By: Paulina Jenkins..
In all cats there found to be 19 pairs of kitty chromosomes. One set is inherited from the mother; the other set is from the father. These kitty chromosomes determine the sex of the offspring and can be either X or Y chromosomes.
It is really quite fascinating how this works. The mother cat gives the X chromosome, while the father cat can give either X or Y. whichever one the father cat gives is what determines the sex of the kitten. The kitty chromosomes that the father cat gives also determine the fur color and type.
A male calico or tortoiseshell cat has two X and one Y chromosomes. All female cats have two X kitty chromosomes that contain genes creating the three calico pattern colors. A male calico or tortoiseshell has only one X chromosome. This X chromosome gives the fur color of orange or black. In the calico cat there is a gene for the white color of the calico pattern.
It may sound a bit confusing; a male calico or tortoiseshell could either be of the XY pattern or XXY combination. A female cat possesses the XX chromosome pattern. A male calico or tortoiseshell is very rare and will always be sterile. For this reason, it is not possible to mate a female calico with a male calico or tortoiseshell cat.
For a cat to be a calico or tortoiseshell it must have the two X chromosomes. These X chromosomes are responsible for the fur colors and they are inherited from the mother only. Should the kitten end up with two X chromosomes and a Y chromosome then it will be a sterile male calico and tortoiseshell.
Article Source: http://www.articleselections.com
About the Author: Paulina Jenkins has a great website on cats. Learn about kitty chromosomes. What do you know about kitty chromosomes how it affects the gender and fur colors of a cat.
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