Tortoiseshell cats very often have only two colors, red and black, with no white at all, but color include black, orange (red), brown, black, cream, cinnamon, and blue. While a tortie coat might not include any white at all, calico coats always include white. Both have the same colors (white, orange, and black) but the patterns are different. Their differences lie in their special color patterns.
The two colors along with the white are most commonly orange and black, but can come in a great variety of the different shades of the three main colors.
Other times there is very little white, almost to the point where you don’t know it’s there, and that’s a tortoiseshell (or commonly known as tortie). Sometimes there is a lot of white, which is referred to as a Calico. Tricolor refers to a coat color that is the combination of 2 colors plus white. No, like tabbys they are only a color pattern that is found in many breeds.
Calicos, tortoiseshells, and torbies all belong to a category of cat colors called tricolor. Let's start off by talking about what calicos and tortoiseshells are.
