Searching for the lost toy

[u/Green____cat]

[u/Material-Scale4575]

"She" is holding her buddy. Tricolor=female

[u/UnGatito → u/Material-Scale4575]

Not always though, there are make tricolor cats, just not as many.

[u/ThePocketPanda13 → u/UnGatito]

Yes, but theyre even more rare than an orange female. Around %20-25 of orange cats are female, while %0.03 tricolored cats are male.

The reason for this is because, to simplify it a whole lot because genetics is complicated, the orange gene is essentially a recessive gene for females but not for males.

Tricolors are more complicated, so without getting into the "why" im just going to leave it at the conclusion that the tricolor pattern requires 2 X chromosomes. In order to have a male tricolor he would have to have XXY chromosomes, a genetic defect. Not to worry though, besides being slightly more prone to certain diseases and being sterile this genetic defect has almost no impact on your cats health

[u/UnGatito → u/ThePocketPanda13]

I had one, and yes they are rare as heck I know. Don't know about sterile though as the vet took care of that before it could be an issue. He lived for 22 years.

[u/ThePocketPanda13 → u/UnGatito]

I mean the sterility doesn't really matter because you should still neuter them for health purposes, its just an interesting fact

[u/UnGatito → u/ThePocketPanda13]

Btw, just read a little and it seems they aren't always sterile nly most of the time.

[u/TraditionalSky9233 → u/UnGatito]

1 in 3000 calicos are male. Of those calico males, 1 in 10000 is fertile. So the odds of a calico male being fertile are even lower.

[u/slaphappyflabby → u/TraditionalSky9233]

I have nothing to add other than my calico Lucille about to yawn

[u/TraditionalSky9233 → u/slaphappyflabby]

Mine has fallen asleep already!!

[u/slaphappyflabby → u/TraditionalSky9233]

[u/UnGatito → u/TraditionalSky9233]

I agree, it's unlikely but not guaranteed..