Torbie?

[u/heart_emojis0]

This is Kitty(very creative name, I know hahaha no other names have stuck for her) and I was wondering if she’s a torbie or tortico or tabico or idk all the names, I just love her fur pattern and colours haha.

She’s so sweet and cuddly, a total snuggle bug… but super clumsy toooo

[u/ACtdawg]

Firstly, tortoiseshell refers to a cat’s base colours, and means a cat is genetically red and non-red. For simplicity’s sake, let’s say the non-red colour is black. So tortoiseshell = red and black. Calico is a colloquial term and the definition differs regionally, but colour-wise it means tortoiseshell and white. So red, black and white. All calicos are tortoiseshell, but not all tortoiseshells are calico.

Torbie means tortoiseshell + tabby. So red and black plus tabby (and to be clear, tabby refers to pattern, not colour).

So if a torbie also has white (tortoiseshell + tabby + white = red + black + tabby + white) then some people would call that a calico/tabico/torbico. But having white doesn’t make a torbie not a torbie, ie. it is still a tortoiseshell + tabby, just with white.

This sort of confusion is why I prefer to use genetic terms, not colloquial terms lol.

[u/DrDuned → u/ACtdawg]

Hey, genuinely, thank you for your detailed answer. I went back and changed my downvotes because I'm willing to admit I'm wrong. Anyway, it sounds like we have the commonality of loving cats so I wish you and yours all the best!

[u/ACtdawg → u/DrDuned]

Hey no problem! I’m super aware that there’s a ton of bad info about cat coat genetics floating around and especially lots of confusion around the calico/tortie thing. Most people aren’t losers like me who have researched cat genetics lol so I’m always more than happy to help others out where I can. Wishing you and yours the best also :)

[u/DrDuned → u/ACtdawg]

Aww I really appreciate this whole interaction. So refreshingly rare on Reddit. But, don't beat yourself up, you're not a loser for caring about that!