An extremely rare male calico kitten was born in West Palm Beach on Friday.
Calico cats are almost always female due to the makeup of genetics in the cat. A rare genetic condition can produce a male.
That is what happened at a foster care home here.
Photo courtesy: WPEC via Kelly Real
“Only 1 in 3000 calicos that are born are male. These cats are so rare that they have often been referred to as the “unicorn” of cats,” says Kelly Real, the cat’s caregiver. “Those who have worked in veterinary practice or in shelters can work for years or even decades without ever seeing one in person.”
She adds that what makes the cats so rare is that they typically have a genetic abnormality which gives them three sex chromosomes, XXY, also known as Klinefelter Syndrome in humans.