What is a Calico cat?

Question

I want a cat so bad. you think Calico cats are nice? Give me details!

1. Color
2. Size
3. Other Details

If you can, post a picture in your answer.

Answer 1

actually most of the answers are partially correct. Calico is not a color but a color pattern found in many breeds of cats. It is defined in pattern by 3 distinct colors wherein the colors will never intermingle. Black, Red/Orange and White. It is a member of the tri color pattern family. This includes Tortoiseshell, Torby, Blue Cream etc.
For clear info on this read below.
http://www.fanciers.com/other-faqs/colors.html
as for size, this is dependent on the breed, purebred or mixed. With a purebred cat you can somewhat pick the size. Main Coon and Norwegian Forrest cats are the largest breeds. Manx are at the opposite of the spectrum. With larger coming in over 20lbs smaller as small as 5 in Manx females.
Temperament is based on breeds and best to look these up before getting one. Mixed breeds again, you cannot be sure.
It is true that Calico or tri color patterned cats are nearly always female but on rare occasion 1 in about 3000 will be born male and of those 1 in approx 10,000 is not sterile. These though have no special monetary value due to the genetic makeup cannot be used for breeding.
Also for more info:
http://www.fanciers.com/other-faqs/colors.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortoiseshell_cat, this one at the bottom will provide a range of the color patterns and names.
Hope this helps better define Calico and the other color patterns.

Answer 2

the color questions have been answered, the size varies on what type of cat the cali came from . calico coloring is a genetic abnormality, but size still generally depends on the mommy and daddy. since they are mostly female generaly they tend to be smaller cats but is not always the case. My female cali is very small even at a year old but healthy and developed. she is shy around new people wich is odd because i hand raised her and her 2 brothers ( mother passed away during labor ) her brothers are twins, large cats, long hair super puffy tails and grey with black strips, both of the boys love everyone and have no fear.
I also have what i think is a male cali as he has disticnt tri-color spoltches in white, chocolate, and black, he is huge and the friendliest cat alive, very loyal. oh yeah all his brothers and sisters were "tuxedo cats ".

check out a local shelter or free to good home add, spend some time playing with a kitty, not looking at it. breed does not definatly mean personality.

Answer 3

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Effective October 1, 2001, the calico cat became the official cat of Maryland (Chapter 194, Acts of 2001; Code State Government Article, sec. 13-317). Its colors of orange, black, and white are shared with the Baltimore oriole (State bird) and the Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly (State insect).
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. Producing calico kittens through selective breeding also is nearly impossible due to unpredictable actions of genes and chromosomes when cells multiply in a feline fetus.

Calico cat, Annapolis, Maryland, September 2001. Photo by Ann J. Baker.



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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.
Sleeping calico cat, Canton, Baltimore, Maryland, May 2002. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.


I cannot figure out how to post pics on YA. Sorry

Answer 4

The description "tortoiseshell" (also called "calimanco" or "clouded tiger" in North America) is typically reserved for cats with brindled coats that have relatively little or no white markings, while those that are largely white with red and black patches (rather than a brindled aspect) are described as tortoiseshell-and-white (in the UK) or calico (in the United States). Tortoiseshells and calicos are not specific breeds of cat. The tortoiseshell markings appear in many different breeds. Both calico and tortoiseshell cats are almost always female.

Answer 5

Calico cats are usually mixed breed, the term "Calico" refers to the coloroing.. They are the cats that are white with black and orange patches.. They are almost always female, because to have black AND orange on the same cat, it must have two X chromisomes, w hich only females have (Female =xx male= xy) OCCASIONALLY there is a "mutant" who is xxy and appears to be male. He could be calico, but will almost always be sterile

Here is a calico cat
http://tomecat.com/madtimes/archive/pics/optio/cat050902.jpg

http://www.hsca.net/members/robb/hsca/hsca.nsf/(LkupImages)/2004+CalicoCat/$File/calico+cat.jpg

My calico girl is about 9 lbs..pretty good size for a cat, although I don't normally think of her as "big" because my boy (orange cat) is 16 lbs!!!

I have one and she's a sweetheart.. Obsessed with being cute and adoreable if anyone's paying attention to her...

Answer 6

They are cats with a mixture of orange,white and black fur.Calicos occur in many breeds of cats,Persians,British and American Shorthair and ordinary mixed breed or "alley cats".They are almost always females,as are Tortoiseshells,which are black and orange cats.I have two calicos,sisters.Their father was a longhaired red tabby and their mother was black and white.Their brother is also black and white.One of the cats,Chloe is of normal size and weighs about 9 lbs.,while her sister,Annabelle is larger at about 11 lbs. They are both quite friendly and like people,dogs and other cats (well,Anna doesn't care for strange cats.)

Answer 7

a calico is a cat that has diiferent colors white ornge black would be a calico and the color of the cat doesnt matter it depends on its personality

Answer 8

They are a medium size cat with medium to long hair. They are an orange/black with some white usually white socks and on the belly and face. We have one and she is nice, for a cat.

Answer 9

I merchandise with regards to the intelligence fact. we've a ginger and white male cat, Rhett, who fairly is eerily clever, and he's no longer even a 300 and sixty 5 days previous. we are continuously astonished by the adjustments in his habit from that of many different cats. Rhett is the only cat i've got seen who sits up in front of the television and interacts with what's on the demonstrate, in spite of the fact that if all and sundry is taking or an animal is shifting around; it does not seem to depend to him. We even have an relatively clever lady, helpful, who isn't fairly a tortoiseshell, relatively as in case you had dunked a yellow cat in black and it hadn't fairly taken. We theory SHE became the bright little innovations to conquer till Rhett entered our important different and young infants. i think of we ought to charm to clever cats. Our oldest, Tigger, has continually spoke back extra appropriate to being reprimanded verbally, which skill that i myself talk to him, eye to eye, approximately his misbehavior, and he adjustments his techniques! whilst a kitten, he linked the sound of a telephone ringing with the wallphone yet additionally might run to the telephone in my mom's room then seem at me, needless to say looking forward to me to respond to it. So, intelligence isn't limited to colour or breed, a minimum of no longer in my 50+ years of journey with pussycats.

Answer 10

A yellow, brown and black cat.
Size, well, like most cats size.
Details: they are usually females, because this combination is harder to obtain genetically (male chromosomes don´t get this color combination).
They are as cute and adorable as any other cat.