sunbathing kitten

A calico cat (10-month old) is sunbathing wearing a harness and leash.

A calico cat (US English) is a domestic cat of any breed with a tri-color coat. The calico cat is most commonly thought of as being 25% to 75% white with large orange and black patches; however, they may have other colors in their patterns. Sometimes a variation occurs with cream and grey patches that is called a muted calico. Calicoes are almost exclusively female except under rare genetic conditions.

A calico cat is not to be confused with a tortoiseshell, which has a black undercoat and a mostly mottled coat of black/red or blue/cream with relatively few to no white markings. However, outside North America, the calico pattern is more commonly called tortoiseshell and white.[1] In the province of Quebec, Canada, they are sometimes called chatte d'Espagne (French for '(female) cat of Spain'). Other names include brindle, tricolor cat, mikeneko (三毛猫) (Japanese for 'triple fur cat'), samsaek goyangi (삼색 고양이) (Korean for 'three colored cat'), and lapjeskat (Dutch for 'patches cat'). Calicoes with diluted coloration (blue tortoiseshell and white) have been called calimanco or clouded tiger.[2] Occasionally, the tri-color calico coloration is combined with a tabby patterning, called tortoiseshell tabby with white. This calico-patched tabby may be referred to as caliby[3] or torbico.

Derived from a colorful printed Calico fabric, when the term "calico" is applied to cats it refers only to a color pattern of the fur, not to a cat breed or any reference to any other traits, such as their eyes.[4] Formal standards set by professional and show animal breeders limit the breeds among which they permit registration of cats with calico coloration; those breeds are the Manx cat, American Shorthair, Maine Coon, British Shorthair, Persian cat, Arabian Mau, Japanese Bobtail, Exotic Shorthair, Siberian, Turkish Van, Turkish Angora, and Norwegian Forest cat.

Because the genetic determination of coat colors in calico cats is linked to the X chromosome, calicoes are nearly always female,[5] with one color linked to the maternal X chromosome and a second color linked to the paternal X chromosome.[4][6] In most cases, males are only one color (for instance, black) as they have only one X chromosome. Male calicoes can happen when a male cat has two X chromosomes (Klinefelter syndrome, with XXY sex chromosomes and generally they are sterile); the condition is a chimera, with two different cell types;[7] or, rarely, when some skin cells of the developing kitten spontaneously mutate.

Some calico cats, called "dilute calicoes", may be lighter in color overall. Dilutes are distinguished by having grey (known as blue), cream, and gold colors instead of the typical colors along with the white.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calico_cat