Seventy-five to eighty percent of orange or ginger cats are male and, for those rarer females, the orange gene must be inherited from both parents.

There were a number of orange cats who came to eat who were very wary and didn’t come close enough for us to find out whether they were male or female, and likewise with visiting kittens. But, of the cats who were either members of the Garden Family or part of the Visiting Cats group and were friendly (or at least accustomed to being around humans), there were four ginger-and-white cats who we know for sure were female.

The first was Ghost Cat, an orange-and-white adult, who arrived from another garden across the fields along with Thundercat (an orange-and-white male) and BBC. When we first spotted Ghost out in the fields, we assumed she was male, but once she started coming into the garden to eat we realised she was definitely female. We also realised that her colour was a lot stronger than when we had first spotted her in the distance on a misty, autumnal day, but of course, by then her name had stuck!

The next was Gypsy, another adult, who arrived around the time of the pandemic. Gypsy had a more feminine appearance and delicate frame, and it was not a great surprise to discover she was female. Gypsy had a lovely plume of a tail when she arrived but she disappeared for a few days and returned with a damaged tail which then fell off, leaving her with a stump. Luckily she managed fine. Gypsy is also shown in the header photo.

The third was Lychee, who was She-ba’s daughter and Mini’s sister. When She-ba first brought her kittens for weaning, we assumed Lychee was male and it was only when She-ba brought Lychee into the garden and left her there (because she was quite ill and required nursing) that we realised Lychee was a girl. Sadly, Lychee’s health was never good and she spent a lot of her life being treated for various maladies. But she was a happy girl, especially when her sister Mini moved into the garden and the family was reunited.

And the last orange-and-white female was Flora’s daughter (and The Cat’s grand-daughter) Satsuma, who was born in the garden. Once again, we assumed Satsuma was male until the kittens started weaning, when we noticed she was female. Satsuma was born with a stump for a tail; there was no infant accident or illness, just a naturally shorter-than-usual tail.

So today, here are photos of these four orange-and-white cats, all different shapes and sizes and patterns, different characters and personalities.