Are all orange tabby cats male and are all calico cats female?

Hear the science behind uncommon female orange tabby cats and the extremely rare tortoisehsell or calico male cat.

Updated: January 17, 2013, 2 p.m. EST

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Q: I have heard that all orange tabby cats are male, and to find one that is female is rare and worth up to $1,000. I also have heard that calico cats and tortoiseshell cats are female and to find a male is just as rare and prized. Is there any truth to this?

A: Your first statement is incorrect. Most, but certainly not all, orange tabby cats are male. Orange tabby cats are about 80/20 male to female. We have many female orange tabby cats in my practice. There is no monetary value, per se, associated with a female orange tabby cat. Calico and tortoiseshell cats, however, are almost always female.

Here's how it works. To have black and orange in the same cat, the cat needs two X chromosomes. Two X chromosomes mean the cat will be female. Male cats need a Y chromosome and are XY.

Occasionally a mutation will arise during embryonic development and a kitten will be born with an extra chromosome: XXY. The two Xs allow for the cat to be black and orange. The Y makes it a male. This is how you get a tortoiseshell or a calico male cat.

Tortoiseshell and calico male cats are uncommon (one out of 3000 are male), but don't get your hopes up about breeding these rare cats for money. As a result of this mutation, most tortoiseshell and calico male cats are sterile.

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Are all orange tabby cats male and are all calico cats female?

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kristen    International 5/9/2013 8:04:03 PM Neat! So female orange tabbies are more common than male calico/tortoise shell.. Kathleen    erie, IL 5/1/2013 1:02:10 PM Not all tabbys or calico are male I have a two year old male tabby/calico mix his coloring is tabby hes a longahired and has calico on the bottom of his white feet cant tell unles feet are clean. Momma was a calico who breed with a tabby male and had kittens. I love Meeko hes my baby. CatChannel Editor    Irvine, CA 4/29/2013 11:27:05 AM Michelle -- This is indeed rare. Is the calico male definitely the father? Many cats that don't exhibit the calico gene will carry it. Ask your vet whether your calico male is indeed fertile. Please also sterilize ALL fertile cats in your household. A litter of kittens might be fun, but finding homes for the litters of those litters, or siblings of litters, puts you in a potential spot to contribute to cat overpopulation. Michelle    Douglass, KS 4/28/2013 1:48:44 PM what do I do if I have a male calico cat that has spawned offspring? It says on all the sites that this is impossible but the mother just had five babies that look just like the father.