Omg!!

Sorry if this is in the wrong section, do feel free to move.

Took Jeannie to the vet last night cos she has ripped one of her claws, and asked the vet to check her bladder in case there was an infection making her wee quite a lot, as bloods ruled out kidneys and diabetes. She felt her bladder, and then looked 'down below' for any signs, and asked 'why does this cat have a penis?' - well, that was a shock, as we thought she was a girl. But yep, she definitely does have one!! That isn't too bad in itself, not the first mis-sexed cat, and wont be the last.

However, my vets first comment on seeing Jeannie yesterday was 'what a lovely TORTIE'!! Vet has never seen a moggie male tortie, so unless 'she' is really a black cat with odd pigmentation, it appears I have a male tortie!! Have to say she is an unusual tortie, not as brindled as a normal dark tortie.

Good job she is deaf, and has no idea she has been called by a girls name. I am continuing to call her a she, can't get my head round her being a boy after she has been here nearly 3 months. We are trying to work out whether the vet sexed her initally, or we all just assumed that a black and ginger cat was a girl.

Not got a decent pic on my comp yet, will try and get one later

Oh my goodness, you have a transgendered cat.

Wow! You have a precious little anomaly! It is extremely rare for a calico/tortoise shell kitty to be male. I think most of us would have assumed the same, that he was a she until we were told that she was really he !
Please share some more pics of Jeannie, now Jean!

I sure do, and it very nearly wasn't picked up, I thought I Was going to lose 'her' in December. Couple of pics taken today, I dont seem to be able to get one that shows it very well though - never come across a tortie like this, teh vet actually did think she was black at first, I pointed out the ginger spots, but the second time, when she was in better condition, the vet agreed she was a tortie, and it was her first comment last night!!

You can totally see the coloring in the first pic! It is the black with orange or gold coloring that is the rare mix. Chance of one being born male is 1 in a few thousand........and most likely sterile.
Are there any white spots? Or just orange and black.........

i dont think it shows up that well on the first pic!! Very unusual cat though, never come across a tortie with so little ginger. 'She' has the odd white hairs, but no patches of white, the receptionist didn't think you got torties without white, but I think I have had a brindled one with no white. Vet didn't think it happened in moggies, but I proved her wrong!!

Originally Posted by booktigger

i dont think it shows up that well on the first pic!! Very unusual cat though, never come across a tortie with so little ginger. 'She' has the odd white hairs, but no patches of white, the receptionist didn't think you got torties without white, but I think I have had a brindled one with no white. Vet didn't think it happened in moggies, but I proved her wrong!!

Click to expand...

Actually Torties are black and orange (or variation of) by definition. Those with white have either more separate patches of coloring (considered calico) or white markings (paws, belly, face) similar to the tuxedo color. Those with black coloring born male are rare, and in many cultures considered good luck!

Thanks for that, very interesting. Torties aren't my favourite colour, but looking at the one at the side of me, her white bits are just on her face, belly and paws. I have had one with more patches, but most have been brindled. I think pretty much all have had some white on them though, but not seen one with so little mix like Jeannie.

This is Sweety, she was our last beloved Tortie/long hair girl. She was brindle orange on black color, and was quite a character!


She had a few stray white hairs on her face when she grew older, and we miss her so much!

You have quite a rare cat on your hands. You must have been shocked...

Oh wow what luck!! It means it's an XXY male. You should look up the statistics to see how rare it really is! I forgot what it was but it's extremely rare...You have a super special kitty!!

per The Messy Beast...

Over the years and from region to region, the figures given have ranged from 1-in-1000 to 1-in-many-thousands. Some of these would have been mis-dentified poorly defined classic tabbies, especially where white patches obscure the tabby pattern. Some breeds may be more prone to genetic gender anomalies than others (this has been noted in dogs, but there is currently no comparable data for cats).
According to Roy Robinson's 'Genetics for Cat Breeders' out of a total of 125 kittens produced by black female x orange male there was 1 tortoiseshell male. The majority of calico or tortoiseshell males studied in recent years are from tortoiseshell (with or without white) females and are XXY (Klinefelter) or XXXY (chimera) genetic make-up. Further studies in the early 2000s on the chromosome complement and histology (structure) of tortoiseshell males in the UK and USA indicated around 0.43% of chromosomally abnormal (XY/XY, XX/XY or XXY) tortoiseshell male cats in the UK and 0.033% in the USA.

Click to expand...

some interesting links about male torties...
http://www.messybeast.com/mosaicism3.htm
http://www.messybeast.com/mosaicism6.htm
http://www.messybeast.com/mosaicism5.htm

So Jean is now Gene! Congrats on such a rare kitty!

Thanks - I read an article yesterday that said 99.5% of torties are female, which is what I thought. As the ginger patches aren't like most torties, there is still debate whether this is a tortie or a faded black, I have never been convinced.

It almost looks like your kitty has been in the sun too much...is the red right through to the roots?

I doubt it would be the sun, as we haven't had any of that recently, and the colour became more obvious after a couple of weeks of regular brushing, so surely if it was due to being bleached, it would have got less as I took 'old' fur out? I was initially wondering about fever coat due to the severe ear infection, but his fur hasn't gone back despite the ear infection being treated, and bloods only showed a slight infection, no other health issues. We dont know his background though, due to being picked up as a stray. The patches do seem to be down to the root, i was checking that last week while he was on my knee.

Oh well then, how very exciting!

I've bred a Male Tortie Bicolour and he's not sterile

My vet did say that it was very rare in moggies, and would normally only happen in pedigrees, so interesting that you have bred one.

wow! That is very interesting it is quite rare for a male to be a tortie!and most likely he is sterile . I have a tortie girl her name is Princess!!

I Was playing with Jeannie's fur last night, and I am swaying towards this being a tortie, when you brush his fur the wrong way, there is a lot more colour in patches, although the patches aren't a deep ginger, but then he is showing signs of age fading his black fur on his legs - and as we dont know how old this cat is, it could just be that the ginger is fading due to age.