red tabby cats

Question
 Last August we found a what appeared to be young red tabby cat. I say young because it was not very big(size wise) and it did not seem to have any sex organs that were visible. I have always been told that if you have a red stripe cat they are always male. Is this true?

Answer
Vickey,

No, it not true that they are ALWAYS male.

Female red (more commonly called ginger) cats are less common than red  males, but they are not rare. It is possible to selectively breed red tabby females by mating red males and red females together. They will then have red tabby offspring.

Red (also called ginger) in cats is a sex linked color, carried on the X gene. A male cat whose X gene carries red will be a red tabby. A female cat has to have red on BOTH X genes to be a red tabby. To produce a red female, you must cross a red male with a red-patched tortoiseshell calico female. This is why you see more male red tabbies than females. If the female inherits one red gene then she will be a tortoiseshell calico with some red areas (along with black and brown).

A solid red cat will ALWAYS display the tabby pattern (although it may be very slight or even undetectable without brushing the fur back to check) because the gene that turns off the tabby pattern to make cats a solid color does NOT work on the red colour.

I hope this answered your question.

Carol