how can I tell if my cat is really a calico?

My cat, Sweetie, is called a calico. She seems to have very little red/orange on her. She is a classic tabby with white. The bottom half of her black fur is redish in color when the light or sun shines on her. How can I find out if she is truly a calico without DNA/chromosome testing. She has a lot of tan on her as well.
   
Thank you,
   
Fran
   
franandkenny137

first understand that "calico" is not a breed, it is a color. it is technically a white cat with large solid patches of black & orange/red. there are derivitaves of this, such as grey & lighter shades of orange which is a dilute. there is also a tabby calico
   
ditto tabby, that is not a breed either - that simply indicates the cat has stripes
   
it appears your cat is a domestic short hair or DSH - that is the breed. I can't see enough of it to really tell you about the coloring.

Calico cats have red, orange and white patches. I don't think your cat has enough orange or red to qualify. They always have a fairly even amount of the three colors.
   
Some calicos have a black body color, also, so the patches show up very well.