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How to distinguish the sex of kittens. How to determine whether kittens are a boy or a girl. Little kittens: how to distinguish a boy from a girl. Less obvious signs

During the first pregnancy domestic cat her owners are impatiently expecting offspring, and often wonder what gender the kittens will be? Experienced breeders can easily resolve this issue. But ordinary owners, even after the birth of kittens, do not know by what signs they can distinguish a boy from a girl.

Determining the sex of a newborn kitten

Of course, in adults, sex can be determined by clearly expressed sexual characteristics, but what about babies? How to determine the sex of a kitten when it has just been born? Experienced owners and just amateurs identify several main signs that will help accurately determine the sex of a newborn.

The kitten should be carefully picked up, stroked and lifted up. After this, carefully look under his tail, where there are two pinholes: anal and genital. If the kitten is a future cat, then the distance between the holes will be long (about 1 cm). If the kitten is a future female, then this distance will be much shorter.

This method is the most reliable, since the kittens’ fur has not yet grown during this period, and the holes are clearly visible. There is another way to determine the sex of a newborn kitten: tactile. To carry it out, you need to place the kitten on a soft diaper and slowly feel the tummy. In a cat, in the area where the testicles are formed, you can feel two small peas, which the future female will not have.

Determining the sex of a kitten at one month of age

When the baby is one month old, the shape of the genitals will tell you how to determine the sex of the kitten. In a cat, the genital opening has the shape of an elongated vertical slit, and in a cat, a small swelling can be found in this place - the future scrotum with testicles.

Many breeders advise determining the sex of kittens by the structure of the skull, sternum, ribs, and also coloring. It is believed that red babies are necessarily cats, and babies with tortoiseshell-colored fur are future females. However, there are no rules without exceptions, and this method is not 100% reliable. However, calico cats are almost always female, with exceptions being extremely rare. Therefore, the black, white and red kitten is a girl. But this does not work with other colors, and a one-color or two-color baby can be either a female or a male.

Some breeders advise paying attention to the shape of the kitten's face. In males it is more masculine and pointed, while in females it is more rounded and feminine. It is also advised to pay attention to the gaze of growing individuals. The male's look is more self-confident and arrogant, while the female's looks fearful and wary. But these signs can hardly be called decisive.

If you still have problems determining the gender of the kitten, it is better to show the baby to a veterinarian or an experienced breeder. This is the simplest and most reliable way.

Perhaps one of the most difficult questions in cats and kittens is how to determine the sex of a kitten. A photo to help will help you do this without difficulty. And our article will tell you about other, no less effective methods.

Most cat lovers are consistent people. Therefore, before bringing a baby kitten into the house, the owners cannot be sure of its character, habits, abilities, but everyone definitely wants to know the gender of the kitten. It would seem that what is difficult in the process of identifying such a natural detail? In reality, not everything is so simple.

Until a certain age, on average 3-4 weeks, finding out the sex of a pet is a very difficult task.

Experienced breeders believe that future gender can be determined by the face. Some manage to determine this sensitive issue by color. It is believed that only a cat can be red, and only a cat can be tortoiseshell. Although real cases they talk about nature's jokes, and sometimes there are red cats. For those who can’t wait to find out everything in advance, or are unable to wait until the kitten is 1-1.5 months old, experienced cat owners are advised to resort to the following methods.


In order to find out an exciting question without resorting to dubious signs, there are several options. The first method will require maximum caution and accuracy from you, because you will have to deal with a tiny baby. Experienced cat lovers It is advised to measure the distance from the anus to the place where the genital organs form. In cats it is much larger than in kitties. In female cats, at a very young age, they are located almost close to the anus. To do this, place the baby with his tummy on a comfortable bedding, and, lifting his tail, visually measure the distance between the points of interest.


It will make the task much easier if you have access to several newborn kittens, then you will have something to compare with. Another method is designed for those who have a developed sense of touch. better vision. When you carefully palpate the abdomen, you can feel micro-peas in cats where the testicles are forming. They are very small, no more than 3-5 millimeters in diameter. And this option should be used with all maximum precautions. A newborn kitten is very fragile and delicate. The main thing is not to overdo it.

