At least one user reached out to me that they recieved a chat message, so I thought I'd make a helpful PSA.

Unlike some other platforms, Reddit is not intended to be used as a marketplace, nor does this community allow any sort of buy/sell/trade of artwork/products/etc. There are no protections in place if you decide to engage in another transaction with another user - We do not allow these sorts of posts for this reason.

Engage in extreme caution if you are working with a commission/etc, especially if they send you a chat message first. Try to check their history to see if they have a reputation of delivering with other users. If the profile no longer exists or cannot be found, they've already been actioned by Reddit itself.

Banning these people from the community would unfortunately not stop them from interacting with users - user reporting to the admins is the best route for these. There is nothing us subreddit moderators can do, unfortunately.

This page lets you know how you can report spam to the site admins based on how you received the message - the report button next to the content would be just as effective.

If there's any questions, feel free to ask or discuss in the comments.

The question “is my cat a calico?” comes up on this subreddit frequently, so I thought I’d put together a guide.

Is calico a breed?
A calico cat is a domestic cat of any breed with a tri-color coat – most often a pattern of orange, black and white. The calico cat is most commonly thought of as being 25-75% white with large orange and black patches; however, they may have other colors in their patterns, like peach, chocolate and gray. Calico cats can also be called tortoiseshell-and-white, tortie-and-white or tri-color cats.

What breeds can be calicos?
You can find calico cats across many distinct breeds such as American Shorthair, British Shorthair, Domestic Shorthair, Persian, Maine Coon, Manx, Japanese Bobtail, Turkish Van, and Norwegian Forest breeds. Calico coat color patterns can occur in random-bred as well as purebred cats, and in either long or short coats.

Dilute calicos
Calicoes with less intense coloration are known as dilute calico cats. They are mostly white in color, with pastel muted colors of gray or blue, and peach/apricot or cream. For clarity in the text below, I’ve described coat colors with black, white & orange as the standard, but these descriptions equally apply to dilute calicos as well.

Calico vs Tortie
A calico cat is not to be confused with a tortoiseshell (tortie). Calico cats have three coat colors (white, orange, and black; or grey, peach & white for a dilute calico), while torties typically are bi-colored (orange and black). Torties have very little white coat, which usually appears as small spots on the face, chest, or paws. Note that some definitions of the difference between calicos and torties are that torties should have no white, while others say that torties can have up to 25% white fur.

Male calicos are rare
Male calicos are very rare, about 1 in 3000. The genetic determination of coat colors in calico cats is linked to the X chromosome, so calico cats are nearly always female, with one color linked to the maternal X chromosome and a second color linked to the paternal X chromosome. Male calico cats have an extra X chromosome (XXY, known as Klinefelter syndrome in humans) or are genetic chimeras with two different sets of DNA (XX and XY). Male calicos usually have various health issues and are frequently sterile.

Other calicos – tabico, caliby, tortico, torbico, tuxetortico, torbie
Calico cats can be subdivided into smaller categories depending on their color patterns – classic stripes like a tabby, solid blocks of black and white like a tuxedo, mottled or brindled markings like a tortie – these are all still considered calicos. Some calicos can have fur colors & patterns combining of all these patterns. All these subcategories are a color pattern, not a specific breed.

* Tabico (Tabby + calico - sometimes called “caliby”)
The black and orange appear as striped tabby patches rather than solid colors.

* Tortico (Tortie + calico)
Torticos are a mixture of torties & calicos, with splotches of 3 colors plus at least one significant tortoiseshell patch, where the orange and black are mottled or brindled.

* Torbico (Tortie + tabby + calico)
Torbicos are calico cats with large sections of tortoiseshell “tortie” like markings that also have tabby stripes in those areas.

* Tuxetortico (Tuxedo + calico + tortie)
Tuxetorticos combine the predominant black & white of tuxedo cats with orange, with mottled brindling like a tortie in the black & orange. The orange & black can also be in solid patches like a classic calico, or stripey like a classic tabby.

* Torbie (Tortie + tabby)
These may not always fall under the calico umbrella, but have coloring that can be mistaken for calico. Torbies have black & brown tabby stripes with tortoiseshell markings, and usually don’t have any white.

Note that these subdivisions of calicos are not necessarily official descriptions of cat coloring used by veterinarians and cat breeders – in some cases they only exist online on Reddit. Ultimately it doesn’t matter what coloring your calico has – just follow all the calico subreddits!

Calico subreddits

• r/CalicoKittys
• r/CalicoCats
• r/tortico
• r/tuxetortico
• r/tabico
• r/torbico
• r/watercolorcats
• r/torbie
• r/torties

Sources

• https://cats.com/calico-cats
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calico_cat
• https://cats.com/tortoiseshell-vs-calico
• https://www.catster.com/lifestyle/rarest-cat-patterns-coat-colors/
• https://cats.com/tabico-facts
• https://coleandmarmalade.com/2019/05/14/how-to-tell-the-difference-between-torbies-torties-calicos-and-tabby-coat-color/
• https://www.lovemeow.com/calico-tortie-torbie-cats-kittens-2646165290.html