Posted: 7/18/2010 12:52:27 PM EDT
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Ever seen a 3 color male cat?
I'm not a cat expert by a long shot, but we have a feral colony that has taken up residence near us. The population has really exploded. Over time, we've grown attached to a lot of them. Some are tame enough to pet, but most stay at arm's length. Long story short, I've been trapping them and getting them fixed at a spay/neuter clinic. So far, have trapped and fixed 24 cats. I have 2 more that I'm taking down tomorrow. Hoping to catch two more, because I have 2 more traps. He's not really a part of our colony, but I've had all the Tom's fixed, and the alpha Tom who was pretty nasty has been fixed and relocated. He's been hanging around the past few days, so we were able to trap him. I caught a feral Tom today that is mostly white, but has some black and tan in him. Thought it was pretty weird. I know it is not usual. My wife thinks he might be a "designer cat." I'd never heard of that. Whatever the case, I think he is pretty unusual. Crappy picture of him. He's pretty pissed off right now. I suppose I would be too if I was gonna get my nuts cut off tomorrow. He has blue eyes, and I think he is partially blind or has eye problems. 
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Quoted:
do they do it for free? To get my dog fixed was about $300 or do you get a group discount? For feral cats, it is $15 to spay/neuter. Rabies shot is required, which is another $5. I do the distemper shot, which is another $10. So $30/cat. The clinic is in Avondale Estates, which is a hippie area near Atlanta, and is 25 miles from the house. 100 miles on the wife's van, plus 2-4 hours of time between traffic and dropping off and picking up. It ain't exactly cheap, but nowhere near what a regular vet charges. They cut off the tip of the left ear so that you can tell from a distance which ones have been fixed already. |
You are a good guy to do all that OP.
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Not uncommon, imo. He actually looks like my buddy, Mauser.
Mauser is part Siamese which is where he gets his coloring––and his love of the sound of his own voice  . Your kitteh there looks like he may also have some Siamese in him, judging by his face and the coloring on his head. What is rare, though is if the male kitteh has a calico pattern to his coat. Calico pattern is supposed to occur in female cats only, but every now and then it will occur in male cats.
Here's Mr. Mauser with his Marlin. 
Here's a better picture of Mr. Mauser. It's a little dark, but the blotches on his back get darker in places and his tail is a dark brown and gets lighter toward the end. 
Mauser the day I brought him inside (he was a stray). He's got blue eyes just like your guy does. Mauser isn't blind, but he has trouble sometimes seeing small objects close to him (like if I put a toy mouse or a treat at his feet). 
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do they do it for free? To get my dog fixed was about $300 or do you get a group discount? We have a low cost spay and neuter 2 blocks away from me. They did both cats (male) for under $60 per. Females are slightly more expensive. I suspect if you look you can find one of these near you. May require going into ghetto to find one. NEVER, EVER, feed strays they multiply. |
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Quoted:
Not uncommon, imo. He actually looks like my buddy, Mauser. Mauser is part Siamese which is where he gets his coloring––and his love of the sound of his own voice . Your kitteh there looks like he may also have some Siamese in him, judging by his face and the coloring on his head. What is rare, though is if the male kitteh has a calico pattern to his coat. Calico pattern is supposed to occur in female cats only, but every now and then it will occur in male cats.
Here's Mr. Mauser with his Marlin. http://i1012.photobucket.com/albums/af242/Identiaetlos/IMG_0005-2-1.jpg Here's a better picture of Mr. Mauser. It's a little dark, but the blotches on his back get darker in places and his tail is a dark brown and gets lighter toward the end. http://i1012.photobucket.com/albums/af242/Identiaetlos/0309102334a-1.jpg Mauser the day I brought him inside (he was a stray). He's got blue eyes just like your guy does. Mauser isn't blind, but he has trouble sometimes seeing small objects close to him (like if I put a toy mouse or a treat at his feet). http://i1012.photobucket.com/albums/af242/Identiaetlos/IMG_0001-7-1.jpg If you weren't in Cali, I'd think these guys were brothers. They definitely look a lot a like. Gotcha on the calico thing. I thought it was no 3 colored males, didn't realize it was calico males that are rare. Need to go try and change their papers and try to give 'em a little bit of food and water. I'm hoping the tuxedo kitten I caught is a boy too. Only have to rehab them for a day. Does your cat have any eye problems? This guy's eyes are crossed, and he walks around very gingerly. |
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If you weren't in Cali, I'd think these guys were brothers. They definitely look a lot a like. Gotcha on the calico thing. I thought it was no 3 colored males, didn't realize it was calico males that are rare. Need to go try and change their papers and try to give 'em a little bit of food and water. I'm hoping the tuxedo kitten I caught is a boy too. Only have to rehab them for a day. Does your cat have any eye problems? This guy's eyes are crossed, and he walks around very gingerly. I've never heard the no 3 color male cats. Perhaps it is a rarity, but I've seen them before and not just in your guy and Mauser. Then again, I have a female red tabby which is equally rare as the male calicos, and a gray cat with a spotted tortie-ish pattern that no cat breeder has been able to place, so maybe rare cats tend to find me somehow. When I first got Mauser he had a cross-eye problem, but after I got him all fixed up and taken care of (he had worms really bad and was malnourished) his cross-eyes seemed to correct themselves. He does have problems seeing small things if you put them right in front of him––like treats, or small cat toys. I can't say whether your kitteh's eyes will right themselves or not. It might be just a condition he has to live with. Your guy is a very pretty kitteh, btw. Is he really big, too? Mauser is a ginormous cat. If he stands on his hind legs and reaches up as far as he can, he can reach my hips and I'm 5'10". Eta: For him to be a true calico, he will need to have a definitive reddish color splotches, or blue. If he looks closer to Mauser, then he has a Colorpoint coat pattern. Colorpoint cats will have dark coloring near the face, paws and tail, and lighter versions of the same color across the body. I guess the same condition that causes the colorpoint pattern also increases the frequency of cross-eyes, too, which would explain the crosseyes in your cat. |
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Mauser the day I brought him inside (he was a stray). He's got blue eyes just like your guy does. Mauser isn't blind, but he has trouble sometimes seeing small objects close to him (like if I put a toy mouse or a treat at his feet). http://i1012.photobucket.com/albums/af242/Identiaetlos/IMG_0001-7-1.jpg 
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Per Mrs Brundoggie, DVM, "xxy chromosome calico male"
ETA: She didn't see the pic, only responded to a "3 point kitty" Sorry, but none of the cats pictured in this thread are "part-siamese" unless the part is very small to the point of no point of all. Siamese are pointed cats, meaning, the nose and feet are darker than the rest of the coat. They are all very pretty kitties nonetheless. |
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Tabbies, yes.
Calicos, no. Supposedly the calico gene is sex-linked and only is expressed in females. There are a bunch of different breeds of cats, so there might be other types of three colored cats. ETA: I remember now that there are some male calicos, rarely, but they are sterile. |