How come calico cats are almost always female? And is it possible to have a male calico cat?
This is 100% supposition on my part, but follow me on this. I think it’s logical. I’m remembering from 8th grade biology, too, so if I eff up my genetics theory, set me straight gently, thenk you veddy much.
Let’s assume the gene that determines calico markings is recessive (probably a safe bet, since so few cats are calico). Therefore, both parents have to have the calico gene to pass it on to their offspring.
Still, it would have to be tied in to the YY combination of sex-determining chromosomes (males are XY, females are YY? Am I remembering correctly?)
Here’s where I start to lose the wheels in this matter. I don’t know if such a thing can be carried through the sex chromosomes, since it’s genetic, not chromosomal. Although my wife insists that in her family, twins hit every other generation, and it’s through the female bloodline, which makes her laugh at our daughter and tell her she’s going to have twins (my wife has a twin brother).
Anyway, if I’m correct in all of this blather, male cats can carry the calico gene in their Y chromosome, but since it’s recessive, it needs another Y chromosome to show up in the cat’s markings. Hence all calico cats must be female.
If none of what I’ve said is biologically accurate, I’m sorry, and to answer your question, I dunno.
The Dave-Guy
“Since my daughter’s only half-Jewish, can she go in up to her knees?” J.H. Marx
Males can be calico, which refers to their colors. But invariably they are sterile. As for the why, you got me.
“Tell me and I’ll forget; Show me and
I may remember; Involve me and I’ll
understand.” - Old Chinese Proverb
My reference library informs me that the genes that provide orange fur and black fur are both carried on the X chromosome. Under normal circumstances, this means that calico cats must be female, since they need two X chromosomes to get both colors. The presence of (VERY rare!) male calicos is attributed to cats with a gene distribution of XXY instead of XX or XY. IANAG, but I imagine this would also account for the sterility.
Live a Lush Life
Da Chef
I believe that DAVEW0071 has part of the story backwards.
A female (mammal) is XX; a male (mammal) is XY.
The determinant for the coat pattern that we call “calico” may well be passed on the sex chromosomes. We certainly know of sex-linked recessives that almost always manifest themselves in the male in humans (the Y chromosome carries many fewer genes than the X, so a recessive on the X chromosome may not be masked by a corresponding dominant on the Y); hemophilia and red-green color blindness come to mind, and there may be more benign examples that I don’t know about. Sex-linked color and feather patterns are also well documented among budgerigars (although in birds, the male carries two identical sex-determining chromosomes (designated, IIRC, as “WW”) and the female carries a different pattern (“WZ”), so that sex-linked characteristics in budgies and other birds only show up in the hen).
A “female only” sex-linked characteristic in mammals is very unusual, although we might speculate that:
[ul]
[li]there is a “calico” gene (or gene complex),[/li][li]that only manifests itself in the presence of sufficient levels of female hormones.[/li][/ul]
AFAIK, no one has researched this (and why should they?).
Abner Normal notes correctly that male calicoes are not unheard of, although rare and invariably sterile. They may be animals that are morphologically male, but genetically female or (heh, heh) abnormal, such as carrying a XXY combination. AFAIK, no one has actually done research on this, either.
“I don’t just want you to feel envy. I want you to suffer, I want you to bleed, I want you to die a little bit each day. And I want you to thank me for it.” – What “Let’s just be friends” really means
Hello. New User Alert. I saw this question and thought I would reply since I know why Calicos are colored the way they are and why they are usually female.
Chef Troy is correct that the genes for the colors are found on the X Chromosom. This is why calicos are usually female and if male always sterile (XXY).
The pattrern is the result of random X chromosome inactivation. This is due to some of the cats cells expressing the gene from one X chromosome and the rest of the cats cells expressing the gene from the other X. If both chromosomes were active in a given cell the black color gene would be observesd since it is dominant.
Anyway, just my 2 cents.
John
So what about tortoiseshells?
Neat. Just thought i’d add my two cents. One of my family cats is a male calico. Too bad we didn’t know about the sterility thing; it seems like a pity to have had him neutered.
Anyway, this cat is definitely not as aggressive or loud as our other (tabby) male cat. I dunno if that is related at all to the topic.
“So what about tortoiseshells?”
I believe that tortise shells are a variety of calico classified by the pattern of the coloring. If that is the case (maybe someone who knows about cat breeds could help) then the genetics relating to the colors would be the same.
John
When we adopted our cat from the local Humane Society, the lady who ran the shelter explained that tortoise-shell cats, although they have three colors, do not have the one-gender limitation that calicos have. She was not a vet, but all the animals there are treated by a vet, so she probably has discussed this with the kittydoc.
AskNott
Cat genetics seem like fair game - people usually don’t get too hot under the collar…
I remember that white fur is dominant and if a white cat has one blue eye and one green, the ear that goes with (I forget) the blue (or the green) will be deaf.