Having decided to take a kitten into their home, people are faced with the problem of being unable to determine the sex of the pet if it is still too small. For some owners, this issue is too important due to the following factors: the issue of reproduction and reluctance to solve the ensuing problems and the characteristics of character and behavior in cats.

Sexual characteristics in cats are expressed by the shape of the genitals, external signs and behavioral characteristics of the animal. At different ages, these signs may be weakly expressed or not indicated at all. How can you tell a boy's kitten from a girl's? early age, and is there such a possibility, we’ll help you figure it out.

The genitals of kittens in the newborn period are not yet visible to the naked eye, which is the main problem in choosing a baby. A kitten is considered a newborn when it is up to 10 days old. At this time, the testicles of males may not yet be palpable, because they are still in abdominal cavity, and only possible way What remains is visual observation of the available signs.

It is worth remembering that at this age kittens are extremely helpless and completely dependent on their mother. They have not yet established heat exchange, so they always lie in a group, warming each other, or are near a cat, which feeds them almost continuously and tries to keep them warm. Their skeleton is incredibly fragile, so they should not be handled unless absolutely necessary.

How to examine a kitten?

The kittens are examined very carefully. It is necessary to carefully lift the baby's tail and see how the opening of the anus is located relative to the genital organ. The picture will be clearer if you examine several kittens from the litter. At the age of a week, it is even easier to see the picture than at two or three, because the babies are not yet “dressed”, and the older they get, the thicker their fur is, blocking the view.

  • In girls, the distance between the anus and the vulva is smaller than in boys: in the latter, testicles will be located between the anus and the genital organ with age, and nature seems to leave room for this.
  • The very shape of the genitals in babies is different: in girls the genital slit is slightly elongated vertically, in boys it looks like a dot or a circle.
  • Sometimes palpation helps in this matter, which should be carried out as carefully as possible. The testicles may be slightly palpable. However, this method provides low guarantees of success, and from the point of view of preserving the health of the kitten, it is undesirable.

IN milk period, which lasts until about one month of age, the principles of examination are the same.

How to distinguish a boy from a girl kitten at 1 month

At the age of 1 month, kittens develop rapidly, there is an active formation of organs and systems, nervous activity, reflexes and coat. The genitals also go through a stage of formation, but determining sex at this age is still difficult, although the probability of “hitting” is slightly higher. From 4 weeks of age, small cats begin to have their testicles descend into the scrotum, where they can sometimes be detected by palpation.

Not all kittens can have their testicles felt: representatives of some breeds (especially large ones) develop later, so this method of sex determination may fail at a later age.

At the age of a month, kittens do not differ much from each other either in behavior or size, although careful observation can give certain results.

What behavioral features are typical for one-month-old kittens?

If you look at how kittens behave in a flock, you can note that there are more confident babies, and there are those who timidly huddle close to their mother. Nature dictates that males are more independent; they strive to explore the world faster than females, show their strength, and dominate the pack.

Socialization of kittens begins already at one month old when they begin to show their character in games and other activities. Of course, girls behave similarly: they show curiosity and persistence, but this still applies to boys to a greater extent.

Two months – socialization stage

At 2 months, kittens can already be distinguished both by gender and by appearance and behavior. This age is characterized by receiving active life experience and mastering the laws of the surrounding world, therefore, after watching the kittens for some time, you can external signs guess who is a boy and who is a girl.

Seals are a little larger in size, they have more developed rib cage and head, larger than paws. If you take a closer look at their behavior, boys at this age show everything more signs dominance, they occupy best places at the nipples and “move” their fellows at the bowl of food. Boys are a little more primitive, they try to achieve their goals by acting ahead, while girls use intelligence and cunning.

From point of view anatomical features the structure of the genital organs in two-month-old male kittens, testicles covered with hair are already beginning to appear.

Final puberty breeding of cats and cats occurs by the age of one year, but already at 6 months it is possible to accurately determine the sex of the animal. At the age of 3 months, the error is unlikely, but still it cannot be completely excluded.

