What is a Calico Cat

A calico feline (US English) is a house cat of any breed with a three-color coat. The calico is generally considered to be 25%–75% white with large ginger and black markings. However, their patterns can include other hues. Calico cats are almost only female, except in rare genetic cases.

A details Calico Cat

A calico cat should not be confused with a tortoiseshell feline, which has a black base coat and a mostly mottled black/red or blue or cream coat with few or no white spots. Outside North America, the calico design is more often referred to as tortoiseshell and white.

Calicoes with diluted tones (blue tortoiseshell and white) are sometimes called calimanco or clouded tiger. Occasionally, the tri-color calico coat combines with striped patterns, referred to as tortoiseshell tabby with white. A calico-tabby hybrid may be called a caliby.

Originating from colorful printed Calico fabric, the term “calico” for cats refers only to a fur color pattern, not to a breed or any traits like their eye color. Professional breeders limit registration of calico-patterned cats to specific breeds, such as the Manx, American Shorthair, Maine Coon, British Shorthair, Persian, Arabian Mau, Japanese Bobtail, Exotic Shorthair, Siberian, Turkish Van, Turkish Angora, and Norwegian Forest Cat.

Since coat color genetics in calicoes are connected to the X chromosome, calicoes are almost always female. One color is tied to the maternal X chromosome, while the second is linked to the paternal X chromosome. Most male cats are monochromatic, such as black, due to having only a single X chromosome. Male calicoes occur when a male has an extra X chromosome (XXY chromosomes, linked to Klinefelter syndrome) and are typically infertile; this condition involves a chimera, with two types of cells.

Some calico cats are called “dilute calicoes” and feature lighter shades. These diluted patterns include grey (or “blue”), cream, and gold tones instead of typical calico colors.

History

The tri-color calico coat does not define a breed but occurs randomly in cats with varied color patterns, meaning it lacks a fixed history. However, Neil Todd traced the appearance of patches in calicoes while studying cat migration along trade routes in Europe and North Africa. He connected the orange mutation in calicoes to port cities along the Mediterranean, like Greece, France, Spain, and Italy, tracing its origin to Egypt.

The calico has been recognized as Maryland’s state cat since October 1, 2001. Calicoes were chosen for their black, white, and orange coloring, which matches Maryland’s state bird (the Baltimore oriole) and insect (the Baltimore checkerspot butterfly).

Etymology

The fabric known as “calico” was originally named for Calicut, a city in southwest India. Printed calico was imported into the U.S. from Lancashire, England, in the 1780s, and the word gained a new meaning. While Europe retained the term for fabric material, the U.S. applied it to printed patterns. These small-patterned, colorful designs inspired the term “calico” to describe a cat’s tri-color coat.

Genetics

In genetic terms, calico cats resemble tortoiseshells, except calicoes have a white undercoat instead of black. A general rule is that larger white areas mean bigger ginger and dark patches. A tortoiseshell without white spots typically has smaller patches or a sprinkling pattern. This variation reflects genetic effects from melanocyte migration and X-inactivation during embryo development.

Research on calicoes began in 1948, when Murray Barr and graduate student E.G. Bertram noticed dark masses in female cat nerve cell nuclei, later called Barr bodies. In 1959, Susumu Ohno identified these as X chromosomes, and in 1961, Mary Lyon introduced the X-inactivation concept, explaining that one X chromosome in female mammals becomes inactive, influencing their coat patterns.

Calicoes are usually female because the orange/non-orange gene is located on the X chromosome. The alleles on the orange gene loci determine the fur’s orange or black appearance. In males, the Y chromosome lacks the orange gene loci, so they cannot typically display both orange and non-orange coloring.

Rare male calicoes result from an extra X chromosome, a condition called XXY or Klinefelter syndrome. This anomaly allows males to exhibit the same coloring as XX female cats. However, nearly all male calicoes are sterile, and breeders avoid exceptions because of their low quality for reproduction. Male calicoes that are fertile are rarely accepted by registries as show cats.

In Sue Hubble’s book Shrinking the Cat: Genetic Engineering Before We Knew About Genes, she explains the mutation for orange coats in males and tri-color coats in females occurs due to the orange gene on the female X chromosome. This piebald gene, located on another chromosome, codes for white coloring, creating the calico’s distinct patches.

Cloning calico cats has been challenging, as shown with Copy Cat, whose donor Rainbow had different coat patterns, despite identical genes.

Folklore

Calicoes are considered lucky in many cultures. In Germany, they are called “Glückskatze,” meaning lucky cat. In the U.S., they are sometimes referred to as money cats. In Japan, Maneki-neko figures often depict calicoes as symbols of good fortune, and Japanese sailors kept them as ship’s cats to protect against bad luck at sea.

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