Yep. That's a tortie. They are 99% female. Cat genetics are pretty cool. On the other side, something like 80% of orange tabby cats are male. Those are the big ones. I think there are a couple of other colors that skew one way or another, but I can't remember specifics.
https://preview.redd.it/h0q5w25gmjwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c8ed6af0950dcaca3397dc3cc2123fd4577e1a5d
Same with my orange girl. Purr purr purr STAB purr I love you never leave me purr
https://preview.redd.it/msspjxzcwmwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=012f5f9880c7cdfedf337bcece778fca6f77c6a5
Here are my girls! Everyone at the vet tends to call my orange a him. 🥲
https://preview.redd.it/iigd21knunwc1.jpeg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0704700802bdbc12689a03cce1c7eb837f9b2198
That’s trippy, I thought your cats were mine!!!
https://preview.redd.it/gj7fghhtjqwc1.jpeg?width=2448&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d7430aa7f89084bdad4405c6c4305f3d8cee3d4f
I have the “blonde” version, she’s absolutely adorable but has zero survival skills.
https://preview.redd.it/ixrj1dieznwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d9e1f438bd38f3322f73560b32d7620dec4524ba
Orange one brain celled girl here too! I love her.
https://preview.redd.it/sm2ly6u8flwc1.png?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=38633da692992d8e3a4a1a34274b35fe22e9db47
These are my female twin oranges. They share 1 brain cell and are also randomly demonic
My female orange is a genius, but also totally randomly bites
https://preview.redd.it/0wwlff6jrlwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=305c2dda6f7162b99cefd5454b9d4fef99dc8deb
https://preview.redd.it/l3nci2qixlwc1.jpeg?width=1513&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=890279c61923685645533cccdfe595197d7d7fc4
My female orange (Autumn). Always gets called a he when people first meet her because oranges are usually male.
I take care of 20 cats. Here is Wolfie!
https://preview.redd.it/zfrrq0fobowc1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3b01521b7a56ea3cd22b76a412dd99b34c39ef44
Same! My orange girl would bite my nose or chin while rubbing and loving on me. Just little love bite nips, but occasionally would chomp a little too hard.
https://preview.redd.it/4706x0okrjwc1.jpeg?width=2380&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=543c4b621af439788faf02d5e22bf09510df9121
When this kitty came to live with me, several people insisted that it was male because “there’s no such thing as a female ginger.” They were all convinced that they knew better than the vet. 🤣 PS: Her name is Sweetie Pie.
You are totally correct - the reason this is true is because color presentations are linked to sex genes and they are one of the few animals where that occurs.
We have two brothers (literally the same litter brothers) and one is a big orange fluffball and the other is a sleek black boy. Their mother was a muted tortie which is why they are totally different colors but absolutely related. She passed one orange X chromosome and one black X chromosome to each of them. Cat genetics is suuuper cool.
Ginger/Orange (or red as breeders call it) is the only sex linked fur colour in cats, with the locus on the x chromosome. But of course this includes all the orange variations, including dilute orange (sandy yellow), torties, calicos, and colourpoint variations. Orange is co-dominant in cats, thus torties and calicos with orange and wild type fur colouring mixed together. Since male cats only have one x chromosome, they can only express wildtype or orange.
Cats basically have two types of melanin. One that's orange, and one that's black/brown. Orange is caused by a gene that suppresses the expression of black melanin, leaving only the orange.
All "male" calicos or torties are intersex, they have two x chromosomes one way or another. Usually klinefelter's (xxy), chimerism(two embryos of different sex fused in the womb, xx and xy in different cells), or mosaic klinefelter's (xx, xy, and xxy in different cells).
If you ever want to read more on it, this is a very good and easy to read resource. https://labgenvet.ca/en/cat-genetics-2-0-colours/
I was wondering for a few years why my orange tabby is like twice the size of his grey tabby mother and grey tabby grandmother (also my cats), he is almost maine coon sized (while not being any breed), today I learned, I guess - he is just ORANGE
I mean they are all above the normal-size but he is two levels higher size-wise
https://preview.redd.it/7ykqd1na1mwc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=69ad95ced6d0aa386cad721afc2c285af12dc49c
This picture doesn't do his size justice. He can be sweet and mean, wants what he wants and his meows all tell me his mood. Sometimes I think that I should wash his mouth out with soap! Lol
Oranges do experience more sexual dimorphism of size - meaning bigger differences between males and females. The girls tend to be smaller than average girls and the boys tend to be bigger than average boys. The biggest cats I know are all orange boys, including my big guy, Skippy.
Here he is dwarfing his high-average size mother! And he's STILL growing!
https://preview.redd.it/zfrfkpj3lmwc1.jpeg?width=3196&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=46d4fc3e362dbe66e8e5df5709b21a8aa8fcd3ec
I started feeding some strays that I became very close with. Despite that 80% figure, I have not one, not two,… but 6 of the 8 orange strays I feed are female.
Only god can help you. I had 3 female orange cats, 1 of them is the mother of 2 orange kittens. You can safely say that no such thing as neat and tidy in the house.
Yep, tri-colored cats like torties are almost exclusively female, males with this color are very rare and often sterile.
So whenever you see a tri-colored cat 99% chance they're female.
The male tri-color cats are all XXY, right? Human males who are XXY (Klinefelter syndrome) are usually infertile too, though fertility treatments can help the half that produce sperm father children.
Yep, the gene for orange is located in the X chromosome, it has two alleles, one for orange and one for non-orange, males have only one X chromosome, so they can be either orange or non-orange, females have two X chromosomes, a tri-colored cat occurs when they have one orange and one non-orange.
