Have you ever had or seen a male calico cat?

Not personally, I know they occur but are very rare.

No, they are very rare. The trait is genetically linked to sex.

nope

Yes, absolutely. Back in the mid-60s my grandmother had a beautiful long-hair calico with brilliant colors. He was said to be a boy. We never had a chance to cash him in for the ten million dollars because he was run over by a car.
His name was Ponchita.
Later in life I found a stray gray cat with differing shades of gray. I kept her, called her Mathilda and when she had a litter of kittens (5), two of them were calico (female), so I kept them.
Soon all three had litters in the spring, a week apart. all kittens were either solid white, solid orange or tiger striped greys with one beautiful long-hair calico female.

I tried in vain for years to let them breed a calico male, but no luck.

There is a reason for that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortoiseshell_cat Genetics is fun.

I had no idea this was sex-specific. Interesting!

I’ve seen one, years ago. A calico. My dad brought it to our attention that there are no calico males, or are VERY rare. Am very curious about the tortoiseshell cats.

Here’s my little Tortie Point Siamese ” Mia”, in my avatar. She is a mottled blend of seal point brown, light orange, and cream with the blue eyes of the siamese. Her front paws are chocolate, back feet, one solid chocolate and one orange & cream chocolate mottled. She is so sweet and funny.

I had to look up calico cat on Wikipedia, down here they are known as tortoiseshell, we had a female tortoiseshell when I was a child and I’ve also known one other, female and incredibly bad tempered, the very worst of cats, and not ill treated just downright bitchy.

@Adagio They call it “Tortitude.” lol
My female is a total sweetheart, but I do call her “bratty” at times, one of her nicknames because she is a whiner. haha
If she doesn’t want to be cuddled she cries like a baby and gets all upset and huffy.
She gives “love” bites and is very affectionate but does not like to be cuddled, only petted.

No, I have not seen a male calico. I was told that such a thing could not exist, and reading this thread, it’s appears that is nearly the case.

@kritiper: A tortoiseshell is a type of calico.

@jca Thank you very much!

To be much more specific, a tortoiseshell horse is one that is yellow with a black mane and tail. I will assume for now that a tortoiseshell cat is of the same colors, but mottled. I know of a dark cat, randomly colored like a calico but with no white patches. Like a negative, or reverse colored calico, if you follow my drift, of predominately dark brown color, sans white, with mottled black and yellow colors like a standard calico. Would this cat be considered a type of calico and thus lacking male types?

@kritiper There are no Tortoiseshell horses, I think you’re talking about a Buckskin. haha
Buckskin is only a color, like a Palomino, or paint/pinto, not s breed. Many breeds of horse can be Buckskin. Sorry..horse nut here, had to share.

www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/horses/buckskin/

@Coloma ”...(as, “Horses of this colour [yellow] have… the muzzle, fetlocks, mane… black. ...” W. H. Hudson’s “Far Away and Long Ago,” xi.). -from The New CENTURY DICTIONARY, 1944 edition, under “tortoiseshell”

@kritiper Well okay, but that was 1944, they have been called Buckskin as long as I can remember and I am almost 55. haha

@Coloma Yes, not trying to say you were wrong about buckskin horses (my dad knew a lot about horses, being involved with a cattle rancher grandfather and having taken part in one of if not the last cattle drive of the old west) and he told me about horses, their colors and what they were called. Just thought I’d throw that dictionary entry out there for your interest and consideration. And, yes, it’s an old dictionary, but W. H. Hudson’s “Far Away and Long Ago” goes back further than that.

@kritiper No problem, it is interesting. I never know that.

@Coloma Perhaps horses of that particular color were called different things in different countries? In America, buckskin, in England (or some other place) tortoiseshell? W. H. Hudson (1844–1922) was an English naturalist &writer, not American.

(More info here from different dictionaries, if anyone is interested. But fear not; there is a connection to calico cats!)
“pinto… [Sp.] Literally, painted; hence piebald; mottled; pied… (Western U.S.) A piebald horse or pony.” -from Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 1960 ed.
“pinto [sp. ‘painted.’] I. a. Piebald; mottled; spotted: as, a pinto horse (a calico horse); ...” -from The New CENTURY DICTIONARY, 1944 ed.

@kritiper Most likely yes, that would be reasonable to assume.
The Pinto is a good example, many different names, but in America the patterns are called either Tobiano or Overo. Dependent on how the pied markings are arranged on the horses body.

I knew of a dark tortoiseshell male cat but he had no white on him. And I know he was a boy because I was there when the vet neutered him. I understand it’s only cats which have all three colours; black, orange and white, that are female-only.