How do I know if I have true Calico kittens?

Question

I have two kittens that have the colors of a calico cat but I dont know if they are truly calico. What are some ways that I could find this out?

Answer 1

calico is not a breed, it is a color pattern. Most calicos are mongrels. So, what I'm saying, is that if your cat has the colors of a calico, then it IS a calico. The charachteristics of a calico color pettern are

1. ALOT of white.
2. Patches of black and orange or cream

If it is mostly BLACK with orange and cream or white, then that is "tortiseshell"

I have a real sweet calico girl about 5 years old. The calico gene appears to be fairly dominant, meaning that if a calico cat has kittens, the majority of her female kittens will be calico.

Frequently asked question about calicos: ARe they all female? and Why?

Almost all calicos are female, because to have orange AND black on the same cat requires two X chromisomes. XX=female, XY=male. So, males cannot have black AND orange. Occasionally there will be a genetic mutation that is XXY, and that could be a calico "male"

Answer 2

Yeah, I agree with lochmessy, calico cats r usually female, r mostly white with black and grey tabby markings, but also a few red markings there too. I had a calico kittie, and she lived to be really old. Her mother was calico too, but the mother cat never produced any more calicos. It's a fairly common colour.
I don't know if this is true, but if u look at a tortoiseshell cat they r the same except in black. And it is very rare to find a male tortoiseshell. Maybe it's the same with a calico. I don't know. It might be something to look up.

Answer 3

Calico is not a breed of cat, but an unusual coloring occurring across many breeds, including Domestic Short-hair, Persian, and Manx. Virtually all calico cats are female; a male calico is a genetic anomaly and usually sterile.

A calico cat must be a tri-color, with its three colors in distinct patches, not mixed as in a tortoiseshell cat. Some breed standards specify what percentage of the body must be white; others allow tabby striping in the color patches. To be a true tri-color, a calico cat's colors must be: white; red or cream; and black, blue, chocolate, lilac, cinnamon, or fawn. The variations in color from red and black are caused by a gene which dilutes, or lightens up the basic color, and produces a dilute calico cat, most commonly with a coat of white, cream, and blue.

Answer 4

A calico kitten would be a female with black, orange and white patches. These would be distinct patches and not "blended" into each other. There are also "dilute" calicos which are white, cream and gray. The percentage of each color is not important.

A cat with tabby stripes in two colors plus white is called a "patched tabby and white". A tortoiseshell cat is a black cat with orange streaks. If there are a lot of orange streaks she would be called a "fiery tortie". A tortie can also have white so she would be called a "tortie and white".

But wait -- it gets even more complicated than that. There are also "smoke" calicos that have white fur underneath (pet the fur backwards).

Calico isn't a breed, but a color pattern.

Answer 5

A calico has 3 colors on it's fur: orange, black, and white. A tortoise shell cat has 2 colors: orange and black. Almost all calico cats are female, males can exist but are extremely rare.

Answer 6

First they would be female, but second, calico just means that it is a white cat with spots of brown black and a sort or beige color. They are not all that rare actually. But, it must be a female.

Answer 7

Calico refers to tri-colored kitties, if they look like calico, meaning patches of three differant colors, not stripes

Answer 8

I true calico wil never be male