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Expert: - 7/10/2011


Question
I have a male calico cat ..Is that rare ..He has two colors on his body and three colors on his tail... Very unique looking.

Answer
Doodle,

I really would like to see a picture.

Yes, male calico cats and male tortoiseshell cats are very rare indeed.  Usually, if they occur, something went wrong with the genetics of the cat, so they are almost always sterile. A calico is a white cat with patches of black and red.  A tortoiseshell is a cat with black and red.  The way the genetics works is that the color of the cat is carried on the so-called "X" chromosome and does not appear on the so-called "Y" chromosome.  Normally a male is XY and a female is XX.  The color of the cat is carried only on the "X" chromosome and never on the "Y" chromosome.  So, for a cat to have both black and red, it must be XX, i.e. genetically a female. There are other possibilities when things go wrong with the genetics.

Forgetting white, all cat colors are variations of black and red. Black, chocolate, cinnamon, blue, lilac, and fawn are all variations of black whereas red and cream are variations of red. Different patterns modify the various colors further, for example a "black" tabby looks to be a brown tabby.  A black pointed Siamese looks to be a seal point Siamese and so on.

However, I have seen cats purported to be tortoiseshell or calico which were really something else, which is why I would like to see a picture.

Please let me know if you have further questions.

Best regards... Norm.

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Norman Auspitz

Expertise

I can answer most non-veterinary questions about cats. My particular expertise is pedigree cats, breeding and showing. However, I am versed in feline behavior, cat breeds and their characteristics, general feline husbandry, and the like.

Experience

I judged for the Canadian Cat Association from 1975 until 1982. I am currently an approved allbreed judge for the Cat Fanciers'' Association (the world''s largets cat registry), and have been judging for them since 1991. I have been breeding pedigreed cats since 1971 and have been exhibiting pedigreed cats in shows since 1970. I obtained my first pedigreed cat in 1970 and have never looked back. In 1971, I obtained my first Abyssinian which has become my primary breed. In addition, I have bred Manx and Persians. Currently, besides the Abyssinians, I am also breeding Maine Coons.


Organizations
Cat Fanciers'' Association, inc. (CFA) and the Manx, Maine Coon, and Abyssinian breed councils. I am currently Abyssinian breed council secretary.

Publications
Cat Fancy Magazine, The Abyssinian Chapter in The Cat Fanciers'' Association Complete Cat Book, and Articles for various editions of The Cat Fanciers'' Association Yearbook

Education/Credentials
I received a B.S. from Drexel University in 1968, a M.Math from University of Waterloo, in 1970, a Ph.D. from University of Waterloo in 1975, and a MBA from McMaster University in 1980. I received my approved allbreed judging status in the Cat Fanciers'' Association in 1999.

Awards and Honors
We have produced a number of Cat Fanciers'' Association (CFA) National winning Abyssinian and Maine Coons. We have produced a number of Abyssinian and Maine Coon Distinguished Merit females (an award for a top producing cat), including the first Distinguished Merit Abyssinian in the red (sorrel) color. I am the CFA Abyssinian breed council secretary and belong and/or hold office in a number of cat clubs. I am also a member of the CFA Judges Association.

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