The rationale? The calico cat’s fur coloring of orange, black, and white are shared by the Maryland state bird, the Baltimore oriole, and the Maryland state insect, the Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly.Īnother fun fact - only three states in the U.S. In 2001, the calico cat became the official cat for the state of Maryland. Male calico cats are very rare since they only occur as the result of a genetic anomaly.Ĭalico cats are the official state cat of Maryland. Male cats typically only have one X chromosome, so they tend to be either black OR orange, but not both. Black and orange fur are both linked to the X chromosome, and since female cats have two X chromosomes, they can have both colors at once.

Without getting into too much detail, calico cats are almost always female since a cat’s coat coloring is linked to genetics. Just like torties, calico cats are most often female. As the ships sailed from port to port, the cats started to travel throughout the world and spread their unique fur and coat pattern genetics, too. It’s believed that Egyptian merchants took calico cats aboard their ships to help keep their vessels from being overrun with mice and rats. The orange mutant gene that’s found in calicos likely originated from Egypt and was traced to port cities along the Mediterranean Sea in France, Greece, Italy, and Spain. While there’s no way to be 100% certain where they originated from, one study traced calico cats along shipping trade routes in Europe and Northern Africa. Calico cats may have originated from Egypt.Ĭalico cats have been around for a long time.

Long haired tortoiseshell calico cat