"Unicorn" a male calico

[doomsdave]

I ran across this in the news and it appears that a male calico kitten was born at a rescue in AZ. He also has a couple of calico sisters.

Generally, calico is a sex-linked trait, i.e., only females, but, apparently it's not quite that simple.

Hope he gets someone who'll wuv' him! (I would! Wouldn't you, too? "Pry him out of my cold, dead fingers . . . . ")

Meet Unicorn, the rare male calico kitten who landed at a Colorado rescue (msn.com)

 

[Antonio65]

I had personally met a male calico at a person's house 20 years ago.
Male calico cats are extremely rare, and they are sterile... Or at least they should be... Not the one I met, he was father to a few kittens.

 

[doomsdave]

Hmm. Sounds a bit like the haemophilia gene in people, which is also sex linked. Since it's in the X chromosome, the trait manifests almost exclusively in males, but has occurred in females.

Apparently kitty colors are in the X chromosomes, and since males only have one, they only get one color, unless they're "XXY" (which males in humans can be too).

On the other hand, haemophilia is also sex-linked recessive, which is why girls usually don't get it.

 

[Antonio65]

On the other hand, haemophilia is also sex-linked recessive, which is why girls usually don't get it.

My cat Giada, female, has been diagnosed with hemophilia. A few specific tests have been run and they all show this.

 

[Dlinthe]

I hope they check to make sure he doesn't also need spayed. I lived with a female calico who had been spayed. She acted like an unneutered male, aggressive and violent and highly territorial. Turns out, she was intersex and the free/low cost clinic missed it and we were, for all intents and purposes, living with an unneutered male cat. We didn't find out until the end of her life, sadly.

But I hope they check, since it's highly likely he's an XXY and could, potentially, have both sets of hormone-producing organs. A cat in heat that isn't going to get pregnant is a pretty sad thing to see, and they are so miserable.

 

[Amethyst Creighton]

I ran across this in the news and it appears that a male calico kitten was born at a rescue in AZ. He also has a couple of calico sisters.

Generally, calico is a sex-linked trait, i.e., only females, but, apparently it's not quite that simple.

Hope he gets someone who'll wuv' him! (I would! Wouldn't you, too? "Pry him out of my cold, dead fingers . . . . ")

Meet Unicorn, the rare male calico kitten who landed at a Colorado rescue (msn.com)

View attachment 448445

He’s adorable, cute as a button! I’d love to have him, too…not sure how my female tortie + white would feel, though

 

[IndyJones]

This is Bond, he is a male calico. I just got him two weeks ago.

He does have little creamy orange patches on his legs and face that are hard to photograph.

 

[Alldara]

I hope they check to make sure he doesn't also need spayed. I lived with a female calico who had been spayed. She acted like an unneutered male, aggressive and violent and highly territorial. Turns out, she was intersex and the free/low cost clinic missed it and we were, for all intents and purposes, living with an unneutered male cat. We didn't find out until the end of her life, sadly.

But I hope they check, since it's highly likely he's an XXY and could, potentially, have both sets of hormone-producing organs. A cat in heat that isn't going to get pregnant is a pretty sad thing to see, and they are so miserable.

That reminds me of the cat in thr US who they thought was a sterile male calico and then he knocked up their breeding females. There were some news articles about the family trying to show him...who turned out he is also intersexed