Features
Origins
Genetics
Psychology

Characteristics of the Calico or Tortoiseshell Cat

The Calico Cat is a three-colored cat, also known as a “tortoiseshell”.
More correctly, and frequently, it is a “cat” : in fact, due to a chromosomal transmission mechanism, the Calico cat with the tricolor piebald coat, white, orange / cream and black / cinnamon blue or brown and the white belly is generally female .

Those rare male specimens are the result of a genetic error. The incidence of this error is 1 in 3,000 specimens. So rare that the calico male is a lucky cat for the Japanese , Maneki-Neko is his name.

The denomination “calico” does not therefore designate a breed, but a feature, which may be common to different races. For example, there is the Calico-Persian cat . Be careful not to confuse the “calico” variant of cats with Tortoishell or Torbie , also called tortoise and brindle. In fact, the size of the Calico is not mixed, but mosaic, well-defined and distinct patches of color.

Origins of the Calico Cat

The origins of Calico are lost in space and time . There are rock testimonies from the ancient Egyptians, who depicted this feline with the mantle of three colored pieces and to which they attributed magical virtues.

Even among the Japanese this cat possesses thaumaturgical powers: it would protect sailors from storms.

There is a suggestive Tibetan legend referring to the calico cat and which dates back to 1100, which tells of a general discontent condition in the monasteries that made coexistence and harmony difficult. Thus three monks began fasting and prayer in order to reach the state of enlightenment. The following day, in front of the door of the monastery, a tricolor cat appeared with her three female kittens.

The event was naturally interpreted as a divine signal and symbols of their culture were also attributed to the colors of the mantle: white is Yin , black is Yang and orange is the earth , the monastery an amalgam of differences that had to harmonize. 

Calico Cat Genetics

The particular coloring of Calico depends on a phenomenon called ” mosaicism “: it means the presence of several genetic heritages in a single individual, expressed simultaneously.

More simply : the cat has 19 pairs of chromosomes, 38 homologous chromosomes, therefore 19 inherited from the mother and 19 from the father.

The chromosomes carry the genes responsible for the characteristics of the cat , such as hair color and sex, XX for females and XY for males. At the moment of conception, the mother provides the X chromosome, the father or the X or the Y chromosome.

The so-called “orange” gene, the one that controls the particular coloring of the hair is present in a dominant version only on the X chromosome, therefore transmissible only in the case of unborn females.

The other dominant color among cats is white and in the case in which the unborn kitten has the orange gene in both the dominant and recessive presence, it mixes the two characters and gives rise to the mosaic pigmentation.

Psychology of the Calico Cat

The cats with the characteristic “calico” seem to be characterized by a rather nervous , lively and sometimes aggressive character .

It depends on many factors, certainly also on the different breeds to which they may belong, but they certainly turn out to be very shy and reserved cats that do not disdain the attention of their owners.