I have never found any cat as distinctive as the Calico. With its white predominated fur and big orange and black cow spots, I believe they are one of the most magical cats in the world.
1. It has only three colors, no more no less!
Calico Cats are featured with white, orange and black colors. The white color is predominant and usually with patches of orange and black.
2. Only 0.01% of calicos are male! A Female World, wow!
“Calico cats are rarely male because it happens in rare cases- only when the cat has a XXY Chromosome. (Already confused? Me too) According to genetics, the X chromosome decides the cat’s color, while the Y chromosome doesn’t have any color genes. Male mammals, like male cats, have one X and one Y chromosome. Having both orange and non-orange together is contradictory, unless there are two X chromosomes (XX) and one Y chromosome.” – Wikipedia (I almost give up)
3. Nearly all male calicos are sterile
Male calicos suffer from Klinefelter’s syndrome, which makes them useless and unhealthy. They have many health problems, such as brain damage, genital deformities, and organ failure.
4. They migrated from Egypt to your living room.
Studies show calico cats can be traced back to Europe, Northern Africa, the French Mediterranean, Spain, and Italy, originating from Egypt.
5. They cure warts!
You can cure warts by rubbing them against the tail of a calico cat during the month of May according to Irish folklore. Do you believe it? You may have to keep a calico cat to find the answer.
6. Japanese have loved calicos for centuries
A grand master of Japan, Utagawa Kuniyoshi painted calico cats back in the 1800’s, showing the comfortable life of them.
7. European painters also love them
18th-century French painter Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin, who was good at depicting the scenery of calico cats, especially when they were messing with seafood.
8. Calicos are The Official State Cat of Maryland.
The Calico Cat became the official cat of Maryland. Because their color of orange, black, and white are the same as the Baltimore oriole (state bird) and the Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly (State insect). It should be noted that only two other states have official state cats – Maine and Massachusetts.
9. Most Japanese figurines are based on calico cats
The cat shaking his paw in the picture, called Maneki-Neko, or “The beckoning cat” is a symbol whose origins goes back to 1870’s in Japan. Calicos were regarded as a good luck omen. You can see them placed at the entrances of homes and businesses everywhere.
10. Former Attorney General John Ashcroft thought Calicos were the sign of devil?
A rumor about John Ashcroft thought Calico cats were the sign of satan. Given some of his other religious beliefs, people took the rumor as truth even after he denied it in lots of interviews.
