November 17, 2024, 6:58 am | Read time: 4 minutes
There are various statements and myths about cat coat colors. For instance, tricolor cats are said to bring good luck. But where does this superstition come from? And is it true that tricolor cats are always female?
“Black cats bring bad luck, tricolor cats bring good luck” is an old superstition that persists. Even today, cats with three different colors are commonly referred to as lucky cats. But what else do we know about these animals, sometimes called Calico, Tortie, or Tortoiseshell? PETBOOK explains the significance of lucky cats and whether they are always female.
How Do Tricolor Cats Develop?
Basically, cats have only two base tones for their fur: red and black. White fur is not an independently coded color but rather the absence of one. There is no pigment that produces white color. Instead, genetic markers override red and black, creating various other coat patterns.
These include markings, bicolor hairs, and tiger or striped patterns in the fur. Due to these additional genetic factors, white fur and a colorful mix of red and black sections can also occur. You can learn more in this article: Do You Know All Cat Coat Colors and Patterns?
For a tricolor cat to develop, a bit of luck is needed. It must have the gene for red and black fur as well as the spotting gene for white fur. Many lucky cats also have the tabby gene for wild-type patterns, which results in striped or spotted fur. With their wild mix of information, they have essentially hit the genetic jackpot.
Lucky Cats Have Very Colorful Litters
However, this is true only for females. These tricolor animals are already quite rare, but for males, it’s virtually impossible to develop three colors. The reason lies in the inheritance of coat color information, which is located on the X chromosome. Males have only one X chromosome, while the Y chromosome carries no genetic information about fur.
This also means that a male cat always inherits fur information from its mother. A red-and-white male cat can have a red-and-white spotted or red-black-white spotted mother. Since the female can only pass one X chromosome to male offspring, litters from tricolor cats are often very colorful and do not look particularly similar.
Do you know all the different colors and patterns of cats?
Why Kittens from the Same Litter Often Look So Different
Klinefelter Syndrome in Tricolor Male Cats
However, it can still happen that male cats sometimes show three coat colors. This is due to the so-called Klinefelter syndrome, a genetic mutation where an individual inherits two X chromosomes and one Y chromosome. In other words, they have the genetic pattern XXY instead of XY, which is typical for a male. This syndrome also occurs in humans and usually leads to reduced growth and smaller reproductive organs.
The Klinefelter syndrome in cats has not been thoroughly researched yet. However, it is known to occur when the chromosome set of the sperm or egg does not divide during cell division (meiosis). As a result, a fertilized cell contains a double chromosome pair instead of a single one.
If this happens in a male cat, it carries two X chromosomes and can also develop three colors. “Lucky male cats” are very rare and will likely remain so, as they are usually infertile, as a 2014 study based on tissue examination from the testis of a lucky male cat demonstrated.
Why Are Tricolor Cats Considered Lucky?
Since tricolor male cats are so rare, it’s usually not possible to breed tricolor offspring. Therefore, it remains a stroke of luck when the genetic information of the parent animals aligns so that red, black, spotting, and tabby genes come together. The likelihood of a lucky cat being born is really not very high.
Stories about lucky cats circulate in many cultures. In Japan, for example, with the legend of the Maneki-neko, which sailors took on ships. In Ireland, folklore suggests rubbing a lucky cat’s tail over warts. In the U.S. state of Maryland, the Calico was declared the designated cat and symbol of the state.
In Germany, there were long-standing myths about the lucky cat. Until 1964, the zoological reference work “Brehms Tierleben” stated: “A tricolor cat protects the house from fire and other misfortunes, shields people from fever, extinguishes fire if thrown into it, and is therefore called ‘fire cat.’ Whoever drowns it will have no luck or be unhappy for seven years; whoever kills it will have no luck; whoever hits it must do so from behind.”
Fortunately, this view is now considered completely outdated. It is hoped that everyone today agrees that a lucky cat should not be used for firefighting but rather cherished as a beloved pet with a very special coat.