At 7:30 a.m. I hear the sounds of his alarm. His goal? To get breakfast. The orange cat comes into my shared bedroom, sounding his cries as I throw my hand over the side of the bed in an attempt to mute him like I would my phone alarm. Only he has no snooze button. He switches tactics. He ducks under my hand and uses it to pat himself as I grumble his name and his fluffy tail smacks me in the face a few times.
Eventually I have to stir from my slumber. Not because the noisy monster screams at me when I pick him up, rather I have to get ready for the day. I set the cat down and move to get him and his fellow companion their breakfast. His goal for the morning is achieved.
These two are my feline friends — George and Nyx. George, the orange and white one, is my brother’s cat. George is the type of cat to walk up to a complete stranger and demand pets, but also the type to run head first into a wall and scream at it for existing in the first place.
On TikTok, and other social media platforms, orange cats are sometimes noted for their lack of braincells. I first noticed this trend back in 2020, when I came across a page about Walter the cat (@Walter.the.catt). There were several other creators on the platform as well who took videos of their orange cats doing dumb things. Walter the cat, however, is where I first heard about the idea that orange cats have a “shared braincell” and that they are all collectively trying to find it. I watched the videos because I thought they were funny and it reminded me of George.
Cats and their humans
A research study done by Rebecca Sandford Morgan in 2010 looked at how humans perceive personalities in cats in relation to their fur colour. Morgan talks about the stereotype that certain fur coats on cats exhibit based on their interactions with people, as well as how things such as environment, socialization and genetics play a role in personality development. All these aspects help animal shelters, pet stores and rescue shelters be able to better home their feline friends. Most of what Morgan talks about is how compatible cats are with humans and how domestic cats have developed personalities that go with the humans that take care of them.
In George’s case he was a rescue. He was found tied up to a tree in a park known for wild animals and eventually adopted by my stepmother. However, George was so loud he was thrown outside. Although he was an excellent bird catcher, he was also bullied by the other cats on the acreage. My brother took pity on him and the two bonded as they screamed at each other from across the yard. If what Morgan was talking about in her research is true — that cats adopted by people tend to correlate well with their owner — then no wonder those two ended up together. My brother and his cat both tend to be a bit ditsy or don’t seem to think out the situation before going for it.
On the other hand, Nyx was born on a farm and given to me by my mother. Nyx’s arrival was unexpected to say the least. She was just this small grey kitten thrown at us one day and we were told to figure it out. It was a huge learning experience for me, and I sometimes still wonder if I actually did a good job raising her given some setbacks. One of these being that she wasn’t socialized properly to humans, which causes her to be more timid around people she doesn’t know.
In another study, done in Mexico in 2022, they found that cats with certain fur coats tend to have a higher percentage of personality traits than others of the same breed. Orange cats tend to have a higher level of friendliness, calmness and trainability. Grey cats, like Nyx, however, showed higher signs of shyness, intolerance and aloofness. All of these I have noticed in my cats to a certain extent.
George, despite his lack of braincells some days, is quite smart. Besides learning how to hunt when he was an outdoor cat he also knows how to sit on command and is leash-trained. Another one of the small quirks he picked up was learning my brother’s sleep schedule five years ago that, unfortunately for me, he still keeps to it. He also knows when you are feeling bad and will come comfort you. There are other days when he zooms around the house and runs into the laundry room and screams, until one of us goes and finds him as if playing a game of hide and seek.
Some of these traits Nyx also has picked up. She also can sit, and walk on a leash. However, her form of comfort is making sure that I am OK when I’ve been in the bathtub too long by playing with the bubbles or biting me to show affection. That isn’t to say that I haven’t caught her chasing George around the house a few times as the two of them play tag.
She’s like his little shadow, and I find it funny when she mimics George by doing something that the internet considers an “Orange cat trait.” Considering that they were raised in a similar environment, I see it as just a little sibling looking up to their older counterpart.
As I stare at George who has made himself into a cat version of a loaf, I can’t tell if he has intelligence or not. And honestly, I am just happy to have a small monster like him in my life to keep things interesting.