Miss Ruth is a Tortie.. It's short for Tortoise Shell coloration.
Miss Ruth says "I'm so happy to have been adopted by a loving family." She waited (in a state of depression) in the Hermitage Cat Shelter in Tucson, Arizona for three years before she met Miss Cecily who fell in love with her...;)
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I have taken this Section from From Conscious Cat:
“Tortitude” – The Unique Personality of Tortoiseshell Cats
Posted by Ingrid
fortitude = tortoiseshell cat personality
Tortoiseshell cats are named for their distinctive coloring – a combination of patches of black, brown, amber, red, cinnamon and chocolate. The size of the patches varies from a fine speckled pattern to large areas of color. The term “tortoiseshell” is used for cats with brindled coats that have few or no white markings. Cats of this coloring with larger areas of white fur are called calicos. Sometimes, these colors present in lighter versions such as lilac or cream. Torties with this lighter coloring are called dilute torties. Occasionally, the typical tortoiseshell colors are also seen in a tabby (striped) pattern, and these cats are sometimes referred to as “torbies.”
Tortoiseshell cats are almost exclusively female. Tortoiseshell and calico coats are the result of the interaction between genetic and developmental factors. The occasional and very rare male tortoiseshell cat is the result of a genetic mutation.
In addition to their distinctive coloring, torties also have a reputation for unique personalities, sometimes referred to as “tortitude.” They tend to be strong-willed, a bit hot-tempered, and they can be very possessive of their human. Other words used to describe torties are fiercely independent, feisty and unpredictable. They’re usually very talkative and make their presence and needs known with anything from a hiss to a meow to a strong purr. My Note: I would say she is insistent! When Miss Ruth wants to be fed something new and different than what she is given, she will call with a series of rapid intense meows, in a loud demanding tone.
These traits are stronger in tortoiseshell cats than in calicos – it seems as though these traits are somewhat diluted with the addition of more white to the color scheme.
As of the writing of this post, I share my life with Amber*, and those of you who’ve followed this blog for a while have gotten to know her in her Amber’s Mewsings posts. You will soon be able to read all about Buckley in Buckley’s Story – Lessons from a Feline Master Teacher. The photo above shows Buckley in the front, Amber behind her.
Prior to Amber and Buckley, there was another tortie in my life. Virginia was the first office cat at the animal hospital I managed. She was my introduction to torties, and my love affair with this particular type of cat began with her. She, too, had the “tortitude” I so love about these particular cats.
Do you have a tortie or calico in your life? Does she have “tortitude?”
*Sadly, Amber passed away on May 13, 2010, after a sudden, brief illness. I now share my life with Allegra and Ruby, two tortoiseshell cats who have their own columns here on The Conscious Cat, titled Allegra’s World and Ruby’s Reflections.
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From Wikipedia:
Torties, i.e., Tortoiseshell Cats
Tortoiseshell describes a coat coloring found almost exclusively in female cats.[1][2] Also called Torties for short, they combine two colors other than white, either closely mixed or in large patches.[2] The colors are often described as red and black, but "red" can instead be orange, yellow, or cream[2] and "black" can instead be chocolate, grey, tabby, or blue.[2] A tortoiseshell cat with the tabby pattern as one of its colors is a Torbie.
"Tortoiseshell" is typically reserved for cats with relatively small or no white markings. Those that are largely white with tortoiseshell patches are described as tricolor,[2] tortoiseshell-and-white (in the United Kingdom), or calico (in Canada and the United States). Tortoiseshell markings appear in many different breeds as well as in non-purebred domestic cats.[3] This pattern is especially preferred in the Japanese Bobtail breed.[4]
Contents [hide]
1 Patterns
2 Genetics
3 Folklore
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
Patterns[edit]
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Tortoiseshell cats have coats with patches of various shades of red and black, as well as white. The size of the patches can vary from a fine speckled pattern to large areas of color. Typically, the more white a cat has, the more solid the patches of color. Dilution genes may modify the coloring, lightening the fur to a mix of cream and blue, lilac or fawn.The markings on tortoiseshell cats are usually asymmetrical. Occasionally tabby patterns of black and brown (eumelanistic) and red (phaeomelanistic) colors are also seen. These patched tabbies are often called tortie-tabby, torbie or, with large white areas, caliby.[5] Tortoiseshell can also be expressed in the point pattern.