Determining the sex of a kitten by color

Although this method may seem “folk” at first glance, however, it has its scientific explanation. From the point of view of genetics and chromosomal dependence, tricolor color, with rare exceptions, occurs only in cats. Red kittens are boys. You can find out the gender of a kitten by color from birth, if the tri-color or red color has already developed sufficiently.

Whatever methods are used to determine the sex of a pet, there is no need to rush to take it away from its mother cat. The most optimal time for weaning kittens is 3 months. By this period, kittens are anatomically formed and fully socialized, which is the key to their health and adequate behavior. By this time, determining the sex of the kitten will not be difficult.

🐱 Instructions for determining the sex of a kitten. Now it will be easier for you to find out what gender the kitten is. Photos and descriptions of methods for determining gender.


Content

Are you expecting a new addition to your home in the form of a small feline? This is wonderful! Who would you like to see in the house more - a kitty or a cat? In order not to make a mistake when choosing, you will need to know how determine the gender of the kitten. When these young animals are more than one and a half months old, you can already easily distinguish a female from a male by external signs: character traits muzzles, difference in genitals. The difference is noticeable both in the character traits and in the certain behavior of the fluffy beauties.

If the owner definitely wants a cat and has a lovely one at the ready female name, then you need to quickly determine the gender of the newborn kitten. And why wait weeks if you can use a proven method and look under the kitten’s tail?

Newborn kitten: male or female?

Among all the possible criteria when choosing a young furry pet, the main one for many is whether the animal belongs to the fair half of the feline family, or vice versa, to the strong half. The character of a cat differs in many ways from the character traits that are characteristic of cats. Depending on whether a cat or a cat has settled in the house, the relationship between the owner and the pet is built. For some, the behavior of an animal during such a tiring period of “demands of love” also has important. Cats can bring numerous offspring and associated troubles. Not everyone wants to foster cat children. Well, cats can become good breeding producers without introducing the chaos and confusion associated with the appearance of kittens in the house. That is why the gender of the future pet becomes important for many owners.

A few must-read tips before you start determine the sex of a cat. Find out what not to do:

  • try to perform the procedure at the time of feeding;
  • use brute force: pull the tail up, grab the babies by the scruff of the neck or paws;
  • make animals nervous in every possible way;
  • apply forceful pressure to the genitals or abdomen.
Most important: the need to calm or distract the mother cat. You can successfully choose the time when she goes off to feed, or if you trust the owner, it is enough to offer the mother of the entire brood a favorite treat or the owner’s affection.

So, access to cat babies is open:

  • Carefully take one baby and place it with its tummy on a warm diaper, which is located in your palm;
  • Lift the tail and inspect the area of ​​the anus and genitourinary opening. If possible, have your assistant take a photo of the area. This will simplify the task and return the baby to his mother sooner.

Keep kittens for no longer than one minute, as newborns freeze very quickly without their mother's fur.

Cat or cat, how to determine gender?

If you're wondering how determine the sex of a newborn kitten, be prepared for the fact that in the absence of experience, you may make mistakes. We propose to consider some ways that will shed light on this issue.

A visual inspection of the animal's genitals helps determine the sex. You can also distinguish a boy from a girl using tactile sensations - through palpation. Often, experienced owners can distinguish representatives of the stronger sex of cats by color.

Visual differences in the sex of kittens

So, we determine the sex of the kitten by examining its genitals:



If you look at the genitals of several kittens, then during the comparison process it is much easier to distinguish the sex of the kitten.

Tactile detection

To find out the gender, take the baby and, with your free hand, gently feel the area between urethra and anus. A smooth spot is typical for a girl. If your fingers feel small formations that resemble a tumor, then there is a chance that in two months such a “tumor” will turn into testicles.

The accuracy of this method is not 100% certain, since in small cats the testicles may be in the abdominal cavity during the neonatal period, and in young cats there are swellings in that area and other hormonal phenomena. This way is more reliable you can determine the sex of a kitten 1 month old.

Find out the gender of a kitten by color

If you see several kittens in front of you, try to look at their furry outfit. Nature has arranged everything so that the sex of a domestic cat is associated with color.

