Calico Cats and Kittens
The Beautiful Calico Cat
By Shawna L. Krautheim & Debbie Moore
Copyright 2008 Cats and Kittens Central
All rights reserved.
Often linked with stories of mysterious good luck, prosperity and magic, the calico cat has long captured the heart and whimsy of people throughout the world. While most people can identify the calico cat, many are not familiar with the fact that the calico is simply a color and not a specific cat breed. In fact, there are many interesting things about your calico kitten that you might not know:
- What is a Calico Cat?
- What makes a Calico Cat?
- Male Calicos - Truth or Legend?
- Calico Cats vs. Tortoiseshell Cats
- Interesting Calico Cat Facts
- Where To Find a Calico Cat or Kitten
- Calico Cat Names - Fun Suggestions for Calico Kitten Names
What is a Calico Cat?
While easily recognizable, many people fail to realize that the calico cat is simply a color and not a specific breed of cat. In fact, many different breeds of cats can produce calicos, or a variety thereof, though not all cat breeds accept the calico in their breed standard. Additionally, calico kittens aren't always orange, black and white. Due to the varied genetic makeup of the feline world, they can be black, orange and white or can carry the chocolate gene, turning their black color to a rich deep brown shade. Some calicos also carry the dilute gene, which can result in beautiful shades like blue, cinnamon or fawn. If that isn't enough variation for you, calico cats can also come in long-haired or short-haired varieties and, in some cases, calico Sphinx kittens have cropped up with almost no hair at all!
What Makes a Calico Cat?
This is where it gets tricky, because it all comes down to genetics. While people can joke about smooth peas and wrinkled peas, creating the calico cat is a unique mixture of specific genes, timing, and a whole lot of luck. Let's try and take a simple look at the genetic makeup of the calico cat:
All cats receive a chromosome from each of their parents - female cats are what are known as XX cats, whereas the male cat is an XY. When you take a chromosome from each of the parents and team them up, it's easy to see that some of the kittens stand a chance of being XX (female) or that some can pick up the Y chromosome from their father and are born XY (male). This is pretty simple genetics.
But now we add in the color factor and things get a bit trickier. If you were to look at a calico kitten's genes, you would see that one of their X chromosomes carries her black coloring and the other X chromosome carries her red (or orange) color. Eventually, these genes will stop fighting their little color war and the end result, the time at which they shut off, will determine your calico kitten's coloring and pattern. The white spotting factor then determines the patchiness of the coat and a cat's white color distribution, resulting in the beautiful calico cat.
While cat fanciers may be able to breed cats of similar color genes together, there's no guaranteeing when those desired genes will choose to shut down and create the desired calico coloring. This is why it's not a very successful endeavor, breeding for calicos. While some cats may produce calico kittens regularly, if you can't figure out a way of controlling Mother Nature's time-clock, it's important to realize that it's never a sure thing.
Male Calicos: Urban Legend or Truth?
Growing up on a farm with a large number of barn cats and kittens, I was always on the search for the elusive male calico kitten, as were all my childhood friends. Tales rebounded about people who had made their fortunes by finding a male calico kitten - in fact, rumor had it that male calicos that lived longer than 8 weeks of age were worth millions of dollars! While this is generally the stuff of urban legend, the male calico cat is, in fact, a genetic anomaly but can still occasionally crop up.
As we've mentioned previously, calico cats get their coloring from each of their X chromosomes - one X controls the amount of black and the other controls the amount of red or orange in their coats. However, in some rare cases, kitten embryos fail to separate properly and the resulting kitten can be born with XXY chromosomes, allowing for a chance to produce the male kitten, while still maintaining the needed XX chromosomes to create the calico coloration. While these male calicos are not an impossibility, they are almost always sterile - and no, in the event that a person does find a male calico that is not sterile, it doesn't mean that he will sire more calico kittens. Again we stress that there is no guarantee when breeding this color.
The Difference Between Calico Cats and Tortoiseshell Cats
Similar in coloration to the calico cat is the beauty known as the tortoiseshell (also called clouded tiger, calamanco or tortie); a brindled mix of orange and black, occasionally mixed with vibrant white markings. For many years, the two color types were commonly mingled together and basically thought of the same, though cat fanciers have adamantly stressed that the two are separate and have finally gotten them realized as such. But the question which remains, for those who aren't all that savvy when it comes to kitty-lingo: How do you tell the difference between calico and tortoiseshell cats?
Telling the difference is actually quite easy, once you break out of the box that commonly (and wrongly) tells us that any tri-colored cat is a calico kitten. In fact, if you place a picture of a calico cat side-by-side with a tortoiseshell, the difference is usually quite obvious. Where the calico kitten will have larger and more uniform patches of color and vibrant white, the tortoiseshell is more brindled in color; his body is usually one predominant color (commonly black) with the alternate color being less defined and more blended. Even in the case of the tortoiseshell and white variety, he may seem calico at first glance but, looking at his coloring, you'll note that it's brindled and splotchy, rather than patched.
Another color that's been cropping up more and more frequently is the patched tabby, which many people mistakenly call the calico tabby or tabby calico. Other names for this beautiful and uniquely patched tabby include the Caliby Cat or the more popular Torbie. While similarly tri-colored, this beautiful feline also differs from the calico cat, due to her genetic makeup.
Some Interesting Facts about Calico Cats
- Japanese sailors commonly kept at least one calico cat on board their ships, because these beautiful tri-colored cats were believed to bring good luck and fortune.
- The Japanese Bobtail Cat commonly produces the beautiful calico coloration, with the majority of the color being present on the head and posterior of the cat, with the body being predominantly white. These unique beauties are called Mi-Ke and are commonly painted or sculpted to preserve their beauty.
- Many Maneki Neko (commonly known as the Japanese Beckoning Cat statues) are decorated in the colorful shades of the calico, or Mi-Ke, cat. It's believed that a cat statue with the left paw raised is beckoning to guests and will draw customers to your shop, whereas the Maneki Neko with his right paw raised will bring wealth and good fortune to his owner (oddly enough, some people believe the paws are reversed, which may be a regional difference).
- On October 1st, 2001, the state of Maryland declared the calico as the official Maryland State Cat.
So Where Can I Get A Calico Cat or Kitten?
Since "calico" refers to the coat coloration, rather than a specific
breed of cat, Calico cats and kittens can be obtained from many sources.
If you are interested in a Calico cat or kitten, the first place you may
want to check is your local animal shelter or cat rescue. Many a
wonderful Calico kitty has come from the local S.P.C.A.
If you're interested in a more "refined" version of the Calico, then you may want to contact a reputable purebred cat breeder. Many different breeds of cat, including the Persian cat, Munchkin cat, Manx cat, Maine Coon cat and other popular cat breeds include Calico among their coat color variations. Here are a few good places to find responsible cat breeders whom you can contact about obtaining a calico cat or kitten.
Calico Cat Names - Ideas For Calico Kitten Names
Some fun ideas for names for Calico cats and kittens would be:
- Patches
- Splotchty
- Autumn
- Peaches N Cream
- Mosaic
- Jigsaw
- Deco (Art Deco)
- Harvest
- Random
- Wablaco (White Black Orange)
- Pumpkin
- Maneko (Many Colors)
- Soup
- Salad
- Tobacco
- Storm