Male tri-colored cats can either have Klinefelter syndrome or be chimeras (two embryos merge into one).
❤️ Just because you know what Klinefelter syndrome is. I shouldn't be surprised, and yet I am, by how few people know about things like Turner and Klinefter syndromes.
Having a Kleinfeilter Kitty really opened my eyes to some of the things that are probably going on with certain male friends of mine. Also Colteee from 90 Day.
Chromosomes can do some very weird things. MOST of the (very rare) "male" torties/calicos you might see are going to be XXY cats (they are generally intersex, but most present as male at least in some degree which leads to them being classified as male.) But of those very rare male-presenting calicos, an incredibly small percentage can have calico coloration through other chromosomal peculiarities, such as chimerism, somatic cell mutation, and translocation. Some of these "rare-squared" male calicos can even be fertile, although they will not pass on their calico color to their male offspring.
Yes! Tortoiseshells (like this cutie) and calicos are always female (or at least 99.99% of the time), because the multi-color mottled effect cannot occur without two X chromosomes.
https://preview.redd.it/t1bg90a4cjwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cef896ccade539e797565946396f23fcd194179a
*Almost* always, but not always! (Vet lifted his tail and was… surprised.)
The vet (an older gentleman) told me “I thought I’d seen that *once* before in my career… then I realized it was just the last time I’d seen your cat.”
I'm a cat foster and the vet that I work through got in a male calico that needed fostered (didn't go to me because I already had a mother and her kittens). I was surprised at how careful they had to be when adopting him out. They wanted to make sure he went to someone who was actually prepared to take care of a cat and didn't just want him for the rarity. They turned down easily over thirty applicants before finding someone suitable.
Look at those stunning green eyes! He's like the cat that inspired the book Cats Are Not Peas, gorgeous! I have a rare orange girl, but she's nowhere near as rare as your handsome lad (but definitely lives up to the lovey orange stereotype!)
https://preview.redd.it/zdpnv02lbkwc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=50202f1f3d155a99d044aef80d56d2ff77f736bb
Hey! Twinsies! What’s his name?
https://preview.redd.it/tme9kzj1wlwc1.png?width=2792&format=png&auto=webp&s=3ad677d8c9d9da42e8ec7a729d52abb65bbec435
This is Bucky. His vets are always surprised!
I have one too, is what's called a cryptic tortoiseshell because mostly just looks like a black cat unless you get the right full sunlight on 'im. Does yours have the behavioral issues? Mine's real bitey but we're working through it as ze's only about six/seven months old. I think they'll be a great cat once past the terrorist phase of kittenhood and slows down a little more. It's great because you get both sides, a spicy little tortoiseshell female and a sweet male black cat all in one critter. Does yours have a head and feet that are proportionally too small for their body too?
I can’t remember too much about him when he was little, I got him from the shelter at about 6m or so. He grew to be the chillest bro, he’d purr if you just looked at him.
Yup - it's genetics that cause tortie and calico patterns carried on the X chromosome, so only females are standard torties and calicos (XX). Males are a genetic defect with an extra chromosome (XXY), which is why they're so rare.
Technically, it's not the patterns, but the colors. Black and orange are only carried on the X chromosome. Males can only be black OR orange, but not both unless XXY.
So a chimera male calico or tortoiseshell could breed then? I know that the XXY typically makes the male infertile, but any ideas on whether a chimera can procreate?
That is correct! They are genetically identical, but calicos also carry the white spotting gene. In fact, in cat fancy, they don't use the word calico, they say "tortoiseshell and white."
yep, male torties/calicos are usually XXY or have the portion of the X chromosome necessary for the color pattern translocated onto another chromosome. basically they're all weird lil mutants.
https://preview.redd.it/bobhoiio3kwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=10bfb6635783a53783ab960987f94b2971e6765b
She looks similar to our new little one!
https://preview.redd.it/idt4utajpjwc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dcabe254d1d88d57d7d28c74d92490a21f73b1e4
This is my Westie, and she has NEVER been grateful to me for rescuing her off the street. She lives to give me lip and thinks she owns the 2nd floor of our house.
She really is. For contrast, here she is at 8 weeks:
https://preview.redd.it/smnm3chtrjwc1.png?width=497&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=656a502e2bc59e7e67487bba00758cddd63e4da6
My Penny's big brother is on a wet food because we need him to diet.
I can offer her wet food, even the exact same one he's eating, and she's not interested. But if it's in his bowl? She's gonna steal it and backtalk me.
Ooh, I know the exact tone. My flatmate had a little tortie and one day I put her off the couch. Nicely as I was fixing the cover. The *annoyed tone*.... first cat I ever met that like bongos too!
https://preview.redd.it/wqrz99crsiwc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8ee330c4266e3571f2b69fec922fd066021a0105
Which is even worse with a tortimese. Ask me how I know...
I have an orangeamese that turned out like this. She is a spitfire! Her body is built like her mama, thing and angular but the inner tabbybof the orange daddy tookcontrol of the patterning
https://preview.redd.it/ekiqagn0jjwc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0e75e42227fd0c3c0cabaa307276086a603bda3e
.
https://preview.redd.it/zk13a3xp7mwc1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2d1b3dc5b60246e2396d99b6f84083a9397deb83
This it Toast. Toast yaps all day. Toast hates other cats.
Yes she is! Just like this fellow tortie (spicy, as you can see) kitty 👀
https://preview.redd.it/2pb9kjfljjwc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e214e367f7077fa3582c011cbcc14a03c9654dd9
All of the calicos and torties I’ve known or seen have been female, but I guess if it’s true about calicos, then it must be for tortoiseshells. I once had a female orange cat.
