How rare is Torbie coloring in a cat?

Question

I just got a kitten who has Torbie coloring. I have been around cats and kitten my entire life and have never seen a cat with such unique coloring. I was just wondering how rare it is and if it is worth to possibly look into showing her.

Answer 1

The gene that decides whether a cat's coat is black or orange resides on the X chromosome. The coloring of a torbie (or tortie) comes from its having one 'black' gene and one 'orange' gene (this means the cat has 2 X chromosomes and is a female). One of the X chromosomes is inactivated in a region, which creates the orange and black patches.

Since torbies can only be female, they're less common than other types of coats, but they won't be too rare. For instance, some offspring of an orange cat and black cat could be torbies.

Answer 2

   Sounds  like you have what they call a tortishell color  i dont think they are really  rare at all..i have seen many of cats that has that  coloring.

Answer 3

It is more unusual than a true calico. Like with calicos, this coloration is s*x-linked. These cats are almost always female.

Answer 4

Not very rare, but it is very beautiful.  For anyone that doesn't know, Torbie is the color pattern when the cat has both Tabby markings and Calico or Tortoiseshell in its coat.  This site has some pics - http://www.seregiontica.org/Colors/torti...

You can show your cat as a "Household Pet" at TICA shows.  The CFA has an HHP class but it's a waste of time and money.  You're just given rosettes - there's no earning of titles or tracking of points at CFA shows.  My profile has some info about showing HHP's in TICA.

Note that it takes more than just a good looking cat to do well at shows.  The cat has to tolerate being handled by 12 different judges during a two day show.  The cat should also be responsive and playful.  Your cat won't do well if it looks good but isn't friendly/doesn't like to be handled just as it won't do well if it's friendly and playful but has dirty ears and it's not well groomed.