This little calico boy, yes, a boy, is the second male calico Dr. Smith at Central Texas Cat Hospital has ever seen in his entire 54 years of practice.
He is truly like a rare gemstone!
“Not only is he a male calico but he is a Scottish Fold on top of that. He really is 1 in a million!” they wrote via Facebook.
Only one out of every 3,000 calico cats is born male, according to a study by the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri. Why is it that male calico cat rare?
Just like us humans, cats have two sex chromosomes that determine gender. Female cats have only X chromosomes while on the other side, male cats have both X and Y chromosomes. A calico or tortoiseshell must have two X chromosomes which means the kitty will be female 99.99% of time.
The calico pattern exists in male cats is because the kitty has an extra X-chromosome: two X, one Y (male). In humans, this condition is called, Klinefelter Syndrome.