So, here is a baby with a weave of three colors on his fur. High probability, that you are looking at a cat, because it is they who have the so-called tortoiseshell coloration.

Have you picked up the red baby? Most likely it will be a boy.


There is also genetic method: if the litter has parents of a certain color, then the sex of the kitten can be easily distinguished by color. If a female of black, blue, chocolate or lilac color paired with a red or cream-colored male brings non-tortoiseshell kittens, then these babies are boys. This rule works vice versa.

Adult cats are usually distinguished from adult cats without special problems: if a person finds it difficult to tell by the shape of the body and muzzle whether the cat in front of him is a boy cat or a girl cat, then by looking at the external genital organs of the animal, everyone’s doubts disappear. However, in kittens, all external differences are weakly expressed and the situation when they wanted to adopt a cat, but took a cat, is quite common.

Ways to determine the sex of a kitten

By external signs

A newborn kitten's fur, as a rule, is not thick and does not cover the genitals, so it is very easy to determine the sex of a newly born kitten.

You need to take the kitten with clean, warm and dry hands, preferably without artificial odors (no scent, for example, cream or perfume) and place it on your palm with its tummy.

In this case, you need to distract the mother cat, for example, with a treat or calm her down with affection (talking to her in a calm and gentle voice, stroking her with your free hand).

Next, the newborn kitten’s tail is quickly and carefully lifted and the anus and urogenital opening are examined.

Under the boy's kitten, under the tail, you will see two dots that resemble a colon - the dots should be approximately the same size and the distance between them will be approximately one centimeter.

You will see an inverted “exclamation mark” under the girl’s kitten’s tail—the genital slit is located just below the anus.

You should not touch the genitals of small kittens. Also, you should not hold the kitten in your hands for more than a couple of minutes - newborn kittens freeze quickly, it should lie near the mother cat.

If a mother cat is nervous, then you cannot take a kitten from her, and you also do not need to separate the kittens from feeding.

However, if the kittens are 2 weeks old or older, then you will no longer be able to determine the gender of the kitten this way.

Kittens' fur very quickly becomes thick and covers the external genitalia, which are not yet fully developed. This is especially true for fluffy cats.

By color

Cat owners should know that the gender of a kitten can also be determined by its color.

The fact is that tortoiseshell color hair occurs only in cats; in cats, the tricolor color is extremely rare and such an animal will not be able to reproduce. This is due to the difference in the inheritance of genes for red and black coat colors in the genome of cats and cats.

Even those cats whose color is a single color still have some hairs of all three colors in their color. you just need to look closely.

In addition, there are actually no ginger cats; in 99% of cases, ginger cats are cats!

Using tactile palpation

At around the age of six months, cats and female cats begin to differ from each other in body shape, build and muzzle.

Kitties are distinguished by greater elegance and smoothness of figure, a neat little muzzle, and cats become wider-faced and larger.

By habits

A cat's character is formed by 8 months, and at this age, after observing the animal, you can easily tell whether the cat is a cat or not.

Cats jealously guard their territory, even marking it. During quiet periods, cats sleep more, are lazier and good-natured. And cats show the first signs of approaching sexual heat - they arch their backs and caress.

If you observe a female during the period when she is not in heat, you will note that she is more clean - she constantly licks her fur, she demonstrates independence and strangers He won’t let himself be petted.

Non-standard methods for determining the sex of a kitten

Some cat experts and connoisseurs manage to determine the sex of an animal by looking at it!

In cats, the look is characterized by self-confidence and even impudence, while in cats it is rather wary. Of course, this method is not reliable.

Another way is to assess the density of fur in the area. genitourinary organs. Cats have a lot of hair there, but cats have almost none.

The most interesting method is to observe how a kitten laps up milk: at this time the cats lift their tails triumphantly, and the kitties lower it to the floor.

Of course, the smell emanating from an animal can also serve as evidence of its gender. Cats give off a harsher and strong smell, cats have almost no smell.

Determining the gender of your favorite pet is an extremely important undertaking and, of course, the sooner you can find out who - a male cat - has been accepted into your family, the better.

Because even the rules for caring for cats and female cats differ slightly. In addition, it is also better to give the cat a name right away and not change it.