Samantha? WellingtonCats? Truly fertile calico?

[merrytreecats]

Originally Posted by Mimosa

That's why normal males can't be calico, whether they have one or two red genes, they are entirely red,

Since the gene for red is found on the X chromosome and a normal male cat has only one X, he cannot have two copies of the red gene. All he needs is one copy and this makes him a red. I breed Persians and my red tabby female when bred to my brown tabby male, produced only tortie or torbie females, and red tabby males. It's interesting how that works.

 

[anne g]

A male cat can very rarely have two X chromosomes. If one is red and one is black, he will be a calico (that is if he also has the gene for white spotting.) With two X chromosomes the male will usually not be fertile.