Every Day Is Ginger Cat Appreciation Day

The first day of September each year is Ginger Cat Appreciation Day. But what makes ginger cats so special?

Ginger Cat Appreciation Day

Ginger Cat Facts

Ginger cats, also known as orange cats or marmalade cats, have a special place in the heart of many cat lovers. For me, the ones I have known have always stood out from the crowd in one way or another. I will come back to my experience with ginger cats a bit later.

Did you know that 80 per cent of ginger cats are male? They are a form of tabby cat. The ginger color comes from the same pigment that gives some humans red hair. Natural red hair that is, not the sort that comes from a bottle! They are also more likely to be more tubby round the middle (cats, not people, do keep up!). They are thought by some to be lazy but in my experience they tend to have a bit more of a laid back approach to life.

Famous Ginger Cats

Here you will discover my fondness for Sci-Fi!

Who can forget the ginger cat in ‘Alien’?  I remember shouting at the cinema screen when ‘Jones’ was in his pet carrier in the path of the monster!

Then the character ‘Data’ in ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ had a ginger cat called ‘Spot’. Remember when Data cried (when his emotion chip was switched on) when he found Spot alive when he thought he was dead? And I bet you don’t remember that the cat who was the ‘holder of the Arquilian Galaxy’ in the film ‘Men In Black’ was a ginger cat called ‘Orion’?

There are lot of others of course (not all Sci Fi LOL)  including ‘Jock’ the ginger cat who belonged to Sir Winston Churchill. If you can think of obvious ones I have missed do add them in a comment.

My Experience With Ginger Cats

I have been celebrating ‘Ginger Cat Appreciation Day’ for a very long time!

Maximilian

I found Maximilian at a farm and he came home with us to join his big brother HG, a black cat who was getting quite old. The sight of this little ginger thing and his big brother was something to behold. But unfortunately HG hated Maxi with every fiber of his being. That was until the day the two German Shepherd dogs attacked Maxi and HG jumped between them and saved the kitten! You can read all about that story here.

Thomas

Tommy was a complete monster in many ways, he came to live with me when I found him as a stray tom cat. He was in a dreadful state, thin and needing a lot of love and attention. He urinated up anything that didn’t move and some things that did. His targets included the bathtub while I was in it, my then husband’s dressing gown laid on the bed (my husband had shut him out of the bedroom) and also the Christmas Tree. The latter nearly killed him as he fused the Christmas lights, they exploded with a bang and a lot smoke! The vet said it was only because he was urinating in spurts he wasn’t electrocuted. You can read all my gorgeous Tommy in an earlier blog.

James

Laying in bed one night with my then husband I could hear breathing – and it wasn’t ours! I woke my husband and he pointed out the bedroom door was shut, the window was only open a small way so nothing could get in. He said I was dreaming and to go back to sleep. Well soon after that something sneezed and frightened the life out of both of us. Lights on revealed a beautiful big ginger cat sitting on the dressing table looking very much at home. How he got in still remains a mystery. Flash forward a number of years and Jimmy had a big adventure, flying to Italy – but that is another story.

Berlington Bertie

In Italy, a small colony of cats were living at our house and they included a ginger boy that I called Berlington Bertie. He was adorable and loved nothing more than playing with the kittens. There was one kitten called Bluebottle who had a lot of health problems and deformities. One day the mother took Bluebottle up the mountain and came back without her. Thank goodness for Bertie who found Blue and brought her home. We took her straight in the house of course and she lived a long life, all thanks to Uncle Bertie. I don’t have a picture of him unfortunately!

Hogarty

We didn’t have a ginger cat for years after Bertie. None of the rescue cats were ginger and the kittens born to the wildies were mostly gray tabbies or gray and white tabbies with the odd Calico thrown in.

However, we now have a ginger cat called ‘Hogarty’ or ‘Hogie Bear’ who is about two years old. He is another big, strong beautiful cat, worthy of appreciation. His name has an interesting origin. An American artist friend of mine mentioned one day that his grandfather’s name ‘Hogarty’ was dying out as no-one else in the family had taken the name. I had three kittens and offered to name the ginger one for him.

Every Day Is Ginger Cat Appreciation Day

So as you can see, Ginger Cat Appreciation Day has a special meaning for me. Though I think every day is cat appreciation day regardless of color. Don’t you agree?

Cat Art Images

Check out my cat art images at my Art Heroes (Europe), Pictorem (USA and Canada) and RedBubble (worldwide) stores.

Before you go

My name is Dorothy Berry-Lound an artist and writer. You can find out more about my art and writing at https://dorothyberryloundart.com.

You can follow me on Facebook.

Thank you for reading!