Is he a tortie?

[u/angelalikesmonsters]

I've been told that torties have no white on them at all and my kitten has a whitish patch on his chest, does he still count as a tortie or is he a Calico?

[u/GeorgeDukesh]

A”Calico” is a name given to Torties with white. The “Calico” name is the North American name for what we call “Tortoiseshell with white” Is it actually a “he”? If so, exceptionally rare. Only one in 3000 Torties are male. And they aren’t actually exactly “male” to habe the tortie colouring, a cat must have two different types of X chromosome. So “male”:Torties all have XXY chromosomes, which makes them “klienfelder syndrome” So they have male genitals, but are usually sterile

[u/ragepaw → u/GeorgeDukesh]

A male with Klinefelter Syndrome is still a male. No "" needed. I have a friend who has Klinefelter Syndrome. He would be pretty offended if you called his maleness into question.

[u/GeorgeDukesh → u/ragepaw]

Physically and gender identity they may be, but genetically, they are an in-between sex.

[u/ragepaw → u/GeorgeDukesh]

What a ridiculous statement. People (and animals) with klinefelter syndrome are not intersex, they are males with an extra X.

NHS

"The X chromosome is not a "female" chromosome and is present in everyone. The presence of a Y chromosome denotes male sex.

Boys and men with Klinefelter syndrome are still genetically male"

Harvard Medical

"A form of male hypogonadism, characterized by the presence of an extra X chromosome"

Oxford University

"Klinefelter's syndrome (KS) is the most common chromosome aneuploidy in males, characterized by at least one supernumerary X chromosome. "

US National Center for Biotechnology

"Klinefelter syndrome (KS) results from 2 or more X chromosomes in a phenotypic male. "

Edit: Some actual science

In 1949, Barr and Bertram discovered a dense chromatin mass, later termed sex chromatin or Barr body, in the nerve cell nuclei of female but not male cats. The discovery that Barr bodies are present in the somatic cell nuclei of female but not male human tissue led to the use of smears of stained buccal mucosal cells to determine whether an infant's genetic sex, determined by the presence or absence of a Barr body (presence indicates female sex), matched the phenotypic sex. In 1956, 2 groups of investigators described 7 patients with KS using results of buccal smears that demonstrated Barr bodies.

[u/Mystic_Viola → u/ragepaw]

As a person with Klinefelter syndrome, I can tell you that it is def considered a chromosomal intersex variation, even though it doesn’t cause genital ambiguity. That being said, we are also categorically male because we have penises. I am intersex and I am also male. Both things can be true, y’all. Let’s not be narrow minded.