calico vs. tortie colours

hello

a friend and i were having an argument over calico and tortie. i always thought calico is red, black and white and that tortie is black and red. but she said torties can have some white on them. but then the photos she showed of the difference looked the same to me.

this is a photo of merlin my kitty who i think is a calico, although she has the least amount of white of any calico i've seen. most i've seen are mostly white which is why i like her colouring better cuz there's so much more colour on her. 

so do you agree that torties can have some white on them? and do you think merlin is calico or tortie? 

On a whole, the general thinking is that calicos have patches of colors separated by white and torties have their coloring blended. Both can have white (and they can both be "dilute," meaning that rather than black, orange and white, the coloring is gray (blue,) peach and white.)

I would say Merlin is a tortie and white (actually, perhaps torbie (tabby and tortie) would be more correct, as she has distinct tabby markings.)

Exactly. Calicos have color blocks/areas that are defined in color change, they don't run/mix into each other, where torties are mainly dark, then have smaller blended in colors. Or in dilutes, grey, with pale colors mixed in.

Merlin is one of those who can be called either calico or torbie. 

I thought a Calico had to have at least 50% white with the remaining colour been patches of black and ginger ?

My Tippi is almost half white and half colour but the colour is made up of tabby markings which makes her a Torbie , some of my friends though say she is a Calico cat and not a Torbie and the vet as recorded her as a Tortoiseshell and White on her vet records.

Merlin is a beautiful girl either way

tippi is adorable. yeah torby sounds right for her. otherwise i would've said calico. 

all the disagreement about colours and their names is really just splitting hairs. hahahahaha. cat hairs that is. 

 

Hhhmmmm, a Torbie? Ive seen them described online a well

Sorry, Caliby I meant

So if you are to take a look at genetics and how cat coloring works, you will find that calico, while a type of tortoiseshell, differs in that it has piebalding. This means the colors red and black are overplayed on a non-pigmented, aka white, base. The red and black can be blended, or spotted, but there is always white. Tortoiseshell on the other hand, is completely pigmented; there is no white (also, there can be a large amount of white or a very small amount). So to answer your question in the most scientific way, you are correct in saying the difference between calicos and tortoiseshell is that calicos have white, and your friend is wrong.

catwoman707 said:

Exactly. Calicos have color blocks/areas that are defined in color change, they don't run/mix into each other, where torties are mainly dark, then have smaller blended in colors. Or in dilutes, grey, with pale colors mixed in.

Merlin is one of those who can be called either calico or torbie.

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This is incorrect and genetically impossible.

I have spent so much time trying to figure out the correct English names to these colours, and I have decided that it is probably impossible. To me, it seems that different people use different terminology or use different guidelines.

For example, I call my cat a tortoiseshell and white cat, or calico. From my understanding, those are to different names for the exact same colour, but the first name is more commonly used in English speaking countries outside North America. Thus, both names should be correct. She does, however, also have a tabby pattern, so I suppose it wouldn't be wrong to call her a torbie and white cat either?

There are indeed a lot of ways to describe the same colors.

• Tortoiseshell = Tortie
• Dilute tortoiseshell = Dilute tortie = Blue-cream

• Tortoiseshell and white = Calico = Mi-ke (in Japanese bobtail breed)
• Dilute calico = Blue-cream and white

You can use the word "calico" for any tortoiseshell and white cat, but people are more likely to describe a cat as a "calico" when the cat has more white and/or larger individual patches of red and black. A cat described as "tortoiseshell and white" usually has less white and/or smaller patches of red and black with a more brindled appearance. In the Japanese Bobtail breed there is a special name, "mi-ke," to refer to calicos that are mostly white with discrete patches of red and black.

• Torbie = Tortoiseshell tabby = Tortie tabby = Patched tabby

• Torbie and white = Tortie tabby and white = Patched tabby and white = Patterned calico = Patterned Mi-ke (Japanese bobtail) = Caliby

Torbie is a complex color and it can be described in many ways... I'm personally accustomed to the term "patched tabby," which is used in most CFA breeds that allow this color (CFA allows each breed to use its own color names). TICA uses the term "torbie" for the same color. In registries / countries that use EMS codes for colors, I have seen this color most commonly described as "tortie tabby."

In any case, it is important to distinguish between a tortoiseshell -- which is NOT a tabby and therefore has solid black patches -- versus a torbie / patched tabby, which has brown tabby patches.

The Japanese bobtail mi-ke coloration is written as 三毛. These Kanji are "three" and "hair" or "fur"; so they're referring to the the colors of hair the cat has when they have the calico coloration.

Just thought I'd clarify why the Japanese bobtail breed has a specific color name for the calico coloration.

merlin2000 said:

I thought a Calico had to have at least 50% white with the remaining colour been patches of black and ginger ?

My Tippi is almost half white and half colour but the colour is made up of tabby markings which makes her a Torbie , some of my friends though say she is a Calico cat and not a Torbie and the vet as recorded her as a Tortoiseshell and White on her vet records.

Merlin is a beautiful girl either way

Photo9741.jpg

• merlin2000
• Aug 31, 2014

Photo9952.jpg

• merlin2000
• Aug 31, 2014

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Oh my goodness! I just came across this thread, and I know your post is years old, but your Tippi looks so similar to my Athena!

Fiorelily said:

The Japanese bobtail mi-ke coloration is written as 三毛. These Kanji are "three" and "hair" or "fur"; so they're referring to the the colors of hair the cat has when they have the calico coloration.

Just thought I'd clarify why the Japanese bobtail breed has a specific color name for the calico coloration.

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Very cool! I’ve always wondered about that. Thanks for sharing!

Happy New Year wishes Älva! We had snow for a whole day, so I just had to take her out and photograph her. We stayed outside for a solid five minutes before Älva insisted we go inside again.

Haha, I'm sorry! I posted in the wrong thread, and I still haven't access to edit my own posts, so I can't remove my previous post. Awkward.