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Luke
22-01-2007, 08:52 PM
Oh yes:shock:
Was visiting g-gran earlier and she lives on a very typical old fashioned Coventry 'avenue', she lives on the cusp of this big winding road and the houses are quite close at her part..anyway..as i walked down the pathway to where her house is, a rather large [well HUGE] longhaired dark tortie was walking across the low front garden fences following me..in the end i gave 'her' a stroke and fuss etc when a rather elderly gentlemen appeared from a front door of one of the houses and asked if i was being hassled by 'charlie' and I replied no, all was well. This man went onto laugh and say how 'Charlie' was always mugging passers by for fuss, and my response was 'Well she is gorgeous, who could resist?'
He gave me a funny look and said she?, since when have you seen a queeny that big!
Turns out this rather beautiful tortie was infact a male, and quite a geriatric at 17 too. Apparently he was acquired from a lady down the way as a tiny kitten.
It is quite strange though, i've never met a male tortoiseshell in my life! Let alone one who according to his owner sired a litter of kittens the weekend before he was booked in for the 'chop' :shock:
Curious...really curious!
dandysmom
22-01-2007, 08:55 PM
Most unusual, they're as scarce as the proverbial hens teeth!! And not sterile apparently if he really did sire those kittens....wow, that's an encounter to remember !!
Luke
22-01-2007, 09:00 PM
See i knew they 'could' exist, but was always told the males rarely survived after birth [no idea why, just what i was always led to believe].
According to his owner, 'Charlie' got 'frisky' with a little white female they had of a similar age who was intact as was a house cat and apparently 'back in the day, it wasn't the custom to *do* a house cat.
dandysmom
22-01-2007, 09:09 PM
Luke, here's a link to male torties: found this interesting! http://www.messybeast.com/mosaicism.htm#howcommon
Mags
22-01-2007, 10:26 PM
I would say that cat is worth a fortune then Luke! It's a wonder the vet has never mentioned that fact to the owner...... :)

My vet told me that a male tortie is extremely rare and would definately be sterile ........ :? Just goes to show they don't know everything !
Luke
22-01-2007, 10:28 PM
I would say that cat is worth a fortune then Luke! It's a wonder the vet has never mentioned that fact to the owner...... :)

My vet told me that a male tortie is extremely rare and would definately be sterile ........ :? Just goes to show they don't know everything !
I was always told this too by vets, cat breeders etc..i remember being told and reading the reason why once, but it slips my mind now, how male torties scantly survived past 'infancy' and any that did were ALWAYS sterile.
This old gent thought i was barking when i was telling him how rare a tortie male is! Apparently dear 'Charlie' has only been to the vets once to have the chop, could maybe explain why nothing was made a big deal of?
Sweet
22-01-2007, 10:31 PM
We want pics Luke, we want pics ;)

I was led to believe Torties only to be female, mind you.....wasnt until I had Violet I knew any of it ! x
charliebubs
23-01-2007, 12:42 PM
I was always told when working at Wood Green that torties are NEVER male, and I believed them!!!!! :?