Why are adult calico cats always female?

Question

Male calico kittens are worth a lot of money because they are so rare and they do not live to be adults. What causes them to die early?

Answer 1

The colors Black and orange  are genetically linked to the X chromosome.   The color white is located on a gene.  Since black and orange are X related they can display black and orange with white.

I'm not sure why you think calico males die early.  They are rare but do happen.  But are sterile.

Answer 2

So big O-O

Calico and Tortoiseshell cats are generally always female. Why? It actually isn't so much an issue of genes as much as development. Cats, just like humans get one set of chromosomes from their mother and one set from their father. Of the chromosomes that determine s*x, females have two X chromosomes, one from each parent, and males have one X (from mom) and one Y (from dad) chromosome. In females, only one of the X chromosomes is actually used, and the other is deactivated at some early stage of development. However, some cell division had already occurred when this deactivation happens, which X chromosome will be deactivated random. Some cells may shut off one X and other cells, may shut off the other and any cells that are descended from those cells would share the same active X. Coat color is linked to the s*x chromosome, and so if each X has a different color gene on it, the result is patches of different colors.

Since males have only one X chromosome, there is no deactivation, and no calico or tortoiseshell patterns develop. Now there is always an exception, right? A genetic abnormality in males can result in a calico pattern. If a male were born with an extra X chromosome, so instead of having only an X and Y, they have XXY, there is the potential for the same coat patterning to occur. An extra chromosome can result in other problems, however, and these rare cats are usually sterile as well. A similar condition occurs in humans, sometimes referred to as Klinefelter syndrome.

Apparently the presence of the 'white' coat gene increases the chance of larger patches of color, explaining why calicos (with white) tend to have large patches, and tortoiseshell's (no white) tend to have small patches. However, how this occurs is not well understood at this time.

The exact timing of when the extra X chromosome is deactivated varies somewhat, and since which X gets deactivated is random, trying to breed specifically for a calico is difficult. Breeding an orange cat to a black one can increase the odds, but there are still many uncontrollable variables that come into play.

The very first cat to be successfully cloned was a calico cat, named Rainbow. A surrogate cat, a tabby, carried the cloned kitten. The cloning actually provides a great example. The kitten, named CC for 'carbon copy' does not share her mother's coat patterns. She does have all the same colors, but his patterning is very different. This makes sense because we know that the patterning is developmental, not just genetic. As a side note, the later reports I found about CC as she became an adult say that her personality and behavior is also different than Rainbow's. Behavior is also strongly influenced by environment and development. So if you fantasize about cloning a beloved pet when they pass, you'd still end up with a different animal.

Answer 3

"A little calico kitten is just about as cute as a baby animal can be. However, a calico cat is not actually a breed but rather a very specific color characteristic. A "true" calico is a tri-color cat, with its colors in distinct patches, not mixed as in a tortoiseshell cat. However, there is more to a calico cat than just a mix of colors.

For instance, have you ever seen a male calico cat? Few have, as a matter of fact, word has it that all calico cats are female. To better understand this mystery, lets have a brief, very basic, review of genetics.

a calico kitten cat picture at allposters.com

Each mother cat's offspring will carry a pair of s*x chromosomes, XX or XY, the result of which will make the kitten either a girl or a boy. The mother passes an X chromosome down to it's creation and the father passes either an X or a Y. If the offspring receives the Y, it's genetic composition will be XY and it will be a male.

However, color and other physical calico kitten characteristics are tied specifically to the X or Y gene depending on the specific circumstance. For a kitten to be born a calico it takes two X genes, one carrying an orange characteristic and one carrying the non-orange characteristic (usually black). And, if a cat has the XX combination of genes it needs to be calico, then it would be a female, hence, why there is the perception that a calico cat has to be a female.

However, as life would have it, you will, on very rare occasion, run into a male calico cat. "But, how can this be?", you ask. Well actually, it is possible, rare, but possible just the same, that a genetic anomaly can occur where an offspring ends up with an extra s*x chromosome producing the combination XXY. The XX of the XXY meets the requirement of the two X chromosomes needed to produce the calico cat characteristic's color and the Y of the XXY produces the male s*x. However, male calico cats are usually sterile and do not reproduce.

So next time you see that cute little calico kitten, remember there's more to that girl than "meet's the eye""

Answer 4

my mom, dad, and i were talking about this the other night...just randomly lol

and i dont know, its quite strange.  its like, male calicos are retarded, seriously, and cant live

but im sure theres a scientific reason behind it.

now i want to really figure it out.  

you deserve this *star*

Answer 5

Calico Is Not A Breed A calico cat, my feline friends, is a color pattern found on numerous breeds of cats; it is not a breed by itself.

Basically, a calico cat is a tri-colored cat of black, red(orange), and white. It can also be of a diluted version in blue (gray), cream, and white. Cats with these same colors, but without the white spotting gene, are called tortoiseshells, or torties, and blue-creams, respectively. The white can be in varying degrees. Cats with mostly color, and low amounts of white are sometimes referred to as "tortie and white" instead of calico. Calico cats with mostly a white background and patches of red and black are called "high white" calico cats. If the cat is all white, with only color patches on the head and tail, and no more than one patch on the body, it is a "van" calico cat.

According to the world's largest cat registry, The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA), there are actually 16 breeds that come in calico patterns. Amongst these breeds, you can have a large Maine Coon calico, or a Persian with its long flowing coat in calico cat colors, or a Scottish Fold, with it's turned down ears, can be a calico or tortie or blue-cream, in either long or short coats.

And are all calico cats females? Well, the majority of them are. For very complicated genetic reasons, it takes two X chromosomes for a cat to be a tortoiseshell or calico cat. A male would have to possess two X and one Y chromosomes to be a calico cat. This can happen, but very rarely. According to a study at the College of Veterinary Medicine in Missouri, one out of 3,000 calico colored cats is male. This oddity occurs in humans, too. The males, in both cases, are usually sterile.

Answer 6

Male calico or tortoiseshell cats are not as rare as people think, nor are they always sterile or known to have shorter than usual lifespans.  It's also a myth that they are worth a lot of money - their value is more scientific.

http://www.messybeast.com/quickfacts.htm...

http://www.messybeast.com/mosaicism.htm

Answer 7

Because to be calico, cats have to have an extra X gene... I forget why the males die young, though.