Agent Orange
Tuesday, 3 September 2024 08:56
Celebrate ten years of Ginger Cat Appreciation Day, which happens on the first day of every September. Software engineer Chris Roy set up GCAD in 2014 in honour of Doobert, the magnificent marmalade mog who shared his life for 17 years.
Let’s hear it for Garfield, Orlando, Orangey (Breakfast at Tiffany’s), Crookshanks and Shrek-mate Puss in Boots. all top ginger boys. (For genetic reasons there are three times as many male gingers as females, see below). And show some extra appreciation for your own gorgeous orange agents of chaos. Ginger cats are all adorable but bonkers, as you will know if you are lucky enough to live with one. They see aliens on a regular basis. Their zoomies are spontaneous, unpredictable and independent of treat-based stimulants. Sometimes they forget how to walk. Belvedere and I think Louis Wain (of whom more later) captured the essence of ginger cat existential bafflement precisely. His Kaleidoscope Cat II is definitely communing with another dimension.
Scientific note
The ginger gene is carried on the X chromosome. For females (XX) to be ginger, both X chromosomes have to carry the gene, but males (XY) only need one. So the maths is on their side. See?
For more about cats in art, look out for Artistic Cats, part of the Clowder Press Creative Cats series.