Orange Tabby Cats

Whether you call it an orangie, ginger, or marmalade, the orange tabby cat is something special. For whatever reason, anecdotal evidence suggests that orange tabbies have big personalities and tend to be more communicative, gregarious, and affectionate than other cats. For example, of all the barn cats I have known, the orangies are the ones who will crawl into your lap if given half a chance, purr like mad when slung over your shoulder, or follow you around the property talking up a storm.

We are blessed with two of these characters, a female orange tabby named Diesel and our orange and white tabby male, Rodchenko. Our cat Diesel was found at a gas station by my twinkle. Diesel crawled right into her lap, clearly begging to be taken to a warm house where she could sleep under the blankets and eat something besides the bean dip that the gas station employees had been feeding her. She was pale and rather moth-eaten, with a long gash across her shoulder. When the vet saw her, she remarked that Diesel would have a beautiful coat when she got some good nutrition. We were skeptical, but the vet was right, and her coat came in a long, beautiful, soft orange. She has the softest coat of any of our cats, and she smells like warm sunshine. I suppose because of her time surviving on the streets, she developed a taste for all kinds of random human food, her favorites being milk, ice cream (really all dairy products), turkey bacon, and pizza. She loves to snuggle under the covers or sleep on my husband’s chest with her nose about ½ inch from his chin. She will also bite his chin if it has stubble on it. She sometimes hisses when people ring our doorbell, and once when I heard a noise downstairs, I carried her with me to investigate because for some reason it made me feel better (this was before we had a dog). I don’t know if I was going to use her as a weapon or what. Originally, we claimed that we were just going to foster her, but I had recently lost The Best Cat in the World, my boy Harley, and when Diesel started sitting next to me while I did jigsaw puzzles, I knew that I was not going to relinquish my new friend, even when she stuck her paw in the box of loose puzzle pieces, grabbed a pawful, and proceeded to shove them in her mouth. She will do the same thing with your ice cream if you give her half a chance.

Last night when we were watching Big Love, I told my husband that every household needs a Margene—someone to be enthusiastic and positive when the world seems to be falling apart. I realized soon after that Rodchenko, or Ro as he is called around these parts, is the Margene of our house. I adopted him as a kitten, the first kitten I have ever owned. His Petfinder description said, “Innocence best describes this little one,” and it was correct. His sunny, happy-go-lucky nature is irrepressible, but he is also completely naïve about the world. Once, at my husband’s insistence, we took him out on the porch so he could see the big outdoors. He started panting and hissing in panic. We never did that again. Every morning when my alarm goes off, he settles on my chest and stares at me until I get up. He is sleeping on my legs right now as I type. He is friends with everyone and even adores the dog. He licks her on the head and swats at her tail when it wags. His purr can be heard across the room, and when he is really content, he coos like a dove. He likes to suck on our chenille blanket and make biscuits with his paws. If you call his name, he will chirp at you, then jump up on the couch to say hello. He has far more fur than any cat could possibly need, but he also has a small head, which makes him look somewhat like he is wearing a fur coat with the hood down. He might not be the sharpest knife in the closet, as we say around here, but for pure positive energy and cuteness, he has no equal.Those who know me know that Alien is one of my three favorite movies, and I’m sure it’s no coincidence that it features an orange tabby. The lengths to which Ripley goes to rescue the wayward Jonesy will seem natural to anyone who has loved one of these cats. The hissing will probably seem familiar as well.