Interesting info about cat coats

I get asked about this a lot at the shelter where I work, so I though I would also post it here for anybody that may be interested or curious.  

Cat coat colors and patterns are not necessarily indicators of breed and can be found in a wide range of both pure breed and mixed breed cats.  Some coat patterns are genetically linked to sex genes so certain patterns are exclusively or predominantly females while others are predominately males.

The tortoiseshell (tortie for short) is almost always female.  Torties may be of different colors, the most common being black with red. Blue (grey) with tan or cream are known as dilute torties.  Their markings are predominantly brindled/speckled throughout their coats, with the primary color being the more dark neutral shade (black, chocolate, blue) and the secondary color being red, orange, tan, or cream).  Where they primary and secondary colors are reversed, they are called reverse torties but these are pretty rare.

The torbie and calico are subvarieties of the tortie.  A torbie is a tortie with tabby patterns in addition to brindled.  They can be stripped or swirled  markings.  A calico is a tortie with the addition of a third color which is always white and the pattern tends to be more patchy than either brindled or tabby.  Torbies and calicos are also almost always females.

The orange tabby is predominantly male (about 80%).  They differ from torties in that they always have a tabby pattern and are always bi-colored orange and white.  The orange may vary from a darker rust color to a light peachy/apricot color and is the predominant color with some white within the tabby pattern and may also have some white patches on the chin, chest, and feet.

[margypops]

That is so interesting thank you, I have a calico I had never seen one before , they seem to be here in the US as I didn't see one in the UK when I lived there, ever , that"s not to say they don't have them, her colorings are so pretty,. Would you say some are more intelligent aswell, I should say smarter, this one is amazingly smart I swear she understands me .

[rambo84]

i took my cat to vet recently they said she was toitiseshell,, but after reading here im unsure now. what type she is .. she has the markings of a tabby half of her is white and the top half is orange, black and grey her son is  tabby male (she has been spayed now)  just wondering what type she is

[nancyjac]

I looked at your photos.  Are you referring to Pebbles?  She is a calico which is a subvariety of tortoiseshell.

[nancyjac]

Yes I would say some are more intelligent than others, but that has nothing to do with their coat color or pattern.

[rambo84]

thank you very much,,

[margypops]

Yes, sorry, thank you very much