As you can see, when looking at Vegas, she is multi-colored. Vegas has black, tan and a small amount of white/cream. Some of the things I find most interesting about Vegas’ coloration are: she has a two-tone chin and one tan hand. The interesting thing about her tan hand is that it has pink pads where the pads on her other three hands are black. Vegas is what is called a diluted tortoiseshell cat. Now, we’re not cat breeders and we’re not coloration experts but we were interested enough to do a little digging and learn more about tortoiseshell cats.

First off, let me differentiate tortoiseshell (“torties”) from calico’s. They are very similar but when a cat has more white than other colors, it is (probably) a calico. In addition, torties come in long and short hair varieties and have many color variations. I have learned that torties have been fairly highly regarded in different cultures. It is said that the first tortie came to be in Southeast Asia during a magic ritual. The Celtics believed torties to be good luck. The English thought that rubbing a wart with the tail of a tortie during the month of May would get rid of the wart. Japanese fishermen used torties as ship cats in an effort to stave off ancestral ghosts.