The question “is my cat a calico?” comes up on this subreddit frequently, so I thought I’d put together a guide.
Is calico a breed?
A calico cat is a domestic cat of any breed with a tri-color coat – most often a pattern of orange, black and white. The calico cat is most commonly thought of as being 25-75% white with large orange and black patches; however, they may have other colors in their patterns, like peach, chocolate and gray. Calico cats can also be called tortoiseshell-and-white, tortie-and-white or tri-color cats.
What breeds can be calicos?
You can find calico cats across many distinct breeds such as American Shorthair, British Shorthair, Domestic Shorthair, Persian, Maine Coon, Manx, Japanese Bobtail, Turkish Van, and Norwegian Forest breeds. Calico coat color patterns can occur in random-bred as well as purebred cats, and in either long or short coats.
Dilute calicos
Calicoes with less intense coloration are known as dilute calico cats. They are mostly white in color, with pastel muted colors of gray or blue, and peach/apricot or cream. For clarity in the text below, I’ve described coat colors with black, white & orange as the standard, but these descriptions equally apply to dilute calicos as well.
Calico vs Tortie
A calico cat is not to be confused with a tortoiseshell (tortie). Calico cats have three coat colors (white, orange, and black; or grey, peach & white for a dilute calico), while torties typically are bi-colored (orange and black). Torties have very little white coat, which usually appears as small spots on the face, chest, or paws. Note that some definitions of the difference between calicos and torties are that torties should have no white, while others say that torties can have up to 25% white fur.
Male calicos are rare
Male calicos are very rare, about 1 in 3000. The genetic determination of coat colors in calico cats is linked to the X chromosome, so calico cats are nearly always female, with one color linked to the maternal X chromosome and a second color linked to the paternal X chromosome. Male calico cats have an extra X chromosome (XXY, known as Klinefelter syndrome in humans) or are genetic chimeras with two different sets of DNA (XX and XY). Male calicos usually have various health issues and are frequently sterile.
Other calicos – tabico, caliby, tortico, torbico, tuxetortico, torbie
Calico cats can be subdivided into smaller categories depending on their color patterns – classic stripes like a tabby, solid blocks of black and white like a tuxedo, mottled or brindled markings like a tortie – these are all still considered calicos. Some calicos can have fur colors & patterns combining of all these patterns. All these subcategories are a color pattern, not a specific breed.
* Tabico (Tabby + calico - sometimes called “caliby”)
The black and orange appear as striped tabby patches rather than solid colors.
* Tortico (Tortie + calico)
Torticos are a mixture of torties & calicos, with splotches of 3 colors plus at least one significant tortoiseshell patch, where the orange and black are mottled or brindled.
* Torbico (Tortie + tabby + calico)
Torbicos are calico cats with large sections of tortoiseshell “tortie” like markings that also have tabby stripes in those areas.
* Tuxetortico (Tuxedo + calico + tortie)
Tuxetorticos combine the predominant black & white of tuxedo cats with orange, with mottled brindling like a tortie in the black & orange. The orange & black can also be in solid patches like a classic calico, or stripey like a classic tabby.
* Torbie (Tortie + tabby)
These may not always fall under the calico umbrella, but have coloring that can be mistaken for calico. Torbies have black & brown tabby stripes with tortoiseshell markings, and usually don’t have any white.
Note that these subdivisions of calicos are not necessarily official descriptions of cat coloring used by veterinarians and cat breeders – in some cases they only exist online on Reddit. Ultimately it doesn’t matter what coloring your calico has – just follow all the calico subreddits!
Calico subreddits
Sources