What is a tortie?

A tortie is a Tortoiseshell cat- it's got a mottled coat that has many colors, usually shades of brown/black/orange. A calico is a type of tortie, if I recall correctly- its colors are a lot patchier, though. I also believe that male torties either don't exist or are extremely rare, just like male calicos.

They're gorgeous cats either way.

Torties are black with patches of orange and buff. Calicos are white with patches of black and orange. Dilute calicos are grey with patches of white and buff. Torties have no white.

Here's my Callie. She's a tortie. Sweetest cat ever!

Torties:

Calicos

Dilute Calico

Tortie= black & red cat,
calico= black, red & white cat,
dilute tortie= blue & cream cat,
dilute calico= blue, cream and white cat.
These all can come with tabby or colorpoint patterns too. (And there are no orange or gray colors in cats!! Sorry, it annoys me a lot when people use those terms..)

No orange? Does that mean Peanut is red?

I never knew that!

Yes. Red and white bicolor if Peanut is the kitty in your signature.

"Dilute red", as far as I understand it.

Dilute red would be cream... Peanut is red

Thanks - I stand corrected

Hey I've been studying colour and genetics with my judges training for a number of years now and I'm still getting my head around it all

I think I need a new username now!

No way. Orange is still a commonly used term for red cats. I think your username is cute!

Well, the "ish" is cute in my opinion. How were you to know?

I think Red is used more in the UK and other countries. Orange is the US version of red.

Tortie is short for tortoiseshell. It refers to the color of the cat - not as a breed of cat.

Torties are black and red (orange) mixed together. Dilute torties are blue (grey) and cream (tan).


Other colors that are similar:

Tortie and White - tortie with white. Some associations will call this a "calico". I usually call calicos those which are mostly white with patches of black and red, but technically they are tortie and whites no matter how much white is on them.

Dilute Tortie & White (or blue-cream & white) - the above but in the dilute version.

Torbie or Patched Tabby - a true Patched tabby is basically a brown, blue or silver tabby (chocolate or lilac in some breeds) with red or cream mixed in. Most all red or cream colors will have tabby markings in a tortie but its only considered a Patched Tabby IF the color is not black.


It bugs me too when people call red tabbies "orange" or blue "grey" - when you are in the cat fancy and showing you LEARN the correct color terms even if most people still call them wrong.

Red is orange color but can range from very dark red to a light orange.
Blue is a grey color - ranges from dark to light shades
Cream is a tannish color - but still looks like the cream in your coffee so I don't see why people use tan as the color description!
Brown tabby - many people call the darkest brown a "black" tabby - no such thing - its brown (from dark black-brown to warm honey-brown).

All l know is Rosie can certainly have "Tortitude" so that's enough to convince me of her colouring

Leiki (in my banner) is a torti point... she definitely had tortitude!

My Maggie is a tortie with a diva tortitude!!!