What is a Tortie Point Siamese?

A tortie point Siamese is a Siamese cat that has points with a tortoiseshell pattern rather than being solid-colored. The points are the areas of darker coloration on the face, ears, nose, legs, feet and tail.

There are seven types of tortie point Siamese cats: seal, blue, chocolate, lilac, cinnamon, caramel and fawn. To achieve a tortie point, a purebred of one of these cats must be bred with a Siamese that carries the orange gene, such as a red, apricot or cream. The gene is carried on the X chromosome. Females have two X chromosomes, and when one carries the orange gene, the tortoiseshell pattern occurs. Because males have only one X chromosome, male tortie point Siamese cats are extremely rare.