I have calico withdrawal symptoms...

Ahhhhh how lovely Dragonella. So pleased for you.

GUESS WHO turned up today after four months' absence, and is currently sunning herself on a pile of junk in our garden?????

I can't believe it!

She clearly hasn't struggled home for miles and looks perfectly well fed, so I assume they never moved and were just keeping her in.

I am so so happy!!

I thought calico (of cats) was the American for tortoiseshell. My favourite sort of cat.

Beautiful pictures, all of them, and I am a bit jealous, as we don't have any animals now.

I'm loving all these adorable cats!

Trold, standing on me , and Storm, his dear departed brother, by my side, on our boat. They adored sailing, especially Storm, who constituted himself chief engineer's mate and followed DH into the engine-room .

Thanks for all the lovely pictures. For those who don’t know the term calico is applied to cats who have a three colour coat with some white in. We used to refer as Minnie as a tortoiseshell cat (tortie) but my cousin who is a huge cat lover and fund raiser for The Cats Protection League told us the correct term is calico as torties don’t have white in their coats. We are primarily dog lovers but our son and DIL’s cats have won us over and we adore Minnie.

Ah, Minnie is adorable.

This is Minnie

Our son and daughter-in-law have a lovely one called Minnie. They had her along with her brother, who was a ginger cat, from the RSPCA when they were kittens. She is quite small and very timid, she usually hides from visitors but eventually plucks up courage to come and see us. She is a house cat because they both work full time but when they are out in the garden she does venture out but never goes out of the garden. Sadly her brother died of liver disease a few years ago so she is very spoilt.

*big

My calico (pictured above) has an interesting history.

She was one of a colony of cats in a bit apartment complex opposite my school in Shanghai. There were HUNDREDS of them. All calicos. A friend of mine was going to work on her electric scooter one day, when one of the cats came up to her to be stroked. She is an animal lover so scooped the cat up and put her in her scooter basket and drove her to school, where she dropped her off with another friend (my best friend :-) ) who is a one woman cat rescue society.

The calico girl stayed with my friend and her six other cats for the rest of the summer. Then when I returned to work after the summer holiday, best friend rehomed two of her seven cats with me.

A small fortune later, and the two Chinese street cats have lived in the UK in 3 different houses and have also spent a year in Spain with me. Back in England now tho. What a pampered pair.

Opening this thread surprised me, the only Calico I’d heard of is fabric!!

Dragonella, we had a visiting cat too. He came every day. He would hunt in the garden, caught mice and rats, I even saw him with a mole one day.
He would come inside and sit on DH's knee.
His family moved away too, and we miss him. I never knew his name.

Paddy my present moggy is definitely a personality.

My previous 2 BSH were positively regal.

I love all cats and would love another but I’d hate to put Paddy’s nose out!

My sister runs a cat charity, her present count of her own cats is 18.

Lovely girl then. My calico girl (above) tolerated my DGS being a bit of a lout for 2 years but has decided now to take no more of his s**t. He took his slightly scratched hand to his mum last week saying in amazement 'X hit me!' Hopefully he will learn to show her more respect now.

Sorry, hijacked thread. Molly is not a Calico but she is the sweetest tempered cat we have ever had. Will accept being carted around by DGD and has never raised a paw in anger!

This is Molly. She is currently sitting on the bed waiting for me to finish my morning cuppa and iPad perusal. She is getting impatient because after that she knows she will be groomed and get her morning Dreamies.

FannyCornforth Yes, Turkish Vans love water and there are actually film clips on YouTube of them swimming in the sea off the Van area of Turkey. Lottie has always loved water and will sit happily in a puddle and splash with her paws.

She is also extremely lively and very vocal with a much louder meow than normal.

What is Rosie like?

Sparklefizz - what is Lottie's personality like?

Sparklefizz are Turkish Vans the ones that like water?
Rosie is 100% Maine Coon. She was bred by my aunty who is a top breeder. (This isn't a snobby thing - I hope that it doesn't sound it!)
Sir Roy Strong has one of my aunty's cats, she took me to meet him! (This bit probably is a snobby thing! )

Beautiful photos of gorgeous pets. I could look at them all day!

FannyCornforth My Lottie is actually half Turkish Van (which I had never heard of but googled to learn more.) Turkish Van cats have very bushy tails like a fox's brush, and the people I got her from had both parent cats, and the dad was a huge Turkish Van cat, more the size of a Maine Coon.

Your lovely Rosie looks like she might be half TV too.

They are all beautiful! thanks for cheering me up

He is exceptionally loving of her, FannyCornforth. She, however, is a little madam and is OK with or without him. I hope for his sake, he goes first. But she is the unhealthy fatty, so that is doubtful.