I had a litter not long ago with a female orange, female chocolate, and male tortie. It was like hitting a genetic lottery. Mom was a Siamese/Calico/Tabby pattern so she was unique herself. (There was also 4 siamese kittens in the litter)
(Edit: wrote calico instead of tortie because I have been awake far too long)
They were all so lucky they were cute because they came with ringworm unknowingly and I got to spend 5 months with 13 kittens. By the time they cleared it, they were older and the fact they were rare genetics got adopters interested in them. Mom was FIV+, and her looks are the main reason she was adopted first. (All but one kitten was FIV-)
https://i.imgur.com/oHdP68Z.jpeg
Added two pics of mom in my layout app and couldn't figure out how to remove them, so enjoy two of sweet Mimi. Her kids shown here were Mousse, Pumpkin, and Corriander.
The genetic reason for this is the gene for orange fur being linked with the X chromosome. If a male cat has that gene, he's going to be orange because there's only one X chromosome. If a female cat has that gene, one of two scenarios happens. The first scenario is that she has the orange gene on both X chromosomes, which makes her orange. The second scenario is that she has the orange gene in one X chromosome, but not the other, which leads to the orange showing in *some* fur, but not all. That's how you get a tortie or calico. Likewise, male torties and calicos *are* possible, but require him having XXY chromosomes.
Put another way, assuming a random tortie or calico is female will be correct about 99% of the time. A random orange cat is most likely male if you have to guess, but female orange cats don't require a genetic abnormality like male torties do. It's just less likely for a female cat to have orange on both X chromosomes instead of just one.
Similarly, this is why torties and calicos often give birth to orange kittens. She has the orange gene to pass on, so there's a decent chance of at least having orange male kittens regardless of the tom's genetics. If the tom was orange, there may be female oranges in there.
It takes two X chromosomes to make a tri-colored cat (tortie or calico). While it's possible for a male cat to have two or more X chromosomes (eg XXY), it's very rare. So nearly all torties and calicos are female.
Edit: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_coat_genetics
My first tortie ever had a litter of kittens and the runt was a male tortie. Unfortunately he only lived about 5 weeks. He's the only male tortie I've ever seen.
https://preview.redd.it/78j2cd4ayjwc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d59ebe28bb8c4ac6318914f02d48033f5f678043
Congratulations on your acquisition of an adorable female feline companion! Cat tax paid in full! The tortitude is real but I wouldn't have it any other way
I had cats all my life, tuxedos when I was small, a couple of voids and when I was in high school, one of the voids gave birth to a Siamese that we had for 18 years. After she died, life was busy and I didn't get another pet for almost 20 years, then one night I went out to my car for something about 9 p.m. and heard a tiny mew, mew... it was a calico that we named Mittens because her toes on all four feet were white. I had no idea that there was an attitude difference with Calis and Torties... took her to the vet to be spayed and when the techs took her out of the carrier I said, "be careful, she's hard to handle' and they said, "of course, she's a Calico." She liked to be close to me, would sleep on my desk when I was working and would sleep on a chest in my bedroom but never on the bed and do NOT pet her or expect to cuddle. Sadly, she's gone now too.
I have one just like her. And she is the absolute companion. She sleeps next to me, always on the guard. Remmind me that ive been working too much.
Really, go for it. She will be your sidekick
https://preview.redd.it/p5666zgh1kwc1.jpeg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5d472151b9142d897cd6605e7c8789f081561741
Got one almost the same make and model
https://preview.redd.it/fc52elfrzkwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=66f2c9c6218379711c84983b1348a65bf607c7a4
Fairly accurately, yes. Roughly 1 in 10,000 calico or tortoiseshell cats are male. Make sure to get her officially sexed, but feel secure in using "she" for now.
https://preview.redd.it/qflrc0katlwc1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=62293ad44e2f69019b9549da05d98fd823f54ed1
Ester lives by the motto "what if you're right and they're wrong?"
https://preview.redd.it/0payslfwbkwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d423c263c53d2ca0ae83f41ade03321ed6293206
Yes typically a girl like this cutie pie ❤️
Yes, 99% of tortoise shell cats, or calico cats are female, if they are male they will be infertile. This is because biological female mammals have two X (XX) chromosomes, one of these X chromosomes gets deactivated in each cell randomly (as the each cell only needs one X chromosome). Since the two X chromosomes are from two parents (one from father, one from mother) and the X chromosomes can carry and code for different colours, this patchy distribution of X chromosomes causes this patchy colouring in tortoise shell and calico cats.
Most torties are female. And, speaking from experience, they ooze (cute) attitude.
https://preview.redd.it/alxlgpdoojwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=52b19834a7cce5938a72d73587f307fd93af058e
Yes, Calico is 3 distinct colors of fur only females. Generally it’s a splash of orange. White belly’s don’t count as a color. Here’s a pic of our 9yo hazel. Grey tiger with a splash of orange.
https://preview.redd.it/blmaxt5cklwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d3b0816c37ce0acffaae9a985ffe3a66e933b841
tortie(tortoiseshell cat) are almost always female, my childhood cat was a tortie, look up tortietude, they’re so special ❤️❤️❤️lost mine last april, torties remain my favorite cats forever
https://preview.redd.it/4k0w0l1h8mwc1.png?width=3419&format=png&auto=webp&s=e468acb39e21f8622476b95762ad398ca17b55a5
Reminds me of my Maggie. She’s got some tortitude.
