Fascinating Feline Facts. I found that page while researching how cats purr. (Answer: Nobody really knows. There are a number of theories.) There’s a lot of weird facts in there I didn’t know, like how white cats with blue eyes are deaf and only female cats can be both black and orange. Apparently “cats respond most readily to names that end in an “ee” sound,” so we lucked out with her name. Also, it says that tortoiseshells are “black with red or orange markings” and calicos are “white with patches of red, orange and black.” That makes Amy a calico. I wonder if that’s an American term or something, because the Cat Protection Society definitely had her down as “tortoiseshell-and-white.”
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I seem to remember that T.S. Eliot wrote of Calicos in Cats, so it’s not solely an American term (if I’m remembering correctly).
I mentioned it to Rodd last night and he said he’d never heard of a “calico” cat before, so maybe it’s just not used over here.
One of the cats I had to give up when we found out I was allergic was called “Calico” and the other one was “Chim” short for chimney. So its widely know here in the UK too.
My cat Trixie just had her second litter and we have a MALE black and orange SPOTTED Tortoiseshell kitten! I hope it survives and will be a BIG one as it’s uncle on moms side is big (Travis)