Is it true?

[WhyTeDraGon]

Is it true that only female cats can be Tortoise Shell? or is that Tortoiseshell? Anyway, I know there's another phase called Ginger, which ive read that males carry the majority of the time..but it also says the female must carry the gene as well.
It gets complicated after that...

So I thought id ask everyone's advice

What do you think? Any explainations to this? What about the Calico gene? Ive also read about this in hamsters.

Here's a good article about it for anyone that cares to simplify it http://www.messybeast.com/tricolours.htm

 

[GQ.]

Crystal,

It is true. The site you linked to pretty much sums it up when it says it is a sex linked trait and then goes on to make the subject a bit confusing. I will try to summarize it a bit more clearly. I hope!

The O gene, for orange, is carried only on the X chromosome. Since only the female has XX chromosomes, the calico/tortoiseshell trait is only expressed in the female. A male only has one X chromosome and one Y chromosome, so a male cannot display the second gene needed to express the trait. Below I explain it a bit better.

A cat with an O on one X and an O on the other X is orange.
A cat with an o on one X and an o on the other X is not orange.
A cat with an O on one X and an o on the other X is a tricolored cat.

The last case of Oo is what creates the combination of orange/black/white which can also be known as calico or tortoiseshell.

From what the site you linked to says, there is a bit more to it on tortoiseshells, but the basics of what I wrote still apply. You need the females genetic makeup of XX chromosomes to produce a calico or tortoiseshell cat.

A male may rarely pop up tortoiseshell/calico if it has an extra X chromosome so that its genetic makeup is XXY, (The same way human males very occasionally have extra sex chromosomes), and carries the needed genes of Oo (an O on one X and and o on the other X).

I hope I made this a little more clear for you!

I snapped this picture of our old tortoiseshell a few minutes ago, Maggie. She appears demonic in this picture. I can never photograph her with this digital camera without her blinking.

-G

 

[OldHag]

There was a male calico found here in Utah last year. It was rescued from the pound and sold for like 600 bucks to someone back east and the money donated to the Animal Rescue. Pretty cool lookin cat.

 

[Malkavian]

The males that have that extra X are usually sterile arent they?

 

[GQ.]

Hmmm. I'm not sure if they are sterile or not. I can't recall if XXY chromosome people or even animals are sterile or not. I think the syndrome in people is called Klinefelter's Syndrome if you want to look it up. I may be mixing up my syndromes though. At one time I knew the names for the various syndromes. It has been awhile since I've taken genetics and my mind is old and feeble. In any case, even if the males aren't sterile the trait wouldn't be passed on to progeny. Having XXY sex chromosomes is not hereditary.
-G

 

[ta2edpop]

I have also seen the rare calico male for sale. Untill about ten years I had never seen one. Several hundred dollars.

 

[Scorpiove]

This is Cocoa. She is my baby, and still alive.... somewhere.

I had to get rid of her because my parents were paranoid with my sister having here kid soon.