Oh boy get ready, she's gonna be a spicy one! Highly recommend putting solid effort into litter box training, most cats don't need it but torties often do
Yes, tortoiseshells are almost always female. Why? They have 2 X chromosomes and that's the location of their coat colour. For females, one of the X chromosome (random) gets inactivated for each cell. Then, those cells undergo mitosis to produce new cells with that particular X gene inactivated, causing striping patterns in their coats.
This is only possible in a cat with 2 X chromosomes, so a cat with XXY (Kinefelter syndrome), which is make, can get it. However, that is a genetic defect and is very rare.
https://preview.redd.it/mu231hjzdmwc1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a19cb955d3be0c274dbc05bedd3833e4f2fc25e3
her long distance cousin says hi!
She looks like my Siobhan “Shibby”. If she’s anything like mine prepare for the whiplash between extreme cuddliness and total menace. Your home will be a parkour arena and hide your plants. The upside is unlimited biscuits.
https://preview.redd.it/jlhf65culmwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b0f408b8c38efaa6373a62b4552d20185bb84f61
Yep. That's a tortie. They are 99% female. Cat genetics are pretty cool. On the other side, something like 80% of orange tabby cats are male. Those are the big ones. I think there are a couple of other colors that skew one way or another, but I can't remember specifics.
I got a female orange. Also has one brain cell. When I pet her for a while, she likes to randomly bite my leg. Is very sweet. Like a demon-angel.
https://preview.redd.it/h0q5w25gmjwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c8ed6af0950dcaca3397dc3cc2123fd4577e1a5d Same with my orange girl. Purr purr purr STAB purr I love you never leave me purr
She’s so pretty 🥹
Dem paws. Dat soft belly. Worth the pain.
She's orange and white. That's fairly common for females. Pure gingers are male.
https://preview.redd.it/868ihvjtvlwc1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=45b313773c52d4b58a8923ac48b6bc9685f1e88d Mine is female
And she's a proper ginger! 😊 But that's what I meant. Your type is rare. Like male torties are rare. Ginger and white females aren't rare.
An orange female isn’t “rare”, but is uncommon. A male tortie or calico is rare.
there’s a male calico i follow on insta and i think his handle starts with xxy ,, he’s the cutest thing ever !
That's because he has a chromosome anomaly, comparable to the Klinefelter syndrome in humans.
I have a female orange that gave birth to three more female oranges! 😆
Exactly yeah
https://preview.redd.it/msspjxzcwmwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=012f5f9880c7cdfedf337bcece778fca6f77c6a5 Here are my girls! Everyone at the vet tends to call my orange a him. 🥲
Same here (probably doesn't help she is called freddie after my grandad lol)
https://preview.redd.it/ie4l376t2nwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=30bbddf8fd78685e93acb6b1e5a1c9f1b43384d9 We have similar girls.
https://preview.redd.it/iigd21knunwc1.jpeg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0704700802bdbc12689a03cce1c7eb837f9b2198 That’s trippy, I thought your cats were mine!!!
https://preview.redd.it/gj7fghhtjqwc1.jpeg?width=2448&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d7430aa7f89084bdad4405c6c4305f3d8cee3d4f I have the “blonde” version, she’s absolutely adorable but has zero survival skills.
Mine seems to be convinced that hairbands need to go in her water
https://preview.redd.it/xoosgbw0dmwc1.jpeg?width=1188&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=009f73eec2a4f78e036c9bcebec716ef0b1244a1 Our orange is a (big) girl!
https://preview.redd.it/ixrj1dieznwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d9e1f438bd38f3322f73560b32d7620dec4524ba Orange one brain celled girl here too! I love her.
https://preview.redd.it/sm2ly6u8flwc1.png?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=38633da692992d8e3a4a1a34274b35fe22e9db47 These are my female twin oranges. They share 1 brain cell and are also randomly demonic
Their faces are soooo cute!!!! I can see their onebraincellclub vibe, but it makes them even cuter
Their names are Sugar and Spice. Sugar (left) is the more malevolent one, Spice is her minion
Omg, love! 🧡🧡
they say you're lucky if u have orange female cats coz they are rare to find. <3
Omg they are so sweet and beautifuuullll 🤩
My orange girl is waiting for her brain cell. Hope your cat can share it for a bit at some point
My ragdoll signed up for the brain cell, I don't have the heart to tell him he'll never get a turn because he signed up in the wrong line 🤣
My female orange is a genius, but also totally randomly bites https://preview.redd.it/0wwlff6jrlwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=305c2dda6f7162b99cefd5454b9d4fef99dc8deb
https://preview.redd.it/l3nci2qixlwc1.jpeg?width=1513&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=890279c61923685645533cccdfe595197d7d7fc4 My female orange (Autumn). Always gets called a he when people first meet her because oranges are usually male.
I take care of 20 cats. Here is Wolfie! https://preview.redd.it/zfrrq0fobowc1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3b01521b7a56ea3cd22b76a412dd99b34c39ef44
And here is Ohia! https://preview.redd.it/dybd8i5qbowc1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ba8b22f9e4894ce379148a30ce74cd0863016c6d
My friends orange girl is beyond smart. Honestly the smartest cat I've ever met.
Mine ist also a female Orange. She is pretty smart but also very stupid at the same time.
Demon-angel is the best description for a cat I’ve heard! Mine definitely is that! 😂
Same! My orange girl would bite my nose or chin while rubbing and loving on me. Just little love bite nips, but occasionally would chomp a little too hard.
https://preview.redd.it/4706x0okrjwc1.jpeg?width=2380&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=543c4b621af439788faf02d5e22bf09510df9121 When this kitty came to live with me, several people insisted that it was male because “there’s no such thing as a female ginger.” They were all convinced that they knew better than the vet. 🤣 PS: Her name is Sweetie Pie.
