Tortoiseshell cat personality – Tortitude You may well find a calico and a tortoiseshell in the same litter. Calico, like tortoiseshell, is the name of a coat pattern rather than breed. While the genetics that make the tortoiseshell pattern are much like the ones to make the calico pattern, the calico carries the white spotting allele.Ī tortie will have little to no white in her fur pattern. While all tortoiseshell cats are calico, not all calicos are tortoiseshells. A tortie with lighter, almost pastel colors like cream, lilac or cinnamon is known as a dilute tortoiseshell. Cats with that last coloring in them are known as torbies.
The darker parts can be black, chocolate brown, grey blue or even a tabby pattern. The red patches can also be cream, orange or yellow. Because this is carried on the X chromosome, chances are very good your tortie is a girl. The gene for dark colors (brown, black, cinnamon, etc.) can often be masked by the co-dominant gene that makes the orange color. Just as genetics will determine whether you have a short haired or long haired cat, genetics determine the color pattern of the fur as well.
It is a unique genetic structure that makes a tortie a tortie. This pattern is simply called calico in the United States and Canada. In the UK they are known as tortoiseshell-and-white. The ones that are mostly white and have tortoiseshell patches are known as tricolor. “Tortoiseshell” is usually reserved for multicolored cats that have rather small or no white markings.
Even the paw pads might have some spotting. If you still want something beautiful, mottled and warm, why not get a tortoiseshell cat? What is a tortoiseshell cat?Ī tortoiseshell cat, also known as a tortie, is a cat born with a fur pattern resembling the mottled red and black tortoiseshell material. Let's keep the shell on the tortoise (turtle, whatever) where it belongs. Today, it is illegal to import or export tortoiseshell products or harm a hawksbill sea turtle in any way. This came as great relief to the still critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle, where this material was coming from. Then, environmentalism became a thing and it was no longer in vogue to kill animals for decorations. The mottled black and dark reds were beautiful and it had an oddly warm texture. Prior to the 1970's, tortoiseshell was a popular material for eyeglasses, jewelry, combs and furniture inlays.
