Does cats' characters vary with their fur colors?

Question

I heard that it does. Please give me some information...

Thanks...

Answer 1

I've had fellow cat lovers on my website that report their "Tortishell" colored (marked) cats tend to be VERY "attitudish" as opossed to other colored/marked cats in their family.  Among the mix of colors and sizes in our multi-cat family we only have one torti....and I will say the same thing about her; she IS a very sassy girl, and if she doesn't like something she is going to let me know real quick.  Stubborn too! (But I love her just the same!)

Answer 2

There are anecdotal reports that certain cats have certain traits.  For instance, orange cats are supposedly very friendly.  Tortoiseshell cats can be very mouthy.  Siamese cats can be very talkative.  A vivid calico (sharp color distinctions between the orange, black and white) tends to be very owner loyal.

But the major influence for a cat comes in the first couple of months, when their mother is training them, and they are receiving human handling, or not receiving human handling.

And, of course, their character can change as they age.

Answer 3

No some people just say weird stuff like that. It just depends on how you treat the cat, deal with bad attitudes, etc. My cat Smokey is a beutiful grey,black,and white Spayed female tabby and when she was a kitten she got stepped on alot but I never once stepped on her but she still attacks me and everyone else our other cat is the same colors but she is a shorthair named Corona and same as Smokey she would get stepped on heck they still do! but Corona....when you pet her you can grab her feet and she won't care she will just try and get away and when she does she will just be all cute and loving still she is like the most non-aggressive cat I have ever had!

Answer 4

I believe so...in general. For instance, calicos tend to be bossy and very "opinionated" about being pet. But, there are some very affectionate calicos, too. It's like dog breeds...a terrier may be more likely to chase after cats than a Chihuahua would, but there are terriers who wouldn't give a cat a second glance.

For the most part, orange tabbies are cuddly and sweet, calicos and tortoiseshells are divas, "tuxedo" cats are outgoing and love to be pet. I've noticed nothing in particular about any other colors.

Answer 5

it seems to me that all orange tabbys have an attitude and dont like people..i could be wrong but every orange tabby ive ever owned or been around has been crabby towards people

Answer 6

There is a compilation of studies and anecdotes on colour and temperament here and lists of which colours are believed to be linked to which temperaments.

http://www.messybeast.com/colour-tempmen...

You'll see there are 3 lists that come from different sources and the different observers ended up with different results!  The only consistent result seems to be with tortoiseshells and this is the only one that has good scientific basis for a link between colour and temperament.

Female cats inherit an X chromosome from the mother and from the father. To be tortie, a female has the "O" gene on one X chromosome, but no "O" gene on her other X chromosome. During embryo formation, each cell of the embryo randomly switches off one or other X chromosome (X chromosome inactivation). On the skin, this shows as red and black patches and is known as mosaicism. The switching off takes place in all tissues of the body, including the brain cells. The "naughty tortie" temperament may be due to X chromosome inactivation in the brain tissues - the brain is a mosaic of 2 types of cell, some with the mother's X chromosome and some with the father's X chromosome. This may cause a mixed-up temperament as well as a mixed up coat pattern.

There is more of a link to breed than to colour and some colours are linked to particular breeds (Russian Blue for example).  A couple of years ago, some British behaviourists began a long-term study into coat-colours and temperaments of cats in catteries and rescue shelters.  This was supposed to cover lots of random-bred cats rather than purebreds (otherwise it wouldn't truly study colour and character).  It was apparently difficult to carry out the survey as cats don't always show their true character in those settings.  So far they don't seem to have published any results.