Mallory Crusta of Cats.com shared several colorful facts about calico cats, noting their unique tricolor coat and why they are predominantly female. She also talked about how they came to be known as calico, how they differ from tortoiseshell cats, and how calicos, like other breeds, are secretly tabby cats.
Calico cats have three coat colors (white, orange, and black), while Torties typically are bi-colored (marbled orange and black). …the gene that causes a cat to have an orange coat does not work with the gene that causes a cat to have a solid coat and so all orange cats are also tabbies. …It can be kind of subtle and the coat can look solid but if you look really closely you’ll start noticing some of that Tabby patterning.