Pale tortoiseshell and white cat sleeping
Frequently there will be a "split face" pattern with black on one side of the face and orange on the other, with the dividing line running down the bridge of the nose.
Genetics[edit]
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Main article: Cat coat genetics
Domestic shorthair tortoiseshell with blue/cream coat characteristic of dilution gene.
Tortoiseshell and calico coats result from an interaction between genetic and developmental factors. The primary gene for coat color (B) for the colors brown, chocolate, cinnamon, etc., can be masked by the co-dominant gene for the orange color (O) which is on the X Chromosome and has two alleles, The Orange (XO) and not-Orange(Xo), that produce orange phaeomelanin and black eumelanin pigments, respectively. (NOTE: Typically, the X for the chromosome is assumed from context and the alleles are referred to by just the uppercase O for the orange, or lower case o for the not-orange.) The Tortoiseshell and Calico cats are indicated: Oo to indicate they are heterozygous on the O gene.
The (B) and (O) genes can be further modified by a recessive dilute gene (dd) which softens the colors. Orange becomes Cream, Black becomes Gray, etc. Various terms are used for specific colors, for example, Gray is also called Blue, Orange is also called Ginger. Therefore a Tortoiseshell cat may be a Chocolate Tortoiseshell or a Blue/Cream Tortoiseshell or the like, based on the alleles for the (B) and (D) genes.
The cells of female cats, which like other mammalian females have two X chromosomes (XX), undergo the phenomenon of X-inactivation,[6][7] in which one or the other of the X-chromosomes is turned off at random in each cell in very early development. The inactivated X becomes a Barr body. Cells in which the chromosome carrying the Orange (O) allele is inactivated express the alternative non-Orange (o) allele, determined by the (B) gene. Cells in which the non-Orange (o) allele is inactivated express the Orange (O) allele. Pigment genes are expressed in melanocytes that migrate to the skin surface later in development. In bi-colored tortoiseshell cats, the melanocytes arrive relatively early, and the two cell types become intermingled, producing the characteristic brindled appearance consisting of an intimate mixture of orange and black cells, with occasional small diffuse spots of orange and black.
In tri-colored calico cats, a separate gene interacts developmentally with the coat color gene. This spotting gene produces white, unpigmented patches by delaying the migration of the melanocytes to the skin surface. There are a number of alleles of this gene that produce greater or lesser delays. The amount of white is artificially divided into mitted, bicolor, harlequin, and van, going from almost no white to almost completely white. In the extreme case, no melanocytes make it to the skin and the cat is entirely white (but not an albino). In intermediate cases, melanocyte migration is slowed, so that the pigment cells arrive late in development and have less time to intermingle. Observation of tri-color cats will show that, with a little white color, the orange and black patches become more defined, and with still more white, the patches become completely distinct. Each patch represents a clone of cells derived from one original cell in the early embryo.[8]
A male cat, like males of other therian mammals, has only one X and one Y chromosome (XY). That X chromosome does not undergo X-inactivation, and coat color is determined by which allele is present on the X. Accordingly the cat's coat will be either entirely orange or non-orange. Very rarely (approximately 1 in 3,000[9]) a male tortoiseshell or calico is born. These animals typically have an extra X chromosome (XXY), a condition known in humans as Klinefelter syndrome, and undergo an inactivation process like that in females. As in humans, these cats often are sterile because of the imbalance in sex chromosomes. Some male calico or tortoiseshell cats may be chimeras, which result from the fusion in early development of two embryos with different color genotypes. Others are mosaics, in which the XXY condition arises after conception and the cat is a mixture of cells with different numbers of X chromosomes.
Folklore[edit]
Cats of this coloration are believed to bring good luck in the folklore of many cultures.[10] In the United States, these are sometimes referred to as money cats.[11] The Japanese Maneki Neko figurine is almost always a calico cat.
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