dgk wrote in message . ..
I suppose I could check Google but I'm here so...

Someone at the cat show said that all tri-color (or tri-colour for my
British friends) cats are female, or, if male, are sterile.

Seems odd but he was showing his purebreds so maybe he knew what he
was talking about. Does white count as a color?


Tortishells are almost always female. Male tortishells are almost
always sterile. There almost never is an always with animals.
They'll go out of their way to prove you wrong. Male tortishells are
almost always sterile because they need to have two X chromosomes to
provide the color. A male cat that is XXY is most often going to be
sterile. There are exceptions though. A male cat can have cells that
are XXY and have cells that are normal XY. These males can be
tortishells and not be sterile because they can make some normal
sperm. So it is possible, but not probable to have a non-sterile
tortishell.