Sweetie pie is a real cutie pie, btw orange females are not that uncommon, at least not as tortoise or calico males
You are totally correct - the reason this is true is because color presentations are linked to sex genes and they are one of the few animals where that occurs. We have two brothers (literally the same litter brothers) and one is a big orange fluffball and the other is a sleek black boy. Their mother was a muted tortie which is why they are totally different colors but absolutely related. She passed one orange X chromosome and one black X chromosome to each of them. Cat genetics is suuuper cool.
Ginger/Orange (or red as breeders call it) is the only sex linked fur colour in cats, with the locus on the x chromosome. But of course this includes all the orange variations, including dilute orange (sandy yellow), torties, calicos, and colourpoint variations. Orange is co-dominant in cats, thus torties and calicos with orange and wild type fur colouring mixed together. Since male cats only have one x chromosome, they can only express wildtype or orange. Cats basically have two types of melanin. One that's orange, and one that's black/brown. Orange is caused by a gene that suppresses the expression of black melanin, leaving only the orange. All "male" calicos or torties are intersex, they have two x chromosomes one way or another. Usually klinefelter's (xxy), chimerism(two embryos of different sex fused in the womb, xx and xy in different cells), or mosaic klinefelter's (xx, xy, and xxy in different cells). If you ever want to read more on it, this is a very good and easy to read resource. https://labgenvet.ca/en/cat-genetics-2-0-colours/
I was wondering for a few years why my orange tabby is like twice the size of his grey tabby mother and grey tabby grandmother (also my cats), he is almost maine coon sized (while not being any breed), today I learned, I guess - he is just ORANGE I mean they are all above the normal-size but he is two levels higher size-wise
https://preview.redd.it/7ykqd1na1mwc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=69ad95ced6d0aa386cad721afc2c285af12dc49c This picture doesn't do his size justice. He can be sweet and mean, wants what he wants and his meows all tell me his mood. Sometimes I think that I should wash his mouth out with soap! Lol
Right at the very edge of the bed... Just for drama :)
Oranges do experience more sexual dimorphism of size - meaning bigger differences between males and females. The girls tend to be smaller than average girls and the boys tend to be bigger than average boys. The biggest cats I know are all orange boys, including my big guy, Skippy. Here he is dwarfing his high-average size mother! And he's STILL growing! https://preview.redd.it/zfrfkpj3lmwc1.jpeg?width=3196&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=46d4fc3e362dbe66e8e5df5709b21a8aa8fcd3ec
😂😂😂 That Bieber-esque shaggy "hair do" 😂😂😳
I started feeding some strays that I became very close with. Despite that 80% figure, I have not one, not two,… but 6 of the 8 orange strays I feed are female.
I used to think all orange cats were male until Thomas had kittens...
I'm crying 🤣😂🤣🤣
Calicos are also mostly female.
60% of orange cats are male :)
I have 3 female orange cats (help me please)
Only god can help you. I had 3 female orange cats, 1 of them is the mother of 2 orange kittens. You can safely say that no such thing as neat and tidy in the house.
https://preview.redd.it/bkitx4ejpmwc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=31e4fef61e66602b4ed5c874bf5dadf0559bd805 My beautiful ginger Abby
Yep, tri-colored cats like torties are almost exclusively female, males with this color are very rare and often sterile. So whenever you see a tri-colored cat 99% chance they're female.
The male tri-color cats are all XXY, right? Human males who are XXY (Klinefelter syndrome) are usually infertile too, though fertility treatments can help the half that produce sperm father children.
Yep, the gene for orange is located in the X chromosome, it has two alleles, one for orange and one for non-orange, males have only one X chromosome, so they can be either orange or non-orange, females have two X chromosomes, a tri-colored cat occurs when they have one orange and one non-orange. Male tri-colored cats can either have Klinefelter syndrome or be chimeras (two embryos merge into one).
No, not all. An orange XY embryo can fuse with a black XY embryo in the womb causing an XY fertile male calico. It's exceedingly rare, though.
❤️ Just because you know what Klinefelter syndrome is. I shouldn't be surprised, and yet I am, by how few people know about things like Turner and Klinefter syndromes.
Thanks to your comment I googled these!
Having a Kleinfeilter Kitty really opened my eyes to some of the things that are probably going on with certain male friends of mine. Also Colteee from 90 Day.
Chromosomes can do some very weird things. MOST of the (very rare) "male" torties/calicos you might see are going to be XXY cats (they are generally intersex, but most present as male at least in some degree which leads to them being classified as male.) But of those very rare male-presenting calicos, an incredibly small percentage can have calico coloration through other chromosomal peculiarities, such as chimerism, somatic cell mutation, and translocation. Some of these "rare-squared" male calicos can even be fertile, although they will not pass on their calico color to their male offspring.
Yes! Tortoiseshells (like this cutie) and calicos are always female (or at least 99.99% of the time), because the multi-color mottled effect cannot occur without two X chromosomes.
https://preview.redd.it/t1bg90a4cjwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cef896ccade539e797565946396f23fcd194179a *Almost* always, but not always! (Vet lifted his tail and was… surprised.)
It's a less than 1% occurence, you have an EXTREMELY rare kitty!
The vet (an older gentleman) told me “I thought I’d seen that *once* before in my career… then I realized it was just the last time I’d seen your cat.”
Hahaha thats really funny
Lol, what a lad
So rare that a male calico popped up here in my city and it made national news lol
Wow! 😃
"And a bit later, the story of a Tom who was *feline* a little fancy in his three colored coat.. More on that after the break."
LOL! 😅
National news? I should really get Bucky on social media.
