Male Tortishell kittens...?

Question

my family has two male tortishell kittens (6 months) and I was wondering if they are a rare breed?

we have already taken them to the vet. they have all their shots, so the vet knows that they are male. But he also said that they might be hermaphrodites. This is because their boy parts weren't showing up like a normal kittens would. They have male looks though so they are mostly male. a little confusing.

Answer 1

No, Tortishell is not a breed, its a color. IF the cat is not papered or from a Registered breeder its not likely. They however, are rare in one aspect. Tortishell coloring and Calico Coloring are female based. Almost 98% of all Tortishell or Calico colored cats are female, IF they are truely male they are rare, and unfortunately the downside to a male Tortishell is he has a 95% chance he is Sterile (unable to breed a female cat) and can not pass on the trait. No matter I bet they are very cute. Check out this link it will show you color patterns and breeds of all recognized purbred cats in North America.
http://www.cfa.org/breeds.html

Answer 2

While not "rare" what you might have is a "genetic hiccup" for lack of a better term (some call this a genetic abberation, but that doesn't seem fair to me).
Tortishell and calico cats are almost always female (some 98% of the time) because that coloring trait is linked to a sex gene.
Sarah Hartwell, a researcher I believe, describes best what happens: "The ginger colour of cats (known as "yellow", "orange" or "red" to cat breeders) is caused by the "O" gene. The O gene changes black pigment into a reddish pigment. The O gene is carried on the X chromosome. A normal male cat has XY genetic makeup; he only needs to inherit one O gene for him to be a ginger cat. A normal female is XX genetic makeup. She must inherit two O genes to be a ginger cat. If she inherits only one O gene, she will be tortoiseshell. The O gene is called a sex-linked gene because it is carried on a sex chromosome."
Sadly calico or tortishell males are almost always sterile.
Oddly, for a reason very close to this, most Marmalade or Orange tabbies are male (about 89%).

Answer 3

Actually they can be male but it's rare just the same as a regular calico. What the deal is though these colors are only carried on the X chromosome so they have an XXY at the end of their chromosomes. Meaning they are probably hermaphrodites, and will be infertile.

Answer 4

No. They are most likely STERILE. Go to the vet and make SURE they are males. If I had a DIME for every person that thought they had a male torti, I'd be rich!!!!!!!!!! Most people cannot tell the sex of kittens very well.

Male tortis are rare, but they cannot reproduce themselves, so they are not rare in the "worth something" sense!!

I have seen one male torti like that. "Looked" male on the outside, but required a spay also. Place carefully if you do place them....they might cost a bit of money for desexing!!!!!!

Answer 5

Male dark calicos (tortoise-shell) have been said to be a genetic impossibility.

We had some friends visiting over the holidays and were talking about just that.

So yeah...from what I've heard they're quite rare.

Our friends could have been wrong, but they're pretty smart. I dunno...I've never seen in my close-to-40 years a male dark calico.

Apparently only the females are supposed to show that coloration and there a genetic block from males having that particular coloring and pattern although they can carry the gene to their female offspring.

Good deal!

Take pics of them and post them on a cat-fanciers site!!

Answer 6

a woman kitten might have a touch slit (Virgina)as for a male he won't have testicles at that component they are going to ought to drop as he gets older yet you are able to unquestionably see a woman plus a male might have a penis hollow

Answer 7

Andy S got it. He knows his stuff. I learned this from my zoology professor in college.

Answer 8

Tortoiseshell is a color not a breed. They are rarer then female tortoiseshells.

Answer 9

kinda, not really rare though because i have one