Does anyone have a male calico cat

[abluechipstock]

when i was a vet tech and worked as one for 8 yrs, i have only seen 1 male calico cat, he had long hair and was beautiful, the people that had him said that the mother cat produced a male calico in a previous litter, no matter what the genes are messed up within the cat

 

[LV426]

You do not see the calico patterns with a normal male (XY) cat because the X chromosome does not become inactivated in male animals. However, cats are susceptible to the same genetic disease we are. In one particular disease, two cells fail to separate their X chromosomes during Meiosis. This cat hence receives two X chromosomes from mom, and say in the case of a male, a Y from dad. This cat's resultant genotype is XXY and the cat has Klinfelter's Syndrome. The cat appears male (i.e. has a male phenotype) but he really has two X chromosomes. This tends to be why male calico cats are much rarer and are also sterile

 

[RiverOtter]

Quote:
Sometimes cats with those genetics are not clearly male, but hermaphrodites. But always sterile

 

[Godsgrl]

My sister in law had a male calico many years ago. They are normally sterile.

 

[lasergrl]

Sometimes a calico cat can be a "chimera". This is when to embryos absorb into each other. In this case, they look calico but wont reproduce the trait. The kittens colors will be determines by wich colored embryo makes up the testicles.
There is also the possibility of "somatic mutation". This is where a patch of random color occurs on the cat. Most of the time you will see his in an orange cat, and you will see one black spot on them.
The XXY calico males are not usually beautiful, but very strangley proportioned and unhealthy.

 

[Slinkytoys]

Odd-eyed white males are rarer than the females as well. Not as rare as a male calico, but a much larger ratio of odd-eyed white females to odd-eyed white males in all breeds of cats. Aren't genetics fun?!!

Slinky

 

[Redyre Rotties]

Such an interesting thread! Thanks for the edification.

 

[duckluck]

Quote:
He didn't run off.....someone took him! If your neighbor was offered $$ for a cat that they let just roam around outside and someone heard of the $$ offer, then I wouldn't doubt it one bit. I mean seriously, how could he let it roam free knowing it was worth a small fortune?

I've heard of a $3K offer for a male calico, so I'm not surprised that one disappeared.

 

[Joz]

Male Tortie:

http://southernanimalfoundation.org/custom_content/c_122944_rare_find_a_male_tortoiseshell_cat.html

 

[lasergrl]

Quote:
He didn't run off.....someone took him! If your neighbor was offered $$ for a cat that they let just roam around outside and someone heard of the $$ offer, then I wouldn't doubt it one bit. I mean seriously, how could he let it roam free knowing it was worth a small fortune?

I've heard of a $3K offer for a male calico, so I'm not surprised that one disappeared.

Pretty dumb to me since no males tories/calicos can reproduce the trait, and majority are unhealthy due to XXY gene. Guess thats why they say and fool and his money are quickly parted.