Guess what??? Ziggy (patched tabby) kitten is a boy!

Hi,

Had to take one of Pixie's kittens - Ziggy the patched tabby to the vets at the weekend because of a weepy eye and the vet said he is a boy! I really thought, like others on here that he would be a girl, but the vet seemed pretty certain! Has anyone known before of patched tabbies being a boy? By the way we got antibiotics from the vet as he was also sneezing quite a lot and shorly I'm going to pick up some eye drops as his eye is still weepy and looks very sore. I hope he gets better soon.

Besides that all the kittens are doing very well, they are 4 weeks old today and 3 out of 4 are eating kitten food and using the litter tray, just little Jasper to go - should I be worried that he's not showing any interest in the food yet? I've tried putting it around and in his mouth a bit, like I did with the others, but he's totally uninterested! Will post some new piccies soon!

Just a reminder of Ziggy;

It would be extremely rare if Zig is a boy cause its the same deal as a male tortie or male calico. 99.9% are female. Its possible, but I think Zig's a girl. Sometimes vets can be fooled. I'd wait another month and see what she/he looks like.

My little rex female looked a LOT like a boy from the time she was born! Found out he was female when getting the first shots at 8 weeks old. But she really did look like she had balls

If they are nursing fine, don't push the food on them for another week or two - most of my kittens were not ready to eat solids till a good 5-6 weeks old before they would try.

Girl or boy, that is one cute little kitty!

I am new to the cat world myself and didn't realise that certain colourings within breeds could be so dominated by a gender!

He is going to be a very handsome boy though, he is gorgeous! And I hope his eye clears up soon

OH! I LOVE that one leg is one color & the other leg is another color... that is one ADORABLE KITTY

Originally Posted by pai-thagoras

I am new to the cat world myself and didn't realise that certain colourings within breeds could be so dominated by a gender!

He is going to be a very handsome boy though, he is gorgeous! And I hope his eye clears up soon

Click to expand...

It's not within a breed... The reason Calicos are predominantly female is because to be a calico you need two X chromosomes because the coding for black and orange coat colors is on the X chromosome. The only way normally to have both black and orange (calico) patches is to have two X chromosomes. Males can usually only be orange OR black because they only have one X chromosome. Male calicos generally are male cats with an extra X chromosome (XXY males).

There was an adult Torbie/Patched Tabby Male here at the Humane Society. Definately a male!

They do occur but are pretty rare. I'd still wait a month or two and see if he/she really has some balls back there

yeah i would wait

I just wanted to add that Ziggy's coloring is gorgeous! His face is so bright it almost looks like it's been painted! So cute...

Oh he is SO cute! I have never in my life seen a cat that color in my life.

What a cool story! I would have assumed that it was a female just by the coloring. Very cool and sooo pretty. Very unique as well. Thanks for sharing!