Tortoiseshell cat

Tortoiseshell is a coat colouration in domestic cats named for its similarity to tortoiseshell pattern. Tortoiseshell cats, or torties for short, combine two colours other than white in an asymmetrical distribution, either closely mixed ('brindled') or in larger patches. The two colours always consist of one eumelanistic (black, blue, chocolate, lilac, cinnamon or fawn) and one phaeomelanistic (red or cream) colour. The most common tortoiseshell colouration is black tortoiseshell (black and red). Tortoiseshell can occur in combination with other cat coat patterns, such as tabby and colourpoints. Tortoiseshell cats with the tabby pattern in their eumelanistic colour are tortoiseshell tabby cats, sometimes referred to as torbies or torbie cats.

Like the tricoloured tortoiseshell-and-white or calico (in North American English) cats, tortoiseshell cats are almost exclusively female. Male tortoiseshells are rare and are usually sterile. Tortoiseshell markings appear in many different cat breeds, as well as in non-purebred domestic cats. This pattern is especially preferred in the Japanese Bobtail breed.

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