Posts: 42,600
Threads: 545
Joined: Nov 2023
Reputation:
0
I didn't realize I was allergic to cats untill we had ours for about 6 months. I was tested for allergies when I was about 10, and wasn't allergic then.
When we moved into our house and got the cats, I assumed that all the moving and kicking up dust was the cause of the problems. Then I started to show signs of asthma, and finally went ot an allergy specialist and was diagnosed with asthma and "yes, you are allergic to cats. I have NEVER in my 20 years as an allergy specialist, seen a prick test result that bad" Thanks goodness they have some decent drugs these days. I said decent, not great.
Posts: 22,231
Threads: 2,842
Joined: May 2025
Reputation:
2
ka jot, then what do you call a male calico?
Besides the tricolor male calicos (which, from the reading I've done) arise through the feline equivalent of Klinefelter's (XXY), there are bicolor male calicos which are white and black patches, or white and orange patches (instead of the "typical" white with black and orange patches). True, if you define a calico as tricolor, then most are female.
Posts: 16,409
Threads: 1,430
Joined: May 2025
Calicos ARE tricolor; seriously, you are the only person I've ever encountered who thinks otherwise.
Rare cases of tricolor males do occur; I've read that they tend to be sterile.
A biccolor male is NOT a calico. A bicolor female is not a calico, but might be a tortie (black or gray with red). Tabby cats who combine brown or gray tabby with red are sometimes called torbies by cat people.
Posts: 22,231
Threads: 2,842
Joined: May 2025
Reputation:
2
ka jot, it may be that I'm thinking genetically, you (and the rest of the world) are thinking cat-wise or phenotypically. As I understand it, a male can be white with either black patches or red patches because the red and black are X-linked-- whereas the female can have both black and red patches (the white is controlled by a separate gene), because one X carries black and the other carries red, and one X is always inactivated; and mosaicism results in some black and some red patches. So thinking about it from this perspective, a "calico male" can never be a real calico, because he only has one X (which is never inactivated; excepting the Klinefelter's cat who has two X's, and can therefore be a true calico).
Anyway... this is all off the topic, I'm just glad my bro and fiancée have adopted a nice kitty...
