Cat Breeds And Types Of Cats

Overview

Calico Cats generally refers to cats that come with a particular combination of colors, which are basically black, orange and white. Most people tend to make assumptions about the Calico being a breed, but that is not really the case. The term calico only refers to the tri-color coats. Apart from the aforementioned range of colors for this type of cats, there are others that may manifest themselves in different shades of beige, gray and white instead. These are still calico nonetheless. Herein, we shall delve deeper to get to understand different things about the Calico Cat Breed.

Origins and History of the Calico Cat

The Calico Cat is a mutation of genetics that has been traced back to Egypt. This particular mutation was found in some port cities along some parts of the Mediterranean Sea, in the cities of Spain, France and Italy. There are trade routes in Europe and Northern Africa then helped in the spreading of the goods that were getting transported. This way, the calico was spread out to other new places, including the US. The discovery and study of the calico cats however started way back in the year 1948.

Types of Breeds

The coat color that comes from calico cats is often a combination of two chromosomes of X. The fur that has three colors therefore needs to have a pair of X chromosomes in order for them to appear. Since the female cats are the ones that bear these X chromosomes, most of the calicos often end up being female, for this reason. On the other hand, the ones that get to have chromosomes that are X-XXY often end up being male. The male calico cats are however often male, and therefore end up not being able to produce any offspring.

Physical Appearance of Calico Cat Breed

The calico cats have coats that have a range of three or more colors, with the main ones typically being white, black, and orange. There may however be different shades of the aforementioned colors. The majority of the body is covered in white, with the other two colors of their shades, being found in some patches in different parts of the body. Because of the fact that they belong to different varying breeds, the other physical characteristics such as the shape of the nose and face, may vary from one cat to the other.

Personality and Major Habits

Bearing in mind that the term Calico refers mostly to the coloration of these cats and not the color exactly, the personality of these cats are mostly influenced by their breed and other factors. For example, the environment and experience that a particular Calico Cat Breed encounters will go a long way in playing a major role in the personality it ends up acquiring.
However, there are quite a number of studies and proves that have worked to show that these cats are very warm-hearted, loyal and sweet as well. On the flip side also, they can get to be very spunky, notorious at times, depending, and also quite smart.

Calico Cats’ Longevity of Lifespan

It should be noted that being calico does not exactly work to prolong the lifespan of the Calico Cats. Because of this, they tend to live to the general span of most cats, that is about 15 years or slightly more. However, this is different, based on each and every individual cat.

Interesting Facts

In Japan, Calico Cats are believed to bring good luck with them. In the years gone by, there are quite a number of Japanese sailors who would travel with calicos in their ships for what they believed was protection measures. Also in the U.K and U.S, they are thought to carry good luck, mostly because they are quite rare to come across.