Calicos and Kin

Over the past several years, cats have been fast replacing dogs as the number 1 family pet. The cat show halls feature all breeds in all their varieties of beautiful colors. The most striking of these color blends are the cats with coats of orange and black, some with the addition of white. These colors are not only of special attraction to the eye but are steeped in mystery, legend, and lore.

Although there are many books about the purebred cats, there are very few about calicos, scientifically known as the tortoiseshell-calico cats. This book specializes in only these colors, their history, their legends, and their facts. Not only is the tortoiseshell calico a color breed of its own but a color of many breeds of cats. Just as the paint and palomino horses are color breeds, so is the tortoiseshell-calico cat; she deserves her own place as a color breed, as well as a color within a breed.