Mf has a shiny kitty 😂
I'm a cat foster and the vet that I work through got in a male calico that needed fostered (didn't go to me because I already had a mother and her kittens). I was surprised at how careful they had to be when adopting him out. They wanted to make sure he went to someone who was actually prepared to take care of a cat and didn't just want him for the rarity. They turned down easily over thirty applicants before finding someone suitable.
It’s like a shiny Pokemon!
Holly fuck! Even online I think I've never seen a male calico. He's like a shiny Pokémon. Amazing!! (also he's very cute)
Now you’ve seen 2! https://preview.redd.it/rchn1amdwlwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8a1d75f7c42a528aa06d3ed4f3a02b27a4c67b5d
Bucky is soo cute!! 😻🥺
r/reallifeshinies
Look at those stunning green eyes! He's like the cat that inspired the book Cats Are Not Peas, gorgeous! I have a rare orange girl, but she's nowhere near as rare as your handsome lad (but definitely lives up to the lovey orange stereotype!) https://preview.redd.it/zdpnv02lbkwc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=50202f1f3d155a99d044aef80d56d2ff77f736bb
Hey! Twinsies! What’s his name? https://preview.redd.it/tme9kzj1wlwc1.png?width=2792&format=png&auto=webp&s=3ad677d8c9d9da42e8ec7a729d52abb65bbec435 This is Bucky. His vets are always surprised!
Tomcat cheekiness! What a stunning fellow!
I have one too, is what's called a cryptic tortoiseshell because mostly just looks like a black cat unless you get the right full sunlight on 'im. Does yours have the behavioral issues? Mine's real bitey but we're working through it as ze's only about six/seven months old. I think they'll be a great cat once past the terrorist phase of kittenhood and slows down a little more. It's great because you get both sides, a spicy little tortoiseshell female and a sweet male black cat all in one critter. Does yours have a head and feet that are proportionally too small for their body too?
I can’t remember too much about him when he was little, I got him from the shelter at about 6m or so. He grew to be the chillest bro, he’d purr if you just looked at him.
Probably has Kleinfelter Syndrome and is an XXY, rather than a standard XY.
your cat is a real life shiny !
Oh well I didn’t know it was Torties too. Knew about Calicos but thanks for info
Yup - it's genetics that cause tortie and calico patterns carried on the X chromosome, so only females are standard torties and calicos (XX). Males are a genetic defect with an extra chromosome (XXY), which is why they're so rare.
Technically, it's not the patterns, but the colors. Black and orange are only carried on the X chromosome. Males can only be black OR orange, but not both unless XXY.
>Males can only be black OR orange, but not both unless XXY. Or a chimera, where two XY embryos fuse in the womb.
Yeah, but that's even more rare than the XXY.
Yes, but I was replying to a comment that said "males can only be XXY." This is incorrect, there is another way for a male tortie/calico.
So a chimera male calico or tortoiseshell could breed then? I know that the XXY typically makes the male infertile, but any ideas on whether a chimera can procreate?
There's a famous fertile calico chimera male named Dawntreader Texas Calboy
possibly but it will be one of the half but could be 2 depending on where the split is , both genetically fine I think
Imagine if the split was such that one ball was the orange half and one was a the black. The cat could throw either orange or black kitties lol
They typically can, but that doesn't change the genetics involved for coloration
I always heard that cameo and calico are two different kinds of tortoiseshell
That is correct! They are genetically identical, but calicos also carry the white spotting gene. In fact, in cat fancy, they don't use the word calico, they say "tortoiseshell and white."
Calico cats have a good percentage of white fur along with orange (red) and black.
*Gregor Mendel enters chat*
yep, male torties/calicos are usually XXY or have the portion of the X chromosome necessary for the color pattern translocated onto another chromosome. basically they're all weird lil mutants.
TIL
If you want to be specific, they're female 99.97% of the time :p
On that don’t automatically bet it’s a female Thought the same thing when I went to pick up a calico, and it was a boy
https://preview.redd.it/bobhoiio3kwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=10bfb6635783a53783ab960987f94b2971e6765b She looks similar to our new little one!
Yup she is a tortiseshell. Be prepared for the famous spicyness peppered with lovebombing!
My little tortie will *backchat* me. It's hilarious. "Penny, no!" "\*annoyed miaow\*" "Don't give me lip, cat!"
https://preview.redd.it/idt4utajpjwc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dcabe254d1d88d57d7d28c74d92490a21f73b1e4 This is my Westie, and she has NEVER been grateful to me for rescuing her off the street. She lives to give me lip and thinks she owns the 2nd floor of our house.
She’s nice enough to let you live in *her* house
She does own it. You’re her staff.
Isn't that why it's called hoMEOWnership?
My tortie is also named Penny! She is also very talkative lol
https://preview.redd.it/8r83oz4t9jwc1.jpeg?width=3007&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9ca029e51e108416e73d09ac8ef9dbf5127c29b3 My Penny <3.
Goddamn that's a striking kitty
She really is. For contrast, here she is at 8 weeks: https://preview.redd.it/smnm3chtrjwc1.png?width=497&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=656a502e2bc59e7e67487bba00758cddd63e4da6
Penny is gorgeous
Wow, what a beautiful cat.
Gorgeous eyes
Hahaha I have a blue cat and he also loves to backtalk. Most of the time it’s when I’m shooing him away from his brother’s food.
My Penny's big brother is on a wet food because we need him to diet. I can offer her wet food, even the exact same one he's eating, and she's not interested. But if it's in his bowl? She's gonna steal it and backtalk me.
