Calico cat vs. tortoiseshell cat?
These are not cat breeds. They are colors. Many breeds contain cats of both color patterns. A calico-colored cat is a white-based cat that has large splotches of black and large splotches of orange that don't intermingle. Black, orange, and white are all (for the most part) separate. A tortoiseshell-colored cat has black and orange mixed in together, in a brindle-type pattern. The majority have a 'split' nose....black on one side and orange on the other. They can also have white on them....but that makes them torti and white, not calico. Some cats couldn't 'decide' which they wanted to be, lol....and end up with some calico-colored body parts, and some torti-colored body parts.The situation is further complicated when you have torti and tabby markings (stripes) at the same time. We call that a 'torbi.' A calico cat with the 'dilution' gene comes out gray and pale orange on a white base, and is called a dilute calico. A torti with the dilution gene comes out as a lightened version with the same markings also, and is called a dilute torti. (Imagine either coloration being 'bleached' out to a paler version.) In order to have both black and orange (true orange, not ruddy brown) in the same cat, it must have 2 X-chromosomes. That's why calico, torti, and torbi cats are almost always female (XX) rather than male (XY). In order for a male cat to have that coloration, he has to have an extra X-chromosome, and thus be XXY. Such male cats are almost always sterile, and not worth any more money than any other regular cat....they are just a genetic anomaly, not a rare 'breed.'
Source(s):
I'm a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.
>>>>thanks Dr. Lady, I still have no idea what my kitty is, but she sure is pretty :)