Is it true that calico cats can only be female? Sorry I haven’t searched this out but I was interested in what the TM’s might have to say about calico cats since I just acquired one. ( And oh yes it’s female)
Thanks
It seems that they are almost always female. Here’s a link - was going to quote from it, but all that X and Y chromosome stuff looks so reminiscent of algebra that I couldn’t look at it for long enough. I am going to blame you for the fact that I now feel a great need to check whether one of T.S. Eliot’s cats was calico.
http://www.peteducation.com/isittrue/calico.htm
Greetings to the newbie-moggie.
Aren’t male Calicos called Tortoiseshells?
Tortoiseshell is another name for a black and orange cat. Torties can be male or female. Tortie and white is another name for calico, which are almost always female, and if male, are sterile.
Calico cats have distinct patches of orange, white and black. Torties are more black, with flecks of orange and white within the coat. Both calicos and torties are typically female. In all the years I have been a vet nurse, I have only seen one male calico. I have never seen a male tortie. And yes, they are usually sterile.
Calicos and torties are also known for having bad tempers. (More anecdotal evidence than actual scientific study)
Michi
But… they’re so cute.
Thanks for clearing the tortie/calico thing up. That’s what I get for trying to remember what I read years ago instead of looking it up.
My cat Annie is what I call a “tortico.” At flirst glance she looks like a tortie, but her feet are solid white and her tummy and chest have calico patches. And she is the light of my life, but she is a BITCH.
Thanks Lynn!
Hmmm…I heard that some consider tri colors good luck…I remember reading a book when I was in grade school called “The Cat that went to Heaven”…about a Buddhist and his cat…it was so sad!
I would like to step up and defend the honor of the calico cat. Calico - that was her name - was the mildest, most loving cat I have ever seen. Whenever you went met her she rolled over and begged for a tummy scratch. Never scratched anyone. Cried if she had no human company. Run over at one year old, in 1985. I still miss that cat, and won’t have another one. No other cat can compare to Calico.
basically, yes, genetically normal calico cats can only be female. but, you can have what’s called, if i remember correctly, a kleinfelter cat which has XXY chromosomes instead of XX or XY. it’s a genetic anomaly and it will give you a male calico cat. sterile, but definitely male. and of course, furry and cute and friendly like any other cat. but very rare.
if you’re curious, there’s a whole book written on the subject called “cats are not peas: a calico history of genetics” by laura gould. it’s a great read, if you love cats and want an intro to genetics.
-fh
My dad, who recently rescued a calico cat and adopted it(mom agreed) was told by the vet staff that they are lucky to have a calico with such a friendly disposition. They said thatmost(but not all) of the calicoes they encounter are kind of cranky.
I have a calico and and a “patched tortie”, which is what the vet called my tortie with white feet. She also has 24 toes, but that is another mutation all together. The vet said that calico males are almost always born dead. Something about the mutation makes them unable to survive the birth process, as the kittens look fully formed.
My tortie had a litter of 6 kittens, no torties or calicos, but half had extra toes… isn’t genetics wonderful?
I wanted to post this a few months ago, the last time we talked about calicos, but I hadn’t uploaded the image yet.
Now I have. This is my calico, Piper.
She’s not ill-tempered as such, but she is terribly fearful of strangers. She loves me (but won’t let me hold her) and her brothers, but she’s afraid of just about anyone else, even frequent visitors. Sometimes she’s even afraid of her brothers and me, for no good reason.
But I do love her so!
Really? I guess I lucked out with mine, she’s the sweetest cat I’ve ever had!
Wasn’t that cat who was made famous for rescuing her kittens from a burning building a calico?
I have had three calico cats in my lifetime. All were female, all were sweet and most were remarkably intellegent (for cats.) They were cuddly. I have had many cats since and have 5 of 'em now, none are calicos. And no cat has ever been the equal of my first calico in either brains or the cuddle factor.
I’d never even heard of a temper or temprement problem among calicos until today! Wow! I’d take another calico even though I already have too many cats. I love 'em. (But then baiting my insane kitty is my favorite blood sport…)
Vicki-the-sigless
My calico is a terrible bitch, as likely to bite you as to beg for food. But I love her anyway.
Calico fur patterns arise due to inactivation of one X chromosome in every cell in a female mammal’s body. Coat color is carried on the X chromosome, so if you have one black parent and one orange parent, in some cells the X chromosome that carries the black-color gene will be inactivated and in some cases the orange-color gene will be. This tends to occur in patches, so calico cats have patches of color rather than just individual hairs displaying orange or black. You get orange and black patches, bam, you have a calico.
This can’t happen in normal males, because they have only one X chromosome and none of their sex cells get inactivated. If you do find a calico male, he is XXY (Klinefelter’s syndrome), and he is sterile.
I think they covered this over at Snopes. Now that I think about it, it might have been before all the messages on the SLC got wiped out.