Are calico cats less friendly & more skittish? Why?

Question

I have 2 cats that are siblings and one is a female calico. She is not friendly at all and she is very nervous. (She will be loving to me when and if she feels like it.) Her brother is absolutely friendly and affectionate. My friend tells me that calico cats are almost always like that and male calicos are very rare. Is this all true and does anyone know why? (The cats are 2 years old.)

Answer 1

Calico's are just like any other color cat, sweet and sour lol, my calico can be lovely, but if she doesn't want attention then meow at you to leave her alone, it just like the stereotype on all black cats, let me tell you I have a black cat cross my path every day, multiple times a day, my  luck is still the same.

Colors have nothing to do with their personality's or their traits.

Answer 2

my Lizzie is considered a calico pattern, she is blue (gray) cream and white (but cream almost looks pink on the gray), she is the MOST lovable little kitten ever...

Answer 3

I think calico is what we call tortoiseshell in the UK? mix of different patch of colour, or brindled? Boys this colour as other people have said are very very rare indeed. I used to work with someone who had a tortie boy, and when she took him to the vet to be snipped, he was the first tortie boy the vet had ever seen. It was funny cos she just handed him over in the cat basket and went to work, and a coupla hours later the vet phoned and said 'This cat's a female, do you still want her done?' And my colleague was surprised but she said 'yep,' then when she went to pick the cat up the vet apologised: he'd looked at the colour of the cat and assumed it was a lady cat and then when he got down to business he discovered it was a boy! Ginger cats by the same token are nearly always boys.

Re your query about friendliness, I got boys because I have been told by several people that they are more affectionate. It's down to personality of course but females of any species have to protect their young so there's a theory that this is why they are less affectionate towards humans. So maybe that's why tortie/calicos have the reputation of being less friendly?

Answer 4

I've never heard of any personality trait linked to calicos.  Calico is just a coat pattern, and the only other distinctive feature is that calicos are almost always female.  

It's probably just her unique personality, or maybe a result of some trauma she experienced that her brother didn't.

Answer 5

That's not true.  Calico is simply a colour pattern and can be found on several breeds of cats as well of cats of no particular breed.  It doesn't have ANY bearing on personality.

Yes, most calico cats are female and if your male cat is indeed calico it's likely he's sterile.  Can you post a pic of your cats?

Answer 6

My calico is quite sassy while my tabby male is all purrs. I have found from working at a vets this seems to be the case, but who knows.

Answer 7

I don't think it's related to colour.. female cats are generally less affectionate than males who tend to be "sucky babies". I have right now 2 tri-colour kittens that I am fostering, before that I had 3 tortoiseshell kittens I fostered. All were nice cats, but I do notice that females tend to be more independent and just different than males.

Male tri-colour cats are rare because the orange gene(for calico) is carried on the X chromosome. Females have two XX males have one XY it takes 2 X chromosomes with the orange gene for a cat to express as tri-colour(calico, tortoiseshell) very rarely a male cat will have a genetic defect that causes him to have an extra chromosome XXY in that case they can be tri-colour, but they will most likely be sterile. Check out this cat colour faq it's neat and covers all you need to know about Torties, Calicos and Tricolour cats. http://www.fanciers.com/cat-faqs/tricolo...

Answer 8

Male calicos are rare. And from my experience, many female cats seem more shy than males. So maybe it's just her personality.

You could try buying a product called Feliway. It is a spray that has synthetic feline pheramones that helps calm your skittish kitties.

Answer 9

Calico is just a color.  My mom and stepdad were recently adopted by a calico kitten who is very playful and affectionate.

Personality varies from cat to cat, even, I guess, within the same litter.

Answer 10

Mine has always been a fraidy-cat.  Her litter mate, a black-and-white, started out skittish but got incredibly affectionate later.  The calico is now finally starting to come out but is still more skittish than the other cats.

My vet's tech said calicos are more independent than most cats.  I don't know if it's really true, but possibly the genetic requirements for the coat color coincide with personality traits?

Answer 11

I have had a lot of cats in my life and i have come to the conclusions that male cats are friendlier. Has for calico cats they don't have attitude really it could be that she just gets jealous of the male. And it is true male calicos are rare  

Answer 12

Calicos often have "attitude", but really are sweet cats.

Here's an article you might find interesting:

http://www.absolutelycats.com/22Calico.h...

Good Luck!

Answer 13

nope. What you are saying is one cat has one personality and the other cat has another type of personality. Respect em for what they are and they will return the favor to you. <:-)

Answer 14

I can not say why, but in my own personal experience at work and with family who has had calicos - they have tended to be on the "feisty" side.  That is my nice way of saying OUCH...   lol.   I am sure they are not all like that but the majority I have come across have definitely been a bit touchy.    And yes, I have only ever seen a female.