Tortes with 'Tude

Tortoiseshell cats are well-known by cat-owners and cat-lovers and anyone who has a general familiarity with cats.  Even if you don't know the name, it'd be hard to miss the distinctive fur patterning.  'Tortoiseshell' refers to cats with black or gray coats marbled with any number of 'reddish' colors that vary by individual cat.  It's a beautiful effect and these cats are truly stand-out gorgeous.  The pattern, like the calico, appears almost exclusively in female cats, since it requires two 'X' chromosomes (so any male with this pattern would have 'XXY' chromosomes and almost certainly be sterile).

On a less scientific note, these cats are notorious.  Vets, groomers, and pet-owners all swear these cats have a more feisty spirit than any other coat coloring.  The idea is so rampant is has its own nickname: tortietude.

Or, perhaps, it isn't so unscientific.  A recent study from the University of California, Davis suggests that these cats actually do exhibit more temperamental behaviors than cats with other fur patterns.  This includes biting, hissing, swatting, and chasing.  They're also more likely to challenge their human owners when things don't go their way.  The study has limitation-the cats were not individually observed, for instance.  The research is based on a survey of 1200 cat owners asked to give a written description of their cats' behaviors and the coat patterns they possessed.  But its an interesting find nevertheless.  

Perhaps it'll lead to more rigorous studies on the correlation between cat coat patterns and cat behaviors, and we can all feel relieved that an experience with a feisty tortoiseshell cat wasn't totally random-perhaps there is such a thing as 'tortietude'.