that's why; they bonded and played with each other more than with us). 

Our most jerky cats were always Siamese. Well, and now our so-called Maine Coon, who somewhat has the reported social personality of a Maine Coon, but not the size, so......

[TheReader]

9 hours ago, Pen said:

How about is it true that tortoise shell cats have tortytude ?

Our tortoise shell didn't really seem to have that, although I could have a rose-colored memory of her b/c we had to get rid of her under really awful circumstances, and we've all kind of never forgotten that (crazy neighbors when we lived in Brazil, who all collectively harassed us into getting rid of her). 

1 hour ago, scbusf said:

I am a die-hard cat person. But cats in general are jerks. 

this is true. Some are kind and loving, but still underneath jerks/god-complex creatures, for sure. 

 

Oh, and OP, my dad's tuxedo cat was nicknamed "bites" so that supports your theory. 

[ktgrok]

10 hours ago, Innisfree said:

We had an orange tabby who was decidedly antisocial, I'm afraid. Definitely not a loveable sweetheart. But maybe she had a troubled youth. This was in my childhood, and I can't remember how old she was when she adopted us. Youngish, certainly, but I don't think she was a kitten.

Female orange cats usually are not full orange. The true orange ones (no white on them) are almost always male. There is a big difference in personality between the true orange ones and the "fake" orange ones with some white on them. 

True orange kitties are the BEST kitties!!!!!! (but still cats...so can be jerks like all cats, lol) 

9 hours ago, EKS said:

I have a good friend who has tons of experience with animals (vet tech and pet groomer for years) who claims that orange anything will have a bad disposition.

That's so bizzare! I worked in vet medicine for 20 yrs, and now my adult son works in a vet hospital and has for years, and we both would swear that orange cats are the best cats! We even joke that we don't know why they make other kinds, lol. BUT, as I said above, orange and white cats are NOT the same as actual orange cats. 

[historically accurate]

Well, my current tuxedo is named Mayhem if that tells you anything about her temperment. However, my childhood tuxedo, Peppi, was the sweetest cat. All of my orange cats (my mom LOVES orange cats) have been total and complete sweeties.

Edited July 7, 2021 by historically accurate

[ktgrok]

 I should say, what makes a good cat varies by person. This article mentions that male orange cats are known to be vocal and outgoing - so if you don't like that you might not like them. Thinking about it, they are very confident cats..but I like that. https://www.wellnesspetfood.com/our-community/wellness-blog/entertainment/5-facts-ginger-cats-personality

[Acorn]

My female fully red tabby cat is very timid. I think it’s like less than 20% are female. She was probably feral before we adopted her at 8 months. I had hoped she would become more friendly but it’s been a very slow process. 
 

[importswim]

All of the orange kitties I've had including my current one have the best personalities. Of course, he's kind of a jerk to my gray tabby but he loves his people!

[Dmmetler]

I had a male pinstriped suit cat (tuxedo patterning, but on a grey tabby) who was super sweet to women and terrified of men. We think he might have been abused. He also was by far the least intelligent cat I have ever known-he's the only cat I have ever seen who would chase his own tail, catch it, bite it, look around to see who bit him, and then get distracted by his own tail and do it again. He would also forget that he was capable of retracting his claws and get stuck. Frequently. 

 

I miss him. 

 

DH had a very smart, very sweet male orange tabby when we got married, and we haven't had an orange cat since. I think it's because he's afraid no other cat will measure up. 

 

We currently have a range of toner shades-Black, blue/grey, grey tabby, almost all white with a few grey tabby spots. Black is a mom, and acts like it, blue is scared of everything, grey tabby is the smallest and is trying to be dominant, but mom cat is unwilling to put up with his nonsense, and white is huge and chill. 

[KrissiK]

We have three tuxedo cats. They aren’t overly affectionate, but they aren’t jerks.  They tolerate petting, say “hi” to me when I let them in in the morning, and sleep all day. 

[ktgrok]

Here are my orange male - he was a stray being fed by a client at the vet clinic I worked at when he got brought in for an eye injury and had to become an inside cat. The woman feeding him had a bunch of cats already and couldn't bring him in so I took him. He's a grumpy old man now, but still the most confident, awesome cat. Loud as heck - we tested his thyroid multiple times because cats that vocal about wanting food are usually hyperthyroid but nope. Just bossy pants. 

