Contrary to what immediately comes to mind, the calico cat is not a breed of cat. Rather, it is about the appearance of the dress, a rather rare aspect. More simply, the calico is represented by the tricolor dress: brown, white, orange. The three shades are very distinct and the whole is unique. That is, no two calico cats are alike.
His origins
The calico’s coat is as rare as it is beautiful. And yet, it results from an anomaly, a genetic mutation that occurs in the DNA of the feline. But then, why not crossings? Breeders have already tried to reproduce the phenomenon but in vain. Indeed, it happens with the greatest of luck.
This is also the case for the tortoiseshell dress. The mutation does not meet any geographic criteria. And all races can be affected. Ah yes! Even an alley cat can give birth to a calico. Scientists have only noticed that this gift of nature is most often given to short and medium-haired cats.
But if you haven’t heard of the calico cat yet, maybe you have already read articles about Isabelle cat. This is another name for the tricolor cat. The name was given to them as a reminder to Queen Isabella of Spain. A little anecdote: they had worn their royal attire throughout the war to besiege the city of Granada. The dress, initially in an “off-white” color, took on brown, black and white tones.
Is it true that calico cats are all females?
Some will tell you yes. But that’s only 99.9% true. The remaining 0.1% represents on average 1 calico male in 3,000 tricolor cats. But these are in most cases sterile animals due to a double genetic mutation. This then partly explains the large proportion of female calico cats compared to males.
But that’s not all. Only females wear the Isabelle dress thanks to the X chromosome. A little feline biology to understand all this: the mother can transmit the two colors orange and black to her baby thanks to the two X chromosomes. Whereas the father, with only one X chromosome, can only transmit one of the colors. To explain more simply, the presence of two colors on a cat is only possible if it has two X chromosomes.
And the Y chromosome in all of this? Well, it has no effect on the color of the coat. It only determines the sex of the newborn.
Legends
It is no wonder that calico cats fill a good number of pages on ancient legends. They already existed in ancient Egypt where people already believed in their magical powers.
Sailors also believed in their protective powers against storms and evil spirits.
In a Tibetan monastery, they were considered divine animals because of the white and black colors which would represent yin and yang. While the orange color would remind the earth.
Even today, they’re considered lucky cats. In Japan, they are called “tobi mi-ke”, which means “triple fur”. You may recognize the Maneki-Neko figurine, the one you see in restaurants as an invitation. Some of them represent the calico cat.
If you have a calico cat, you now know that you are lucky because they are very special felines that no maneuver, operation, care, or diet of any kind can influence the advent of this incredible mutation.
Interested in other cats? Adopt a Maine Coon cat!
