Calico cat

Calico cat is an American name for cats with three colors. Outside of North America they are usually called tortoiseshell cats or 'tortie-and-white'.^[1] A calico cat has a coat of orange or brown and black spots on a white background.^[2] It is not a breed of cat.^[3]

Nearly all calico cats are female.^[4] There are male calico cats, but they are very rare. Only one of every 3000 calico cats are male.^[5]

1. ↑ Sayer, Angela 1996. Encyclopedia of the Cat. London: Chancellor Press, p219. ISBN 1-85152-923-3
2. ↑ Furstinger, Nancy. (2005). Calico Cats, p. 6.
3. ↑ Furstinger, p. 7.
4. ↑ Rice, Dan. (1997). Complete book of cat breeding, p. 17.
5. ↑ Elfalan, Kierra (15 March 2019). "Verify: Are calico cats always female? Are orange cats always male?". KREM. Retrieved 25 April 2020.