my vet advised me to get a male when all I had was a female adult calico. she never said why... also advised he be younger than her. It worked out in the sense that he learned how to avoid her swats. There was never any true love. He still prefers to sleep under the covers to this day even though she is long passed...(ouch). He decided as a kitten he'd prefer to sleep under the covers than to risk waking up and being smacked before being fully awake! Those calicos and torties! (as i left for work this am, my neighbor's tortie greeted me at the foot of the stairs cooing for pats. I looked down on the sidewalk as I patted her and praised her beauty and then realized she had herself a snake!) It was only 5 inches long and I tried to coax it under the wooden stairs but it wouldn't go- just kept doing a snake swirl. She was so proud, she was more interested in pets and praise and less intestested in her find! Anyway, I finally managed to get the tiny thing buried under some leaves. Tortie looked a bit confused but oh well...