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Calico/Tortie Question

2K views 23 replies 16 participants last post by  Superkitties 
#1 ·
Ok, I'm just wondering something. I have a tortie, my Brother has a tortie, and my Mom has a tortie. All three of these cats are very moody cats and mine and my Mom's especially, can be very ill-tempered. I wondered if this was a calico/tortie thing or maybe just that these cats are this way for no particular reason. I was just curious. Anyone else have have a moody/ill-tempered tortie?
 
#2 ·
I grew up with a Tortie. Taz was extremely playful and didn't like to be held, but she was very friendly and affectionate. A Tortie stray wandered onto my parents' property and it's an absolute sweetheart. There was also a Tortie on my paper route and it was very affectionate and always wanted to get pet.

So as far as I know, moodyness isn't ingrained into torties.
 
#4 ·
I remember having read in one of Dr Jean's posts that white cats and torties are amongst the most unpredictable, jumpy ones. I have a white cat and although raised with dogs is very independent and doesn't like to be held but for a little while, doesn't like being interrupted from anything be it just being plain lazy all day for a little kiss :p But I give him kisses anyways - I can't help it hehe
There is a tortie female in the garden that seems very mellow and sweet compared to all the red feral cats. They seem very dominant to me. But i don't have experience but with one tortie and that one is feral - she just seems really sweet. Even when I had her trapped recovering after having been spayed she never hissed or growled at me when I was opening the little gate to offer some canned food and water. She is such a sweetheart! :D
The 3 red kitties I had in cages at the same time received the same loving treatment although they greated me with aggressive growls and hisses ..oh boy are they feisty or what! It is similar to what they say about red headed people being jumpy :lol:
 
#7 ·
Elly can be a bit unpredictable, but as she gets older she's actually less unpredictable. She used to be a terror at the vet. She was so good at our last vet visits though, as sick as she was she still rubbed against the vet before and after her injections, lol.

She's a good girl though, I wouldn't classify her as moody in the least bit. She's always sweet as pie and is very fond of visitors and strangers, as long as she isn't overhandled.
 
#10 ·
I know "personally" only one Tortie, and that is my daughter's. She is not fond of strangers, but loves my daughter, and that's what's important! I usually have one black cat and one white cat. One of my white cats earned the nickname, "psycho cat" from my son. She loved to be petted, but would suddenly strike out and scratch very hard, enough to make her victim bleed. She was one of the "fabulous four," a group of four females I had at the same time. She hid from the bully for several years, but finally beat her up. What a group of characters they were. They were memorable!
 
#11 ·
Yep, white cats and torties/calicos are the most unpredictable -- at least at the vet's office! Most of them are fine at home. I have met a few really sweet ones, of course; one of the sweetest cats I know is a tortie, but in my experience that's a little unusual.

I call torties the "Appaloosas" of cats, and if you know anything about horses, you'll understand! They are definitely among the most opinionated of cats, just ask them!

Cheers,
Dr. Jean
 
#12 ·
I have 3 torties.
Pebbles is very very moody, doesnt like to be picked up. But she IS predictable.

Smeagle will tolerate being picked up but not for long. SHe is very very sweet and loving, will sit on you and if you pat your hands on your legs to get her to come she comes running. Again I would say she is predictable.

Screech is the sweetest cat ever. I can do ANYTHING with her, pick her up up-side down, lie her on her back, smooth her belly alsorts. And vocal! wow ive never heard such a vocal cat even her mum who has more siamese in her isnt this vocal! Again predictable.

I say they all are but I dont know if its just ive had them all thier lives and no them so well.
 
#14 ·
Mico, our tortie kitten, is the most "unusual" of the four. She's almost always off on her own. When everyone is sleeping, she's awake, and vice versa. She likes to sit back and watch all the activity, but hardly ever joins in. Only when her brothers or sister are sleeping will she attack, biting their legs and ears. She's a quirky little cat...
 
#18 ·
Padunk said:
AddFran said:
Addison is a calico, but has a diluted grey coloring in her patched areas, would she still be considered in this theory? Not sure!
Perhaps this will help identify Addison better:

http://www.texankitties.com/calico.htm

*edited for clarity
Thanks, Rob.
I know this sounds stupid, but I'm still confused. She is mostly white with a good amount of grey areas. She does have patches. She is obviously not a typical calico at all because her colors are not black and orange. She is white, blue-grey and cream. Most of her grey areas are tabby marked, but she has a few circular spots that are becoming more prominently separated from the rest of her grey markings. So...they are making separated patches. Would this clasify her as a dilute calico (though i found it strange that all the pictures of these cats looked way more like a dilute tortoiseshell) or a dilute torbie with white? She seems to have way too much white on her to be considered "with white" though.

Uggh! I'm so confused. See what you get for trying to help me out. Bet your sorry now!


EDIT: Found this site http://catouweb.free.fr/Coats.htm

And it seems like she's a blue patched tabby and white. Which is supposed to be White, with portions of blue patched tabby & white. At first i thought it was kind of redundant that it said "& white" again after already stating that the cat should be predominantly white, but then realized that Addison has those white patches mixed into her blue tabby patches on the top of her back. Sounds weird...but I think it's making sense to me.

Thanks Rob!
 
#19 ·
Assumpta has some red spots mixed in with her tabby stripes and big splotches of other colors, and at about her thrd vet's visit, she started hissing and complaining loudly, and the vet laughed and said "Ah, we were all wondering when that red gene would start showing itself!" :roll: She's definitely an opinionated cat, talkative to a fault, and when she doesn't like someone, she is not at all shy about telling them so.

I've noticed that a lot of the calicos at the shelter seem quite shy and retiring, don't want to socialize with their cagemates much. Not as good a predictor of attitude as eye contact has been, though...at least for me.
 
#20 ·
I have a calico female. I have to say when i first got her I was afraid she would be a moody one. My Aunt had one and she was a mean cat. female also, and that made me nervous when i got miss teenie mum. But she has to be the SWEETEST cat i have ever had. I still can't believe it. I never had good luck with any kind of female, but she is just great. She does like to be held, just only by me. But I do think they can be unpredictable cats!
 
#21 ·
AddFran said:
And it seems like she's a blue patched tabby and white. Which is supposed to be White, with portions of blue patched tabby & white. At first i thought it was kind of redundant that it said "& white" again after already stating that the cat should be predominantly white, but then realized that Addison has those white patches mixed into her blue tabby patches on the top of her back. Sounds weird...but I think it's making sense to me.
Part of the reason I'm so terrible at differentiating between the dilute calicos, etc is that I'm a bit colorblind... lol, so sorry I can't help. :)

G'luck :)
 
#24 ·
No tortie knowledge here, but Pixie is a calico, and she's as sweet as can be. She's incredibly opinionated and talky, and extra curious and extra short attention span. She loves to play with the humans, and demands interactive play all the time. She's not a lap cat, but she will come sit right next to me touching my leg. She also gets along great with my other furrkids.
 
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