Tortoiseshell (or tortie) is a pattern of two colours: red and black, or their modified/diluted forms. These two colours are intermingled and the cat may range from appearing very mottled to having defined patches of the two colours.

Gender Restriction

In real life, almost all torties are female, as this pattern is sex-linked. All torties and torbies that wish to be A-registered in the UKC must be females. Male torties/torbies may be P-registered. Note that this restriction does not apply to the Calico breed, where males may be A-registered without fault.

The Tortoiseshell Pattern

The look of tortoiseshell cats can be divided into two main looks:

• Patched - the red and black fur forms in large patches, often with a few smaller patches although large patches make up the majority of the coat; paintballs or tortoiseshell textures can be used to achieve this look. Mingled fur on a Patched pattern is not realistic
• Mingled - the red and black is more randomly distributed with red and black fur well mixed; tipping textures can be used to achieve this look. However as the distribution of colour is random it is possible for patches to form infrequently. Only rare small spots are possible on the body, however medium to large patches and sleeves are possible on the head, throat/front of chest, legs and tail. As a guideline for size, no patch on the body can be any wider or taller than the distance from the outer left eye to the outer right eye (i.e. the distance between the eyes including the eyes themselves). Anything more than a few patches on the body of a Mingled cat is unrealistic.

As the options for this pattern are highly variable please be aware that sometimes a steward may deem a cat unrealistic, even if it appears to technically be following the guidelines here. There are too many possibilities to sum up the entirety of realism here - if you are unsure, always use real examples of cats for inspiration.

Colour Distribution

Unless otherwise specified in the breed standard, there are no exact requirements for the distribution of black/red in the coat, as long as the cat can be defined as tortoiseshell. A cat with a lot of the black colour on it may be referred to as 'cold' while one with a lot of red on it may be referred to as 'warm'. Both cold/warm torties appear in real life, with cold ones being more common. Cats with an extremely uneven distribution of black/red are uncommon.

The cat above shows what it probably the most uneven the colour distribution of a tortie is allowed to be

Catz with high degrees of white spotting, white may obscure the true distribution of the tortoiseshell colours. It it recommended that if your cat has a high degree of white spotting that you make sure the second colour is still visible somewhere

Allowed Colour Combinations

For all of the combos listed, red/cream areas (the second colours listed, after 'with') may be solid or show a tabby pattern. Due to genetics, it is more realistic, and preferred, that these red/cream areas show a tabby pattern, however it is not required. The black-derived colour is always solid in a tortoiseshell - when striped, the cat is instead referred to as Torbie. Where a tabby pattern is present, any tabby body pattern (classic, mackerel, spotted or ticked) is permitted (as long as it is allowed in the breed), and it must adhere to the pattern guidelines set out in the Tabby document.

Examples of torties with solid red/cream areas (left) and tabby patterned red/cream areas (right)

On a mingled cat, the tabby striping may be less visible (if visible at all) on the body than on the head, legs and tail. Furthermore, due to texture limitations, no visible tabby pattern is expected on the mingled areas (the areas that use a tipping texture) - however, hexers that are aiming for the most realism may want to display a tabby pattern on the patched areas. If a tabby pattern is used on the patched areas, it must match the red/cream colour used for the mingled areas

Below are the accepted tortie combinations, with accepted red/cream colours (the 'second' colour) split into Solid (mingled & patched), Tabby (mingled) and Tabby (patched) for each combination

Name	Black/Blue Colour	with	Red/Cream Colour (Solid, mingled & patched)	Red/Cream Colour (Tabby, mingled)	Red/Cream Colour (Tabby, patched)
Black Tortoiseshell		with		Light with dark striping	with striping with striping Light with dark striping
Chocolate Tortoiseshell		with		Light with dark striping	with striping with striping Light with dark striping
Cinnamon Tortoiseshell		with		Light with dark striping	with striping Light with dark striping
Blue Tortoiseshell		with		Light with dark striping	with striping with striping Light with dark striping
Lilac Tortoiseshell		with		Light with dark striping	with striping with striping Light with dark striping
Fawn Tortoiseshell		with		Light with dark striping	with striping with striping Light with dark striping

Tortie in Other Patterns

With White Spotting - Calico

Many breeds allow white spotting to be combined with the tortie pattern. A cat that has at least 1/3 white is commonly called a calico (while Calico is a separate breed in Petz, in real life it is only a colour term, not an actual breed).

