Hello! I saw a post the other day about a male calico cat. From what I've seen, only females can be calico so I'm interested to know how this was even possible? Really enjoyed the website btw! 🙂
Thank you for your question! We will try to explain this in the simplest way possible.
As we all know, females carry the XX chromosome and males, the XY chromosome. These sex chromosomes determine a number of features and traits to complete an organism's genetic makeup. An example for cats is their coat color. Such a trait is actually dependent on the X-chromosome, and Calico phenotypes are usually only females because being tri-colored requires 2 X-chromosomes, which only females can have. However, once in a while, errors may ensue. These errors could be a result of random X-inactivation, wherein the X-chromosome carried by each parent have an equal chance of being silenced in the early stages of the embryo development. Abnormalities in the number of chromosomes may also be another reason, wherein the cat in question has 2 X chromosomes, but also a Y chromosome. Essentially, this male calico cat may be a case of Klinefelter syndrome! So although cute and very rare, it is unfortunately more prone to health conditions like obesity, infertility, and developmental problems.
Thank you for your question! We will try to explain this in the simplest way possible.
As we all know, females carry the XX chromosome and males, the XY chromosome. These sex chromosomes determine a number of features and traits to complete an organism's genetic makeup. An example for cats is their coat color. Such a trait is actually dependent on the X-chromosome, and Calico phenotypes are usually only females because being tri-colored requires 2 X-chromosomes, which only females can have. However, once in a while, errors may ensue. These errors could be a result of random X-inactivation, wherein the X-chromosome carried by each parent have an equal chance of being silenced in the early stages of the embryo development. Abnormalities in the number of chromosomes may also be another reason, wherein the cat in question has 2 X chromosomes, but also a Y chromosome. Essentially, this male calico cat may be a case of Klinefelter syndrome! So although cute and very rare, it is unfortunately more prone to health conditions like obesity, infertility, and developmental problems.
Here's a link to know more about Calico cats: https://www.hospitalveterinariglories.com/all-about-calico-cat/?lang=en#
Hope this helped!
- Alphagen 3.0