Nature is so cool, especially when it results in an extremely rare animal being born and all of us getting the chance to swoon over it. That’s the case with an extremely rare cat you’re about to meet who is not only Calico, but also a boy.
Male Calico and Tortoiseshell cats are extremely rare. So rare, in fact, that there is a roughly 1/3000 chance of this rare coloring occurring in a boy cat.
In the clip uploaded to the Instagram account for @XXYCalico, people are in love with this extremely rare cat. One person commented, “Omg his big grinchy paws and his big squirrelly tail.”
Related: Tiny Calico Kitten Turned Stunning Queen Is Magazine Cover Material
Another person added, “Don’t think I’ve ever seen a male Calico! So handsome.” Someone else responded, “What an absolutely amazing, unique cat!”
TreeHugger explains, “Male Calicos are the unicorns of the cat world. Only females carry the chromosomal combination needed for the calico pattern, but every now and then, a male cat will develop an extra chromosome and come out with the signature tri-colored coat. The chances of this happening are only about one in 3,000.”
Someone else responded, “This is such a rare cat! No one ever finds a male calico! Plus, he’s absolutely beautiful and I love his huge paws.” He’s also a polydactyl cat, which means he has six or more toes on each front paw!
Here’s another clip of this sweet guy.
TreeHugger also explains in the above linked article, “Genetics are the reason calico tomcats are so rare. Coat color in cats is typically a sex-linked trait—in other words, color is coded into certain chromosomes. Both male and female cats can be orange (a mutant gene) or black because the gene that controls those colors is on the X chromosome. And while females can have both colors, because they have two X chromosomes, males, who have one X and one Y chromosome, can only have one or the other unless they have a genetic abnormality. In that case, three chromosomes—including two Xs—are present.”
All we know is that we think this cat is totally adorable!
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The post Proud Cat Mama Shows Off Her Super Rare Calico Kitten and Everyone’s In Awe appeared first on Parade Pets.
