Many of them have wonderfully evocative names, like mackerel, smoked, tortoiseshell and calico. But due the dazzling number of coat pattern possibilities, it’s not surprising that people get confused about how to use all their names correctly! Today I’ll break down the distinction between a tortoiseshell cat and calico cat, so that you never have to be confused by the difference again! Contentsĭue partly to chance, and partly to the hard work of dedicated cat breeders, it’s now possible to find cats in a large number of different patterns. In fact, most tortoiseshell calico cats can be more accurately described as “tortoiseshell and white” or simply just “calico”. However, it’s a rather clumsy descriptive term. The term tortoiseshell calico cat usually refers to a tricolor female cat with patches of black, red and white fur.