Calico cat Coloring Pages

A Cat with Three Colors

A Calico cat is a cat with fur in three colors: white, brown, and black.
"Mi-ke" means fur of three colors.
Actually, "Calico cat" is not the name of a breed like a Persian or Siamese cat. It is the name of the fur colors!
So, any cat born with three fur colors is called a Calico cat.
A cat with no white and a mix of just two colors, brown and black, is called a "tortoiseshell cat."
In Japan, short-haired Japanese Calico cats are seen a lot.
The spots have different shapes and sizes, and the colors are mixed differently on every single cat!

Brown and Black Spots on White Fur

In the first coloring page, a Calico cat is sitting down and looking right at you.
It has brown and black spots on a white body.
Its tail goes out to the right side of its body.
It is looking straight at you, so you can see the patterns all over its body, from its face to its toes!
Where the spots are on the face can make the cat look very different.
Think about where to color brown and where to color black as you color it in.
If you put it next to the black cat coloring page, which only has black fur, you can really see the difference in fur colors!

Nice and Warm at the Kotatsu

In the second page, a Calico cat is inside a kotatsu in a Japanese-style room in winter.
Only its face and front paws are poking out from the floral kotatsu blanket.
On top of the kotatsu table, there is a basket of mandarin oranges and a teacup.
Behind the cat is a shoji screen, and the floor is made of tatami mats.
Its body is tucked all the way inside the blanket, so it looks nice and warm!
It looks so cute with its two front paws resting together outside the blanket.
Cats love warm places!

Looking at the Snowy Garden from the Engawa

In the third page, on a snowy day, the cat is sitting on a cushion on the engawa porch of an old Japanese house.
A teacup and a mandarin orange are placed next to it.
Outside the glass door, you can see a snow-covered pine tree, a stone lantern, and a pond.
There is also a nandina plant with red berries, a camellia that blooms in winter, and a bamboo fence.
White snow is gently falling from the sky.
The Calico cat is quietly watching the falling snow.

Pick 3 Colors

You color a Calico cat with 3 colors: white, brown, and black.
If you use bright orange or light brown for the brown parts, it will look just like a real Calico cat!
Instead of coloring the black parts super dark, layer black over dark gray to make the fur look soft.
For the white parts, leave the white paper as it is.
If you add a little light gray shade under the belly and paws, the white fur will look soft and fluffy.

Put the Spots Wherever You Like

Every Calico cat has different spots, so you can color brown and black wherever you want!
Putting brown spots and black spots right next to each other makes it look like a real Calico cat.
Putting spots on the head, back, and tail, while keeping the belly and legs white, is also a great idea.
Color the eyes yellow, gold, or green, and leave a little white shine in them.
Coloring the nose and the inside of the ears light pink makes it super cute.
Gently move your colored pencil along the fur lines to make the edges of the spots look natural.

A Winter Japanese Room and a Snowy Garden

For the second page, if you color the flower patterns on the kotatsu blanket red and yellow, it will look very bright and pretty!
Color the mandarin orange with orange, and color the tatami mats light yellow-green or yellowish brown.
For the third page, leave the snow white and just add a little light blue for the shadows to make it look real.
Color the pine needles dark green, and the nandina berries and camellia flowers red, so they stand out in the white snow.
It is also fun to color the Beckoning cat coloring page using Calico cat colors!

Almost All Calico Cats Are Female

Did you know that almost all Calico cats are female?
The instruction for making a cat's fur brown or black is in part of the body's blueprint, called the X chromosome.
Females have two X chromosomes, so they can show both brown and black fur.
Males have only one X chromosome, so they usually show only brown or black fur.
That is why male Calico cats are very rare!
People say a male Calico cat is a special cat born with two X chromosomes.

Male Calico Cats Are Guardians of Ships

Long ago in Japan, people believed that putting a male Calico cat on a ship would bring good luck and keep the ship from sinking.
When a Japanese research team went to Antarctica for the first time, a male Calico cat named Takeshi went with them!
Takeshi spent the winter at Showa Station with the team members.

"Mi-ke" Is Popular in Other Countries Too

In English, cats with fur like a Calico cat are called "Calico."
A cat breed called the Japanese Bobtail, which comes from short-tailed Japanese cats, is loved around the world with the name "Mi-ke."
Japanese Calico cats are famous all over the world, aren't they?