{"id":5154,"date":"2023-05-31T09:52:42","date_gmt":"2023-05-31T09:52:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/?p=5154"},"modified":"2023-05-25T10:01:55","modified_gmt":"2023-05-25T10:01:55","slug":"are-all-calico-cats-female","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/are-all-calico-cats-female\/","title":{"rendered":"Are All Calico Cats Female?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Read time: 1 min<\/em>
<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of our favourite little felines – the Calico cat. These patchwork beauties have such pretty patterned coats of white, orange and black. And you may have heard the tale that all cats with calico coats are female. But is this fact or fiction, let\u2019s find out!<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Female Calico Genetics<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Well, when it comes down to the science, it is indeed true that most <\/em>calico cats are in fact female. With rare exceptions only, it all comes down to the chromosomes. Genetics carried by the X chromosome in cats has been linked to the orange fur colour. So commonly both male and female cats can carry the ginger gene. However, it\u2019s been found that only female cats with XX chromosomes can be calico or tortoiseshell. They saved the fabulous fur for the females it seems!<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Male Calico Exceptions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In super rare instances, cats can be born with three chromosomes – just like some humans! If a male cat is born with the genetic makeup XXY, the double X chromosomes give him the possibility of inheriting the colourful calico exterior. A rare beauty, with only 0.03% of calico cats being male.\u00a0 And maybe even more interestingly, male cats with these chromosomes are almost always born sterile. This means you won\u2019t be able to breed the trait over time and keeps the coat super rare in male cats. If you have a multi-coloured male, be sure to celebrate his fabulousness. Though we\u2019re pretty certain he\u2019ll already know how special he is, he\u2019s a cat after all.\u00a0
Calico\u2019s are all beauties, no matter the gender. If you have a patchwork puss, we\u2019d love to see! Tag us in your photos or submit them to our Cats Cats Cats<\/a><\/span> page. We can\u2019t get enough!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The science behind the tri-coloured beauties<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5155,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cat-ownership","category-lifeguides"],"yoast_head":"\nAre All Calico Cats Female? - The Lick<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/are-all-calico-cats-female\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are All Calico Cats Female? - The Lick\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The science behind the tri-coloured beauties\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/are-all-calico-cats-female\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Lick\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/republicofcatsdotcom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-05-31T09:52:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Republic-of-Cats-The-Lick-images-67.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editorial Team\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@repofcatsfood\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@repofcatsfood\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editorial Team\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/are-all-calico-cats-female\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/are-all-calico-cats-female\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editorial Team\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e477852153e50683df3d6a85056e3ad5\"},\"headline\":\"Are All Calico Cats Female?\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-31T09:52:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/are-all-calico-cats-female\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":306,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/are-all-calico-cats-female\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/05\\\/Republic-of-Cats-The-Lick-images-67.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Cat ownership\",\"Life Guides\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/are-all-calico-cats-female\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/are-all-calico-cats-female\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/are-all-calico-cats-female\\\/\",\"name\":\"Are All Calico Cats Female? - The Lick\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/are-all-calico-cats-female\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/are-all-calico-cats-female\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/05\\\/Republic-of-Cats-The-Lick-images-67.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-31T09:52:42+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/are-all-calico-cats-female\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/are-all-calico-cats-female\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/05\\\/Republic-of-Cats-The-Lick-images-67.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/05\\\/Republic-of-Cats-The-Lick-images-67.png\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Lick\",\"description\":\"Republic of Cats\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Lick\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/09\\\/logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/09\\\/logo.jpg\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"The Lick\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/republicofcatsdotcom\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/repofcatsfood\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/republicofcats\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e477852153e50683df3d6a85056e3ad5\",\"name\":\"Editorial Team\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6c2a621386d84556ccec44631eaad8502a1a6ac81fd29be7a92e18df68c4d073?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6c2a621386d84556ccec44631eaad8502a1a6ac81fd29be7a92e18df68c4d073?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6c2a621386d84556ccec44631eaad8502a1a6ac81fd29be7a92e18df68c4d073?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Editorial Team\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.republicofcats.com\\\/thelick\\\/author\\\/india\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Are All Calico Cats Female? - The Lick","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/are-all-calico-cats-female\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Are All Calico Cats Female? - The Lick","og_description":"The science behind the tri-coloured beauties","og_url":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/are-all-calico-cats-female\/","og_site_name":"The Lick","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/republicofcatsdotcom\/","article_published_time":"2023-05-31T09:52:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Republic-of-Cats-The-Lick-images-67.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Editorial Team","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@repofcatsfood","twitter_site":"@repofcatsfood","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Editorial Team","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/are-all-calico-cats-female\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/are-all-calico-cats-female\/"},"author":{"name":"Editorial Team","@id":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/#\/schema\/person\/e477852153e50683df3d6a85056e3ad5"},"headline":"Are All Calico Cats Female?","datePublished":"2023-05-31T09:52:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/are-all-calico-cats-female\/"},"wordCount":306,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/are-all-calico-cats-female\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Republic-of-Cats-The-Lick-images-67.png","articleSection":["Cat ownership","Life Guides"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/are-all-calico-cats-female\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/are-all-calico-cats-female\/","url":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/are-all-calico-cats-female\/","name":"Are All Calico Cats Female? - The Lick","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/are-all-calico-cats-female\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/are-all-calico-cats-female\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Republic-of-Cats-The-Lick-images-67.png","datePublished":"2023-05-31T09:52:42+00:00","inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/are-all-calico-cats-female\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/are-all-calico-cats-female\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Republic-of-Cats-The-Lick-images-67.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Republic-of-Cats-The-Lick-images-67.png","width":1080,"height":1080},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/","name":"The Lick","description":"Republic of Cats","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/#organization","name":"The Lick","url":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/logo.jpg","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"The Lick"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/republicofcatsdotcom\/","https:\/\/x.com\/repofcatsfood","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/republicofcats\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/#\/schema\/person\/e477852153e50683df3d6a85056e3ad5","name":"Editorial Team","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c2a621386d84556ccec44631eaad8502a1a6ac81fd29be7a92e18df68c4d073?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c2a621386d84556ccec44631eaad8502a1a6ac81fd29be7a92e18df68c4d073?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c2a621386d84556ccec44631eaad8502a1a6ac81fd29be7a92e18df68c4d073?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Editorial Team"},"url":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/author\/india\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5154"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5156,"href":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5154\/revisions\/5156"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.republicofcats.com\/thelick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}