The grey cat on the chair is supposedly DS21s cat. He is a scaredy cat jerk who tries to molest my orange cat regularly - lovely to wake up to cat's hissing while i yell about the importance of consent, lol. He also is addicted to balloons. He will pull the ribbon/string to get to them if they are helium, then chew on them until they pop in his face. And go back for another. 

[Selkie]

My tuxedo cat Jinx had been at the shelter longer than any other cat - many, many months. No one wanted to adopt her because she was wild and hard to catch and hated to be touched. In her description, the shelter workers wrote that she was a diva who would only ever be like a roommate, not a companion, because she couldn't tolerate interacting with humans.

We got her home and let her decompress and her personality just transformed. Turns out she absolutely adores people. She follows us and talks to us all day long and is so loving. We basically have to pry her off our laps if we ever want to get anything done, because she would be permanently parked there 24/7 if it were up to her.🙂

So her behavior may have been considered jerk-like when we first met her, but only because she could not handle the stress of being in a shelter. 

As for orange cats, we've only had one - our dear departed Cookie Monster, and he was definitely in the lovable sweetheart category. 

[SquirrellyMama]

Our tux cats are so sweet and loveable and are jerks, especially our male. I think he is mad because I added 3 dogs to the house. He is a huge baby with the kids, but attacks me. He is also the ringleader in the morning when he wants to be fed. He organizes the other cats to be annoying until I have to get up to feed them. The orange guy we had was the BEST cat! 

Kelly

[RootAnn]

Full on orange cat is a jerk. He is also antisocial. No petting him or he'll bite you. Heck, sometimes he bites just because he feels like it. He used to attack us frequently woth no provocation but after he broke his leg at the hip socket and spent a month on cage rest, he quit that. To be fair, his siblings are supposedly all insane. His brother climbs curtains & divebombs people as they walk by. His all-white sister is also reportedly crazy.so it might just be bad genes.

Dd#2 briefly fostered one tuxedo kitten after his first adopter returned him for being too crazy. He was a loving sweetheart. His new fanily reports that he is still crazy but a loving crazypants.

[Emba]

23 hours ago, Pen said:

How about is it true that tortoise shell cats have tortytude ?

Oh man. My aunt has a tortoise shell that is the most psycho cat I’ve ever met. Likes my aunt, but is very territorial when anyone else comes in the house. Used to hide on top of the fridge to attack anyone going by.

[Emba]

I have never had a tuxedo cat. 
 

I’ve had three Orange cats and I loved them. I don’t know if I’d say they were sweethearts, but they were nice patient cats who liked being petted and sitting on laps. They each had very distinct and fun personalities. I love orange cats, and they’re definitely my first preference if I’m picking a cat. (Most of the time I don’t get to pick. I end up with whatever cat shows up hungry or needs a home.)

 

[ktgrok]

33 minutes ago, Emba said:

Oh man. My aunt has a tortoise shell that is the most psycho cat I’ve ever met. Likes my aunt, but is very territorial when anyone else comes in the house. Used to hide on top of the fridge to attack anyone going by.

I'd say not ALL tortis are crazy...but the craziest cats are often tortis. 

[Brittany1116]

We have 5 we have rescued and TNR'd. They live in the yard and garage and are happy and healthy.

Orange male cat likely over 4 years old- calm and sweet, was never a problem with toddler or other cats.

Tuxedo female, now 2 years, is fun and thinks she is a puppy. She does like to disappear for days just to worry us.

Grey tuxedo male, twin of the other. He is aloof and a hunter. Nice, but not especially friendly.

Solid grey male, now 1. Also aloof. More friendly with the other grey male than any other. Likes toys more than the other cats.

Torie female, twin of the solid grey. Diva. Spoiled. Typical cat caricature. Only really likes the orange cat.

[Amy in NH]

We have a 14-year-old semi-feral outdoor tuxedo cat who is very friendly and likes attention and pets (but no holds or cuddles).

We have a 9-month old indoor black cat with a white chest patch who is an anxious scaredy-cat, but he will hang with us when scary things aren't happening.  He's kinda dumb, though, so nothing malicious - just some derpy behavior.  His much-smaller, smarter, and more friendly sister is a tortoiseshell.  She can be demanding with her requests for attention, especially with DH.

All of our cats have been barn rescues.

Edited July 8, 2021 by Amy in NH