Do you have a tortise shell cat?

[Aurora63]

What exactly is a tortoise shell cat??

My kitty is grey, with an orange mask and orange feet, orange tufts through her fur, white belly. Is that a tortie, or some form of calico?

She prefers wide open spaces!! She is impossible to get into the kitty carrier. One time I put her in a box, she had scratched through the cardboard in 2 seconds flat. She's my sweetie though, very calm and collected in most situations.

 

[WDWBarb]

We had a tortie - she showed up in my life when I was 3 (she was my very first memory!) and she died when I was 23. She lived a long, long life.

And she was the ONLY cat I ever knew that insisted on burrowing under the blankets!

She also had a hiding place that we NEVER found. She lived with my grandmother for the majority of her life. She would go upstairs and we simply couldn't find her. Looked everywhere. No hint of a hiding place. Eventually she'd waltz back down the steps (as if she didn't know we'd been looking for her). Crazy cat.

 

[Piecey]

Reese is a tortie... she doesn't really "burrow" but she'll run and dart under the bed and start rolling around.
She usually only sticks around for a few minutes and then she's off to something else.

 

[mum4jenn]

We have one but she does not burrow. She only loves my Dh and is a scairdy cat. If anyone sneezes she jumps and runs.

 

[Family Fun Mom]

I have a tortie. She's adorable. I've never noticed her burrow. Not anymore than any other cat would do.

 

[Hoodie]

My one torti didn't burrow. My beautiful black Bombay does though.

Most recently she tried to get under the tree skirt. She forgets her backend sometimes!

 

[Laura]

What exactly is a tortoise shell cat??

My kitty is grey, with an orange mask and orange feet, orange tufts through her fur, white belly. Is that a tortie, or some form of calico?

She prefers wide open spaces!! She is impossible to get into the kitty carrier. One time I put her in a box, she had scratched through the cardboard in 2 seconds flat. She's my sweetie though, very calm and collected in most situations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Tortecat.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Tobysittingfunny.jpg

My brother's tortie looks like an orange tabby that had a fight with an ink bottle.

 

[KimmyDisneyNerd]

I have a tortie and she in no way likes to burrow. She is odd all around tho so maybe she is just being a rebel!

 

[DarthKTrava]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Tortecat.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Tobysittingfunny.jpg

My brother's tortie looks like an orange tabby that had a fight with an ink bottle.

That looks like my cat, Boo. Her mother and "auntie" are "muted" according to the lady at the Humane Society's Spay and Neuter Clinic... as they're grey instead of black.

 

[jwfla422]

Very cute DarthKTrava, maybe we found another "torti" trait...sitting in boxes!! LOL!

I have a long haired torti, but she doesn't burrow too much (she mainly likes to dig under the bed covers when she does), she's just crazy a lot (and sometimes she's too smart for her own good).

Everyone should post a picture of their torti!! This is a cute thread!

Here's "Milei" (like Miley Cyrus) being cute...

and then a little "devious"...

 

[MushyMushy]

Here's a muted torti -- looks a little like my cat, but my cat has a little more coloring.

http://pets.webshots.com/photo/1542164736038579586wUTfAI

 

[AmericangirlinFrance]

It's so funny you asked that because we wonder if it's a tortie trait as well! Our cat (mix of tortie & calico) & a compulsive burrower!! Under our blanket on our bed, under pillows, we have to be careful when walking on our rugs because she will burrow herself underneath them! She just lays there like a lump purring away! I think it's very cute but she gets very angry when we disrupt her, even if it's just a little peek to say hello, she will "yell" at us for disturbing her

I havent read the rest of the replies so I'm not sure if it's a trait to this breed. We've actually tried to research which cat breeds like to burrow but we havent found any info as of yet.

My calico does this. She likes to get under the covers. It is SO funny when you go to peek at her and she does her angry "leave me alone" meow! Sometimes I worry she can't breathe, or she gets too hot (she prefers to be under the electric blanket, and she has long hair), but she just loves it...

 

[iggbees]

our calico loves being under the covers. it's so cute, we'll hide her under there and she won't budge. our other 2 cats love being on top of the covers (2 tigers - one gray one orange) and hate burrowing.

here's pearl. i would say that her face looks more tortie than calico.

 

[DizBelle]

Here's our burrower at the age of about 7 weeks. She's 8 months old now. I'm going to try and get a picture of her under the bathroom rug (her favorite burrowing spot these days)

 

[Family Fun Mom]

What characteristics constitute a tortie? I have two cats from the same litter, the vets refer to the one as a tortie but not the other. They're sisters How can one be tortie and not the other?

 

[twinklebug]

My little gal isn't big on cameras

She's part cali / part torti. She doesn't burrow - but the darker and more out of the way, the better.

 

[R McKay]

A torti thread! Love it!! Our torti adopted us about three years ago. I'd never met one until she showed up. She is the sweetest, quirkiest most affectionate cat I've ever known. She's not much of a burrower, but she does love to get lost amongst the clothes in my closet. She'll hole up in bags and boxes, but I've had a lot of cats that do that. One of her oddest behaviors is her attraction to smells. She looooves bleach! Maybe that's fairly common with cats but we've never had one hone in on it the way she does. I always have to check for her before I turn on the dryer. The little poop will climb in and start rolling around on the clothes. She's also into strawberries. Loves the green tops. Reacts to them as if it were catnip. I looked it up online. Apparently it's related to catnip?! Who knew!

She's currently taken a liking to the Christmas village I spent 400,000 hours putting together this weekend. Godzilla kitty goes clomping through the snow trampling the trees and poor carolers then settles down for a long winter's nap. Sigh.

I will say she is the most cuddly cat we've had. A friend that also has a torti feels that that is a torti trait.

 

[twinklebug]

What characteristics constitute a tortie? I have two cats from the same litter, the vets refer to the one as a tortie but not the other. They're sisters How can one be tortie and not the other?

Both Calicos and torties (a version of calico) are black/orange/white/gry (some or all of the above)

Calicos are typically distinguished by solid blocks of color where as the torties are a mottled batch of color - hard to tell what color they are As you can see in my pic below, Gizmo is part cal (face, paws and her stomach are all solid blocks of color) but also part torti as her entire back is a swirl of darks and oranges.

Side note - almost all calicos are girls

 

[Gina]

What characteristics constitute a tortie? I have two cats from the same litter, the vets refer to the one as a tortie but not the other. They're sisters How can one be tortie and not the other?

A tortie has random patches of red and black (or variations of such), and maybe a few small spots of white. A calico has the same mottled coat, but with significant patches of white. All calicos are tortoiseshell, because of the mottled black/red coat, but not all torties are calicos.

 

[Family Fun Mom]

Here are my babies. Clementine and Delilah Mae, sisters from the same litter.