Calico Cat Breeds



Posted: Friday, March 14, 2008

by
Kevin Lampard

A calico cat is a breed of cat which is tricolored in appearance with red or orange, black and white stripes all over its body. Varying stripes also can be found in a different set of tricolors like blue or gray, cream and white.

There are is a huge variety of Calico cats like the tortoiseshells which come without the white spotting. Most of them however have whit spotting in their body.

According to the CFA or the cat fanciers association there are 16 varieties of calico cats and different color variations. Within the Calico cat breed there are several sub breeds like the Maine Coon Calico Cat, a Persian Calico cat, a Scottish Fold Calico Cat and some short coats and long coat varieties among these breeds too.

Calico cats are house cats or pet cats commonly found in many homes. It is also a common belief that most of the Calico cats are females and not all.

Many people think the calico cat is a female cat and this information is wrong. The majority of the calico cats are females. Cat experts have studied the cause for this and found that the reason is a genetic one.

The calico cat needs 2 x chromosomes to be a male and this happens quite rarely. Veterinarians have found that only one in 3000 calico cats actually turns out to be a male. Also many people think that a Calico cat is a breed of cat and it is not a breed but calico is referred to the condition of the coloring on the cat's body. Also most of the calico cats are females and the unusual male calico cats are sterile.

If it was a breed then wouldn't it be strange that when the male calico cats are sterile and female calico cats still give birth to kittens and they are still referred to as calico cats and not a cross breed. This is because the calico is not a breed first of all. The Stripes happen because of the genes and some deficiencies in the cat. A calico condition can happen to any cat.

So don't be surprised when someone walks into your house and says oh you have a Calico cat and what breed is your calico cat. Because this person definitely knows what he or she is talking about.

The condition that has to be met to be a calico cat is the cat should have three distinctive stripes so f colors on its body and also should have distinct patches. Calico cats are present in many breeds and some breeds have their own specifications to certify the cat as a calico cat and all this depends on the grading of the color.

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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by Anonymous 2 years 360 days ago.
Uhh, hey buddy,
 
You referred to the cat as a breed on several occasions in your article, and then said that it wasn't. Obviously it's not a breed, but a colour. How can you contradict yourself in your own article?
 
Calico cannot be a breed because it is a genetic anomaly. Kittens from calico coloured mothers are not referred to as calico, because it's a COLOUR. If the kittens are not calico coloured, then they're not called calico. Interestingly, if you were to clone a calico or tortoiseshell cat, the clone would be either red OR black, and not calico.
 
Male calico colouring results in a sterile hermaphroditic cat, because it requires not only two X chromosomes (as you stated), but also a Y. So it is XXY. This is because each X chromosome has to carry a certain colour to result in tortie/calico. For a tortie, one X chromosome will have red tabby colouring, and one has to have black. For calico, one X is red tabby & white, while the other is black & white.
 
Also, calicos and torties do not need to have stripes or patches. They can be "brindled" which means the colours are mixed throughout their bodies. If there are patches of red, that red will always be tabby (striped) because there is no such thing as a solid coloured orange cat...it is always tabby.
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