About 0.033% of calico cats are male, we are told. I am not sure how accurate this figure is. Represented a different way it is one male calico cat for every 3000 female calico cats.
In fact, as their existence is theoretically impossible there has to be a genetic anomaly for a male cat to be a calico cat. The male calico cat is described as “very rare”. They are nearly always sterile because they have XXY chromosomes. This causes a condition called Klinefelter’s syndrome (in people), which is the result of additional X genetic material in males. In people, this syndrome can cause the person to be taller than usual with less muscle control and weaker muscles. I wonder if it affects cats in the same way. Update: please see Sarah Hartwell’s comment. The main cause of tortie male cats is a thing called “chimerism”. This is when two fertilised eggs fuse to become a single kitten. I’ll ask Sarah Hartwell to explain it in an article! There is a link to her site in the comments.
As they are very rare they are possibly more valuable than a typical pedigree cat if they are a pedigree cat. However the sterility prevents breeding, devaluing the cat.
Calico” is an American term meaning tortoiseshell and white. In the UK cat fancy the word “calico” is not used as far as I am aware.
See:
- Dilute calico cat
- Calico cat behavior (some people think they have a certain character)
yes，I saw one cat in China at CAA cat show .A male is very healthy.But the testicles are somewhat smaller。
And the coat is tortoiseshell.
Wow…you’ll have to do an article for PoC and I’ll have to give some more money to Cats Protection 😉 Thanks Sarah. You’re a great asset.
What I’ll do is read your page tomorrow (it is late right now) and add a few lines to the article.
Interesting Dan. The calico and tortie are interesting cats with their sex linked chromosomes. I think it is one of the most attractive cat coats.
We just learned this in Intro to DNA class.
Have never seen or had a male calico.
“They are nearly always sterile because they have XXY chromosomes. ”
Sorry, but this is out of date! The most common cause of male torties/calicos has been found to be chimerism. This results in fertile males.
http://www.messybeast.com/mosaicism6.htm