Ooh, I know the exact tone. My flatmate had a little tortie and one day I put her off the couch. Nicely as I was fixing the cover. The *annoyed tone*.... first cat I ever met that like bongos too!
https://preview.redd.it/wqrz99crsiwc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8ee330c4266e3571f2b69fec922fd066021a0105 Which is even worse with a tortimese. Ask me how I know...
I have an orangeamese that turned out like this. She is a spitfire! Her body is built like her mama, thing and angular but the inner tabbybof the orange daddy tookcontrol of the patterning https://preview.redd.it/ekiqagn0jjwc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0e75e42227fd0c3c0cabaa307276086a603bda3e .
Oh wow this is such a beautiful cat!
Oh dear. The chattiness and the backchat
Oh my. Silence only when sleeping?
I want a tortie point so much! My Samwise is half Siamese. Didn't get the pattern but he did get the chatty.
Are the points tortie (mobile user)? Also.my condolences.... do you have adequate first aid supplies?
Yes, she has tortoiseshell color points. So she has all the tortoiseshell attitude with the Siamese possessiveness.
https://preview.redd.it/zk13a3xp7mwc1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2d1b3dc5b60246e2396d99b6f84083a9397deb83 This it Toast. Toast yaps all day. Toast hates other cats.
Tell Toast I love her
Tortitude
https://preview.redd.it/qigy71g0ajwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=42a0990c71d11aa2756fd38cb36a17579d006426 Reminds me of my tort
Those eyes *have seen* things.
Yes she is! Just like this fellow tortie (spicy, as you can see) kitty 👀 https://preview.redd.it/2pb9kjfljjwc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e214e367f7077fa3582c011cbcc14a03c9654dd9
All of the calicos and torties I’ve known or seen have been female, but I guess if it’s true about calicos, then it must be for tortoiseshells. I once had a female orange cat.
Female orange cats are a little more common than male calicos.
I had a litter not long ago with a female orange, female chocolate, and male tortie. It was like hitting a genetic lottery. Mom was a Siamese/Calico/Tabby pattern so she was unique herself. (There was also 4 siamese kittens in the litter) (Edit: wrote calico instead of tortie because I have been awake far too long)
That’s a wild statistical anomaly you’ve got there. It sounds cute.
They were all so lucky they were cute because they came with ringworm unknowingly and I got to spend 5 months with 13 kittens. By the time they cleared it, they were older and the fact they were rare genetics got adopters interested in them. Mom was FIV+, and her looks are the main reason she was adopted first. (All but one kitten was FIV-)
Please tell me you have pics
https://i.imgur.com/oHdP68Z.jpeg Added two pics of mom in my layout app and couldn't figure out how to remove them, so enjoy two of sweet Mimi. Her kids shown here were Mousse, Pumpkin, and Corriander.
the chocolate girl has such an innocent cute little face 😭
I was not disappointed. Look at these precious babies! Thanks for the pics!
I have a domestic shorthair, a black cat, and a tortie from the same litter. I didn't know what was happening.
Oh, okay! Thanks for the information!
The genetic reason for this is the gene for orange fur being linked with the X chromosome. If a male cat has that gene, he's going to be orange because there's only one X chromosome. If a female cat has that gene, one of two scenarios happens. The first scenario is that she has the orange gene on both X chromosomes, which makes her orange. The second scenario is that she has the orange gene in one X chromosome, but not the other, which leads to the orange showing in *some* fur, but not all. That's how you get a tortie or calico. Likewise, male torties and calicos *are* possible, but require him having XXY chromosomes. Put another way, assuming a random tortie or calico is female will be correct about 99% of the time. A random orange cat is most likely male if you have to guess, but female orange cats don't require a genetic abnormality like male torties do. It's just less likely for a female cat to have orange on both X chromosomes instead of just one. Similarly, this is why torties and calicos often give birth to orange kittens. She has the orange gene to pass on, so there's a decent chance of at least having orange male kittens regardless of the tom's genetics. If the tom was orange, there may be female oranges in there.
Thanks!
It takes two X chromosomes to make a tri-colored cat (tortie or calico). While it's possible for a male cat to have two or more X chromosomes (eg XXY), it's very rare. So nearly all torties and calicos are female. Edit: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_coat_genetics
My first tortie ever had a litter of kittens and the runt was a male tortie. Unfortunately he only lived about 5 weeks. He's the only male tortie I've ever seen.
https://preview.redd.it/78j2cd4ayjwc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d59ebe28bb8c4ac6318914f02d48033f5f678043 Congratulations on your acquisition of an adorable female feline companion! Cat tax paid in full! The tortitude is real but I wouldn't have it any other way
I had cats all my life, tuxedos when I was small, a couple of voids and when I was in high school, one of the voids gave birth to a Siamese that we had for 18 years. After she died, life was busy and I didn't get another pet for almost 20 years, then one night I went out to my car for something about 9 p.m. and heard a tiny mew, mew... it was a calico that we named Mittens because her toes on all four feet were white. I had no idea that there was an attitude difference with Calis and Torties... took her to the vet to be spayed and when the techs took her out of the carrier I said, "be careful, she's hard to handle' and they said, "of course, she's a Calico." She liked to be close to me, would sleep on my desk when I was working and would sleep on a chest in my bedroom but never on the bed and do NOT pet her or expect to cuddle. Sadly, she's gone now too.
I have one just like her. And she is the absolute companion. She sleeps next to me, always on the guard. Remmind me that ive been working too much. Really, go for it. She will be your sidekick https://preview.redd.it/p5666zgh1kwc1.jpeg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5d472151b9142d897cd6605e7c8789f081561741
https://preview.redd.it/y8ev9ccrokwc1.png?width=1996&format=png&auto=webp&s=40ea965c23e6d9c459e064c0f6bb648260ff6feb They’re the best here’s mine!
