Calico types (colorations and patterns)

not sure if this is the right spot to put this.


Over the last 3 years that I have lived here I have been S/Ning feral cats one at a time as I had money b/c my local vet charges so much. I live on a small hobby farm we have indoor cats that may go outside with us but they dont go out without us. We dont have barn cats but where I milk there are alot. I had gotten them all fixed but I swear new ones just keep coming.

Anyways I found a new vet about an hour away that will s/n a cat for $15 to me that is just AMAZING! since I was paying $30 for a nueter and $50 for a spay. Well over the winter I really did not have any extra funds and I had just discovered this vet after talking with a rescue group that is forming in my area. So anyways I ended up with several females that were close to having babies.

Anyways I said all that b/c a coupleof the kittens born were calicos. and I was wondering if there were names for certain patterns. They are just so unique

Also one of my neighbors called me a bout a litter they discovered and want to me to take momma and kittens. (mom is tamish babies are not) anyways is this wee one considered calico?

OMG is she cute!! I think she would be called a tabbico (tabby+calico), or at least that's how I've seen it here.

I moved this to Fur Pics for you.

The "M" on the forehead usually screams tabby to me but I see some Calico coloration on her side so perhaps she may be a cross of the two. She looks to be mainly Tabby though.

She looks like a Torbie to me.. Tortoiseshell - tabby. My Dusty is a Torbie.

I don't know anything about the different patterns and what they are called. She is a cutie though and I think she will grow up to be a beautiful cat.

I've heard cats like yours called calico tabbies and patch tabbies. We've had 2, where they have the tabby stripes/spots over a 3 color coat, usually black-gray/orange-brown/white-cream.

There must be more variations on multicolored cats than we can name though...

True calicoes like my Aya are also known as mi-ke in Japan. Then you have torties and dilute (washed out gray and orange) calicoes and torties.

Just in case you weren't confused enough!

No clue. However, what I do know is that she is ridiculously cute.

She looks like a torbie to me, I have a rescue right now that is a torbie and white! she too has the same bulls eye pattern and w/ some orange mixed in w/ white chest, paws and belly.

I need to see more of her to tell. From her symmetrical coloring, she looks more like a brown tabby to me. Does she have blotches of orange that are irregular?

I know I havent seen anything like her b4! It is a her! I got to hold her today!




I also caught her sister!



She has two other siblings that are very crafty



I will post pics of the other calicos as well.

She still looks like a brown tabby.

Her sister looks like a dilute tortie with the splotches of orange on her forehead.

These are the other calico kittens I have. These two are sisters. my younger sisters named them Cali and Angel



These are the other three they are barely a week old and I can only pray they are the last for the whole year.

Originally Posted by katachtig

She still looks like a brown tabby.

Her sister looks like a dilute tortie with the splotches of orange on her forehead.

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I googled brown tabbies and I cant find anything as exquisite as this lil one, she reminds me of patch work

I call that first one a chocolate tabby, but that is just me.

and those muted calicos are AMAZINGLY beautiful.

I'm in love with the dilute torties. I adore that coloring!! And those kittens are fully a-dor-a-ble!!!

Then you can add my two calicos to the mix of confusion. Ginger is in between a normal and dilute calico. She's not the full washed out grey and tan of your dilutes, she's more of a dark grey and apricot but definitely not the black and orange. Annie has more vibrant colors, but still in the grey tabby kind of coloring. But her fur is ticked, too (even the white!), so she's more of a ticked calico-tabby (more calico than tabby, but she has the stripes too).

Gotta love the XX chromasomes that determine the coloring of these gorgeous girls!

the XX chromasomes just to think somehting so small can make something so vibrant! If I didnt have my sassy I would end up keeping one of these dolls.

Hey the lil one is kinda like a "silver torbie"

of all the new things to learn.

And all these sweet girls and their siblings are all up for adoption.

Originally Posted by valanhb

Gotta love the XX chromasomes that determine the coloring of these gorgeous girls!

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A little OT but I believe my biology professor said a male calico is possible IF the right genes cross over in the chromosomes during meiosis 1. They are usually sterile though. I have been patiently waiting to find a male calico or tortie among the rescues.

I also have a dilute tortie! Mostly blue/grey with small slivers of orange thrown in, so beautiful. She's medium hair too! I'll have to get her to sit still long enough for a photo though, she's very active. They have a lot of personality.

Originally Posted by Breellablue

A little OT but I believe my biology professor said a male calico is possible IF the right genes cross over in the chromosomes during meiosis 1. They are usually sterile though. I have been patiently waiting to find a male calico or tortie among the rescues.

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Yup, they are out there but are very rare. They have to have XXY chromosomes, because the black and orange (or grey and tan) are held on separate X chromosomes, and obviously to be a boy they need the Y. That's also why they are almost always sterile.

yeah I have been reading up on this it is very interesting.

Breellablue I would love a picture!