Calico or Turtle Shell, whats the difference?

Question

I saw a cat in our back yard today & said 'oh, a calico' My wife said she thought they were called a 'turtle shell' Who's right & whats the difference?

Answer 1

Hi Steve...calico has more of a white base with orange and white patches, whereas a tortoise shell (aka tortie) have a black base and the colours meld into one another with very little white.

Calico photos:
http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/01glance/symbols/images/5458-7-038.jpg
http://www.natureartinternational.com/hall/thcalicocat.jpg
http://gokdemir.com/images/marmara-calico-cat-pawtwisted-dustremoved406271-90.jpg
Tortie photos:
http://media.vivastreet.com/v1/9/b/1/photo_1435504
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40932000/jpg/_40932811_lucy203x250.jpg
http://calyxa.best.vwh.net/~calyxa/pearl/cats/1images/cici.jpg

Answer 2

A tortie or tortoise shell cat is often called a black calico. A tortie has no white on it just the black, orange (or red) and cream (or tan). A calico has the white with the other colors.

Answer 3

What colors do you see on your cat? There is a difference between a tortoiseshell (or tortie) and a calico, but the colors can be similar.
There are different types of torti colors; these include the classic torti, the chocolate tortie, and the lilac tortie, and the blue tortie. The classic tortie has a mixture of black and red with little or no white. Many torties have a black base with red shades intermingled throughout the coat.
The chocolate tortie has warm shades of chocolate brown mixed with the traditional black and red colors. There will be little or no white.
The lilac tortie will appear to have pale, cream colored coats. This color is a mixture of lilac and cream colors.
The blue tortie has patches of silver gray with shades of cream colors intermingled throughout the coat. Torti cats will often have two or more colors on their paw pads and on their noses.
The calico will have larger spots of black and red, with more white colors. They can resemble tortoiseshell cats, but with much more white. Sometimes they are called "tortoiseshell with white".
I also have a tortoiseshell, and she is a beautiful cat.

Answer 4

I think of a calico as a white cat with orange and black spots, and a tortoishell as just the orange and black "merled" look, without the white.

Answer 5

Well, a calico is a cat that is white, black, and orange. they have a spotted sort of coat.
A tortoise shell has usually grey or brown and black, in a turtle shell sort of pattern.

Answer 6

The term "tortoiseshell" is reserved usually for multi-colored cats with little or no white markings. "Calico" refers to a multi-colored cat with a large amount of white fur (called a "tortoiseshell-and-white in the U.K.).

It's not a specific breed of cat--it just refers to the color. Only picky people would correct you if you replaced "calico" for "tortoiseshell."

Answer 7

Tortoiseshells are female cats that are only orange and black (or grey and cream) mixed together with no white. Calicos also have orange/black with some white

Answer 8

A calico cat is white with orange and black markings . A tortoise shell cat is dark Grey (black) with orange and white markings. They are reversed in color.

Answer 9

A calico is white with patches of black and orange. A tortoise shell is black with flecks of orange on it.Some have a little white under the chin or on the chest.

Answer 10

Ok ok its actually a tortiose shell i believe, and the difference is a torty (thats wat they are reffered to as...) is dark brown usually with some oranges and lighter browns and alot of cool colors, where as the calico is three colors...and also the calico can only be female. (Brown, white, orange)
MEOW