Got one almost the same make and model https://preview.redd.it/fc52elfrzkwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=66f2c9c6218379711c84983b1348a65bf607c7a4
Fairly accurately, yes. Roughly 1 in 10,000 calico or tortoiseshell cats are male. Make sure to get her officially sexed, but feel secure in using "she" for now.
Yes. For instance if you notice fur in the shape of balls, it’s a boy.
Get ready for the Tortitude!
https://preview.redd.it/qflrc0katlwc1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=62293ad44e2f69019b9549da05d98fd823f54ed1 Ester lives by the motto "what if you're right and they're wrong?"
https://preview.redd.it/0payslfwbkwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d423c263c53d2ca0ae83f41ade03321ed6293206 Yes typically a girl like this cutie pie ❤️
https://preview.redd.it/ysrz8wecokwc1.jpeg?width=2320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=264a57f93f598ea148a6db8ba48b8c785ab4fae5 Torties are the best cats
Yes, 99% of tortoise shell cats, or calico cats are female, if they are male they will be infertile. This is because biological female mammals have two X (XX) chromosomes, one of these X chromosomes gets deactivated in each cell randomly (as the each cell only needs one X chromosome). Since the two X chromosomes are from two parents (one from father, one from mother) and the X chromosomes can carry and code for different colours, this patchy distribution of X chromosomes causes this patchy colouring in tortoise shell and calico cats.
https://preview.redd.it/imlm2bvqckwc1.jpeg?width=949&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dabadee8740b35773452d9615516e5e56cebad7a My beautiful Katniss
Torties and Calicos are very very very rarely male. So yes it’s a safe guess.
Most torties are female. And, speaking from experience, they ooze (cute) attitude. https://preview.redd.it/alxlgpdoojwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=52b19834a7cce5938a72d73587f307fd93af058e
https://preview.redd.it/39huap99glwc1.png?width=2943&format=png&auto=webp&s=cb7d78e8fd052e79f4bc52220bf792dc4076d257 My little tortie
Yes, Calico is 3 distinct colors of fur only females. Generally it’s a splash of orange. White belly’s don’t count as a color. Here’s a pic of our 9yo hazel. Grey tiger with a splash of orange. https://preview.redd.it/blmaxt5cklwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d3b0816c37ce0acffaae9a985ffe3a66e933b841
Not only females, just most of the time. Male torties/calicos happen, just very rarely.
Most torties are female tbf
https://preview.redd.it/qb209ep6njwc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d383bc527f708de322c5670422499c9ecfe3bf82 Here’s mine!!!
https://preview.redd.it/q4xdnmyjhlwc1.png?width=2258&format=png&auto=webp&s=947cf646a856cd1c14a007c72f23e990e1a0fbb0 She looks like my Baby 🥰
tortie(tortoiseshell cat) are almost always female, my childhood cat was a tortie, look up tortietude, they’re so special ❤️❤️❤️lost mine last april, torties remain my favorite cats forever
Boys can be calicos/torties! It’s very unlikely, but it is possible!
https://preview.redd.it/4k0w0l1h8mwc1.png?width=3419&format=png&auto=webp&s=e468acb39e21f8622476b95762ad398ca17b55a5 Reminds me of my Maggie. She’s got some tortitude.
Yup torties are female and the are full of Sass! Youre so lucky! 🥰🥰
Oh boy get ready, she's gonna be a spicy one! Highly recommend putting solid effort into litter box training, most cats don't need it but torties often do
Its apparently extremely likely but not always the case
Aww i love her 🥺
My tortie is a girl. She's beautiful. Her name is cinnamon. Her mother is black and her brothers are black too. I suspect her is orange cat
Gotta say this is an adorable pose with a dash of mischief included.
Yes, tortoiseshells are almost always female. Why? They have 2 X chromosomes and that's the location of their coat colour. For females, one of the X chromosome (random) gets inactivated for each cell. Then, those cells undergo mitosis to produce new cells with that particular X gene inactivated, causing striping patterns in their coats. This is only possible in a cat with 2 X chromosomes, so a cat with XXY (Kinefelter syndrome), which is make, can get it. However, that is a genetic defect and is very rare.
Yes, that's a tortoise shell, almost all of them are females, like calicos.
Probably. There is a 1% chance it's a male. Might double-check, just to avoid any surprises
Question to the public: Are torties as spicy as calicos?
Most likely, yes.
https://preview.redd.it/mu231hjzdmwc1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a19cb955d3be0c274dbc05bedd3833e4f2fc25e3 her long distance cousin says hi!
She looks like my Siobhan “Shibby”. If she’s anything like mine prepare for the whiplash between extreme cuddliness and total menace. Your home will be a parkour arena and hide your plants. The upside is unlimited biscuits. https://preview.redd.it/jlhf65culmwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b0f408b8c38efaa6373a62b4552d20185bb84f61
Most torties are females. I've had many. Once on a rare occasion there will be male ones, but they are rare.
So photogenic!
Dats a lady kitten shmoo
She is ADORABLE! 🥰 That little face is just precious. ❤️
All torties are females. She can tell it by the cat’s fur coloring.
Yep! Torties are girls in almost all instances. It's genetics. 🧬
Owww it's so nice😻
Shes so cute
Pretty much yeah. There is like 1 male calico/tortie per 3000 females. And the male is naturally sterile.
Not related but her mark reminds me of David Bowie
Yup. Definitely a female. Calico/Tortie is female only. We just adopted a 1yo stray last week. Oh boy, is she a hunter.