It has to be white fur and blue eyes - if it has two blue eyes the cat will be deaf in both ears.
Did you knnow that white cats have the tabby M on their foreheads? Have to check carefully, but it is there. The fur is just a tiny bit different.
The tortoiseshell are hard to breed. The females are best mated to a solid colored black, red or cream male. Even then youmight get only one tortoiseshell in the litter. they are usually female and are usually thickset.
A couple of my books give tortoiseshell and calico as the same thing, calico being the preferred name in USA. Another says the tortie’s colors are more mixed in and the calico’s colors are set in larger patches.
Oh, I’m gonna keep using these #%@&* codes 'til I get 'em right.
“When we adopted our cat from the local Humane Society, the lady who ran the shelter explained that tortoise-shell cats, although they have three colors, do not have the one-gender limitation that calicos have. She was not a vet, but all the animals there are treated by a vet, so she probably has discussed this with the kittydoc.”
According to the information I found at http://www.fanciers.com/cat-faqs/tricolors.shtml
Tortise shell is a type of calico and thus usually female. Did she show you any male tortise shell cats? Maybe they had one and she thought it was common. Maybe she was talking about something else entirely. Or perhaps she was just mistaken.
As far as white on cats goes, it is not dominant, but it is the default. If there is no pigment gene present in the cells of the skin then the fur will be white. The presence of any pigment gene will result in the fur being that color.
John
I had a sneaking suspicion that I was getting at least part of my answer wonky. Thanks to those who know better for setting things straight.
Eighth grade biology was many many years ago. I can’t even remember what I ate for lunch yesterday.
The Dave-Guy
“Since my daughter’s only half-Jewish, can she go in up to her knees?” J.H. Marx
A little off-topic, but in the same vein…
All the yellow tabbies I’ve ever met are male, and a large percentage of male cats I’ve noticed do seem to have the yellow tabby markings. Is this a strictly male coloration? Of the dozen or so I’ve known, 100% were certifiably male, including my own Snuggles.
Another cat-fur related question is How much should it cost to have a taxidermist preserve and mount a deceased cat? The aforementioned Snuggles has perfect, symetrical, well defined markings, plus a nice figure, and I’d like to keep him even after he’s gone.
Nothing personal, MissDavis, but EEEEEEWWWW!
“I should not take bribes and Minister Bal Bahadur KC should not do so either. But if clerks take a bribe of Rs 50-60 after a hard day’s work, it is not an issue.” ----Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, Current Prime Minister of Nepal
Thanks everyone! Here is another cat related question. What is up with those “munchkin cats”? They’re legs are like half as small as normal cats’ legs are. They’re pretty cool to see.
Here you go, missdavis:
http://www.latimes.com/class/employ/career/taxidermy990816.htm
Looks like it’s gonna cost you $2,500 to $3,000 if you can even find a taxidermist who will do it.
I don’t know, but I’m always willing to guess, particularly if it leads to a hijack.
I got the general impression from something I read (nobody can accuse me of not citing a source!) that dachshunds have short legs for the same reason that human dwarves (is there a more polite term?) do. It’s not that they are bred to shortness, but a genetic condition (hypospandyle??? or something) that produces short limbs. If so, the genetic condition is not specific to humans, and if it’s possible in dogs I’m sure it could happen to cats also.
I’ll see if I can actually find some information to back these wild speculations.
well well said the royal desiccation my political opponents back home always maintained
that i would wind up in hell and it seems they had the right dope
Don Marquis
archy interviews a pharaoh
The term is “chondrodystrophy”, characterized mainly by shortening of the limbs, although there are other symptoms as well. There are apparently over 100 different kinds of chondrodystrophy in humans, the most common is known as “achondroplasia”.
Little people who suffer from chondrodystrophy are sometimes described as dwarves, in contrast to midgets who are little people with relatively normal proportions.
I found one website (from a veterinarian, but apparently not much of a scientist – he recommended acupuncture and “healing touch” for spinal cord injuries) that referred to dachshunds as chondrodystrophic dogs.
At any rate, now you have a highly scientific guess as opposed to my previous post which was merely a layman’s guess.
Thanks, Thing 1 – “As far as white on cats goes, it is not dominant, but it is the default.” I wondered about that when I typed it.
I sketch cats whenever I find time and, of course, cats. There is no “Cat Genetics” text that I’ve found so far and I’m only interested in the non-wild versions.
It looks like the coat color is attached to cat shape, too. For example tabbies seem to have round face while others seem to have triangular faces with the chins being the points. Some (more exotics) have muzzles and some of the long hairs have pugged up faces.
Long hair torties have short legs and seem to be lighter in weight.
Siamese have muzzles.
All white cats - Persian, show cats in the American Short Hair, for example all have the ble eye & deafness combination. The exception is the all white Oriental developed in 1960 - has white hair and blue eyes and doesn’t show the tendency towards deafness.
Haven’t found anything that links the orange or red or cream cat to male only tendencies.