About Calico Kittens & Cats
The main characteristic of such cats is their colorful coat. The result of this is due to their genetic pool and the combination of their parents. The genetic aspect is a predominant aspect when it comes to determine what the main characteristics of the breed are.
Many people do not consider this a breed of cat, they only mention this as a distinctive feature as regards hair color. The truth is that there are many different variations that can make your cat look like this.
Let’s take a look at the genetic cat aspect first, in the case of calicos, the father and the mother should posses some unique chromosome structure to make the cat have that patch like colored coat.
It is quite complex to determine how a cat gets his coat color, however, many researchers have found that by uniting a different genes, each gene has a predominant side, a black one, that will make the coat black predominantly, and the orange, that will make the coat predominantly orange.
To be included in the Calico category a cat must have these two genes at the same time. It is really difficult for Males to have this combination of genes, and this is the reason why most Calico cats are female.
There is another gene, called spotting gene, that will make your cat have white patches. It can go from mostly white to no white at all, depending on the genetic pool provided by the parents. It is considered that the most amount of white will make the color patches more distinguishable.
There are different types of calico cats. Among them you may find the tortoiseshell, the tabby or the combination of both, caliby or torbie. All of them with different color patterns to be described.
Calicos are very prolific cats. The average female may have up to 8 kittens in one litter, and they can have up to 3 litters per year. So, just do the maths and you will realize than having a calico cat means thinking about early spayed or neutered solution.
They are particularly friendly and lovable cats, having a calico is a unique experience in the whole. They are really caring and loyal, they enjoy human company and they can make great pets. On the one hand they are really friendly and they will look for you all day long, they can follow you everywhere. On the other hand, they can be rather jealous if you do not pay enough attention to them. If there are other pets in the house, this may be a problem.
