Animals

Calico cats are cats with a spotted or parti-colored coat, sometimes there is a swirl (called a rosette) on either side of the stomach. In North America, a blotched or spotted domestic cat, usually predominantly white with red and black patches (a pattern also called tortoiseshell-and-white). Because genetic determination of some coat colors in cats is linked to the sex chromosome, calicoes are almost always female.

They are also known as calimanco, clouded tiger, tricolor cat, mi-ke (Japanese for triple fur) and lapjeskat (Dutch for ‘patches cat’).

Calico cats are nearly always female. This is due to the genes for the orange or black color being on the X chromosome. Female cats have two X chromosomes, while male cats have an X and a Y chromosome.

Therefore, the mother cat passes the X chromosome on to her kittens, while the father passes either the X or Y chromosome, thus determining the kittens’ sex. To be a calico cat, the kitten must have an X chromosome that has the orange color and an X chromosome that has the black color. Male calico cats are genetic anomalies, with XXY chromosomes and are sterile and extremely rare.

A calico cat has sections of different colors in its fur. Usually the calicos with more white fur also have larger and more distinct patches of color. If the orange and black fur is mixed, the cat is called a tortoiseshell. Tortoiseshell cats, or “torties,” as they are commonly known, have little or no white fur.
A variation on the usual calico color pattern is the “dilute” or “pastel” calico cat. This type of calico cat gets its name from the fact that its color pattern is a “diluted” or “pastel” version of the typical colors. A dilute or pastel calico cat has a pattern of buff or cream instead of orange and “blue”, a slate gray color, instead of black.