Rare kitten: Male tortoiseshell found at shelter

A genetically rare kitten which has only a one in 3,000 chance of being born has been discovered on the streets of Colwyn Bay.

Cresta is a male tortoiseshell and is one of only a handful of such male cats born in the UK each year.

Tortoiseshells are almost always females.

The five-month-old kitten was found by the RSPCA and is now being cared for at the Cats Protection centre in Wrexham.

Staff there had never seen a male tortoiseshell - a colouring where the cat's fur combines two or more colours with no white present - and said it had been years since a male tortoiseshell had been cared for at its centres, despite helping 200,000 cats a year.

Manager Suzan Kennedy said: "We couldn't believe it when we discovered Cresta was a boy.

"It wasn't difficult to find Cresta a home, and his new owners realise how special he is and are looking forward to him becoming part of the family."

Male tortoiseshells are usually conceived as a result of an extra chromosome being present, and are usually sterile as a result.

Ms Kennedy said he was unlikely to have any health problems as a result of his unusual genetics but had been neutered "to be on the safe side".

The centre is shortly moving to new £2m premises in Bradley Road, Wrexham, and said Cresta was one of the last kittens to be cared for at its present site in Madeira Hill.