Cat- Would you call this a Calico?

So, I've been fostering bottle baby kittens for a while now and have had all sorts of odd breeds and colors in and out of the home. However, this feisty feline takes the cake!

[image: i.imgur.com][image: i.imgur.com]


Would you consider this pattern of black splotches on legs, rump, and paws alongside the tabby orange and white as a calico coat?
What I have read so far, it can be considered a calico.
May need a vet to confirm. However, this baby is male. No doubt about it. Sister has the same markings, minus black.

Mama is a stray. I know not to mess with wild babies. Scent can make the mama reject them early.
They were growing increasingly more agitated as the days went on until they stood at my door screaming. I can only assume she was unable to feed for as long as she wanted, and with the changing of the seasons it made it even harder for survival. Because of the other strays, it was not safe to leave pate down, and they weren't taking to the dry food overly well.

Both are a little under weight, but teeth are starting to break through. Still some minor bottle feeding and weaning. Mama is doing just fine, but still has no interest. Guess I became the mama moo again. XD

nah that's an orange tabby looks nothing like a calico

Yeah, see that's why I'm not sure. Kittens will gain their adult colors after the age of 12 weeks then the baby down fluff finishes falling out. The little guy has gained black on his tail, sides, and starting on his forehead.

I mean, it can fit the definition, but I agree, still unsure. I think a vet will have to be the one to make a call on this one. Thanks for speaking up. This is a tough one to even decide.

I mean I had a calico cat from kitten to 20 years before death and she did not change that dramatically from kitten even to geriatric age in addition all of her siblings were females. It is extremely rare for a male cat to be a calico as calicos are technically chimeras based on their phenotype expression of the X genes. Either way, it's a cute cat, and thank you for taking it in.

Agreed. Thus the skepticism. Been a foster for many years at this point.
It is super rare, one out of ever 3000 will be born male, and even then, they don't often make it past the first week or two due to genetic problems, as you state with the phenotype.
The coat changes that I reference doesn't dramatically change the animal's coat, no. It's just the loss of the baby fluff and acquiring of normal adult markings. I don't think it would have much of a difference for a true calico.

The property that the kittens come from have some odd combos. We have had a vet confirmed male calico before and a female orange (pure orange). So it is known to be a possibility in the area.
However, it's always so hard, even for some vets to tell gender at such a young age. I've been wrong before. Most likely wrong and it's a hidden female. Lol!

Of course! I absolutely love babies. <3 KittenLady was a very nice inspiration to be a foster for the youngest in need.
Thanks for chatting with me about this! Happy to have another with some extra insight and an opinion.

This is fascinating! I voted for YES, because although the overall loook isn't calico, I feel the cat meets the criteria. And those are elastic. I had a ginger boy years ago, who looked like a standard ginger with white paws, but if you looked very closely at his fur there were single black hairs spaced about a centimetre apart. I was tempted to register him as a calico TBH but in the end I decided it would be too weird, as you only saw them by looking very very closely. But he did have black hairs, and he was a male, so it's not unknown.

Oyen.. definitely Oyen

Oooooh! A ginger with that chocolate in the fur. Sounds like a very pretty boy! I can understand why you didn't paper him. It's confusing on the degree of markings needed to be defined as a calico.

With Waddles (yeah, that's what we named him) he has the one black spot that is apparent. The other spots that could have been black were deactivated for the color pigment and were turned to white spots on his stomach.
The only abnormalities on the skin for color is the one spot and some on his paw pads.
According to most sources, the cat requires at least one spot on the body and one spot on the head to be considered calico. Although some debate is in the air as to if the black fur tips (tail, ears, nose, paws) could be considered a trait to tell a dilute calico from a true, full calico.

You speak of the little chocolate, black hairs that are in the fur. Legit understand that there! Waddles is starting to show on his tail and ear tips. Overall turning more of a chocolate orange as he gains his adult fur. Alongside very pretty hazel eyes.

Just a little update photo of Waddles as his adult coat starts to settle into place. All that baby fluff is gone now. He has the biggest appetite I have ever seen in a cat. If it's food, he has to have it meow. Heh.


[image: i.imgur.com]