Realism note: UKC does not currently distinguish between Mingled and Patched when it comes to adding white patterns, however if you are combining the above patterns with white, be aware that realistically Mingled torties rarely have anything more than low white. Moderate to high white cats tend to be Patched.

Tabby

Tortie can be combined with tabby to create a pattern called torbie. Please see the separate Torbie doc for details.

Colourpoint, Mink, and Burmese

Tortie can be combined with colourpoint, mink, and burmese to create tortie points, tortie minks, and tortie burmese. Please see the individual doc pages for more details on specific colour combinations permitted. Distribution should always follow this (tortie) page's guidelines.

Smoke, Shaded & Chinchilla

Tortie can be combined with smoke, shaded, and chinchilla to create tortie smokes, shaded silver/golden torties, and silver/golden chinchilla torties. Please see the Smoke, Shaded & Chinchilla doc for more details.

Example gallery

Below is a gallery of tortoiseshell patterned catz, either in just the tortie pattern or combined with other patterns. Many more combinations than these are acceptable, this is just to provide some visual guidance to the text above

A blue patched tortie with white in the tuxedo pattern	A black patched tortie with white in the tuxedo pattern	A black patched tortie with white in the bicolour pattern
A blue patched tortie point with gradually fading points	A black mingled tortie with white in the bicolour pattern	A black (seal) patched tortie point with body shading, bleached red areas and white in the tuxedo pattern
A blue patched tortie with white in the tuxedo pattern	A lilac (platinum) patched tortie mink with white in the bicolour pattern	A black (seal) patched tortie point with white in the bicolour pattern
A chocolate patched tortie. Note that the cat's hairless (velour) pattern affects the depth of the red colour of the tortie pattern in this cat, hence the lighter red colour on the body (100) than the furred areas/points (60)	A black mingled tortie	A black mingled tortie
A black mingled tortie	A black patched tortie smoke with white in the tuxedo pattern	A black patched tortie smoke with white in the tuxedo pattern
A black patched tortie with white in the harlequin pattern	A chocolate patched tortie with white in the bicolour pattern. Note that the cat's hairless (fully hairless) pattern affects the depth of both the black and red colours of the tortie pattern in this cat, hence the lighter colours on the body (40 & cinnamon) than the denser furred areas/points. Note that this cat is not A-reg, as a skin texture must replace the white in fully hairless catz	A blue patched tortie smoke point
A blue patched tortie shaded (silver) with white in the tuxedo pattern	A black patched tortie shaded (silver) with white in the tuxedo pattern. Note that this cat is not a-reg, as the tabby barring extends too far down to the base of the tail for a shaded cat	A lilac (platinum) patched tortie mink with white in the mitted pattern
A lilac or fawn mingled tortie	A blue patched tortie shaded (silver) with white in the tuxedo pattern	A black patched tortie with white in the bicolour pattern
A lilac patched tortie smoke with white in the bicolour pattern	A blue patched tortie with white in the tuxedo pattern	A black patched tortie with white in the mitted pattern
A blue patched tortie with white in the bicolour pattern	A blue patched tortie point with white in the tuxedo pattern	A lilac patched tortie with white in the van pattern
A blue patched tortie with white in the bicolour pattern	A lilac or fawn patched tortie point	A blue patched tortie smoke with white in the bicolour pattern
A blue patched tortie with white in the tuxedo pattern	A black (seal) mingled tortie point	A black (seal) mingled tortie point with white in the tuxedo pattern
A black patched tortie with white in the bicolour pattern	A black (seal) patched tortie point with bleached red areas and white in the bicolour pattern	A lilac (platinum) or fawn tortie mink with white in the bicolour pattern
A blue patched tortie point with white in the mitted pattern