I'm a bit confused about what the differences are between a tortie and a calico. My assumption has been that Spuddie and Munchie were torties because they hardly had any white fur on them...just their front paws on their toes and on the back paws, kind of like "anklet" socks, and also just a splash of white on their precious little tummies. I've posted pictures of Spuddie and Munchie elsewhere, but unfortunately, I don't have any good shots of them showing the white fur. If someone could post a few pictures of what calicos and torties really look like, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!

torties have no white, calicos are "torties and white". But if a tortie has white on their feet, then they are still "tortie and whites" aka calicos....

I've heard that all torties are female, but would a tortie and white (calico) still be a female?

Yes, almost all torties or torties and whites (calicos) are females. Only 1 in 3000 are males, and of those males only about 1 in 10,000 are fertile. For black and red (black and orange) or the diluted version blue (grey) and cream (light buff orange) to be on the same cat it's sex linked with the X chromosome, which is the female one...

Okay, so to translate what you said into an example:

Spuddie and Munchie were both black and red and white...so they were female, right? I'm so confused...

As I said, almost all calicos or torties are female, but there are a few males out there. But most likely Spuddie and Munchie were females.

:wha: I've never seen a male tortie or calico ever.
I was also under the assumption that ginger/orange tabbies were male only...yet I've met a few people who had females.
So if someone were to find one it would be a rare situation right?

I've seen male calicos and torties.

Actually no, red/ginger/cream females aren't as rare as people believe. The X chromosome carries the red gene, so for a female to be red both parents had to have been red. Like a red father and a red mother or a red father and a calico or tortie mom, that way both mom and dad passed two red X chromosomes to the kitten.

Male calicos/torties are MUCH more rare than red females and you can't really breed to get them as it's really a fluke. For a male to be a calico they have XXY chromosomes, so an extra "X"...

And if a red female had kittens, all of her male babies would be red. Right, JJ? :)

Yep, no matter what color the dad is all the boys would be red since mom had to pass the red X to them!

:thumbsup: Thanks JJ...there is still a lot for me to learn about breeds.

Well, colors have nothing to do with breed...just genetics! :rotfl: ;)

I meant both :rotfl: