For an owner, sexing young kittens is an important step. It comes before weaning, vaccination, spaying or neutering, and working out your pets' nutritional needs. Sex is also a key criterion when you want to adopt a kitten from an animal shelter. While sexing an adult cat is easy, young kittens are harder to tell apart. Breeders and vets are used to doing it. But for curious owners, here's how to tell if a kitten is male or female.
Precautions Before Examining a Kitten
Before picking up your little pet to find out their sex, there are a few precautions to follow. For the kittens' well-being, this shouldn't be done during their first weeks. Do it in a warm, well-lit place. Also make sure everything happens gently, as your furballs are still fragile. Rough handling can frighten them.
Don't pet your kitten. Petting them may leave your scent on them. This could lead the mother to reject them. At this age, kittens need to nurse. The nutrients in their mother's milk are essential for their growth. Once you've identified their sex, don't keep the kittens in this new environment. Put them back with their mother quickly.
How to Tell a Kitten's Sex by Looking at the Genitals
To check your kittens' sex, place them on all fours. Gently lift the tail of your little kitten and look at their genitals. To learn more about kittens, you can visit specialist websites or ask a vet. Here's what helps you tell a male from a female kitten.
- The shape of the genitals : in females, the genitals are shaped like an "i", like a vertical slit. In male kittens, the anus and genitals are shaped like a ":" or two small dots.
- The distance between the openings : in a male kitten, the genitals and anus are separated by the testicles, so the openings are further apart. In a female furball, on the other hand, the openings are very close together. In a small kitten, the gap is about 1 cm. In adult cats, it's 1.4 cm.
- The comparison : the easiest way is to compare with a kitten whose sex has already been identified.
Other Ways to Tell a Kitten's Sex
Other criteria can help you work out the sex of your adorable pets. According to a vet, these aren't 100% reliable, but they do give you an estimate of the sex of your kitten.
Coat
The coat color of kittens is sometimes used to identify breeds. It can also help you tell whether it's a female or a male. According to the vet, a cute calico (three-colored) kitten is almost always a girl, meaning a female. This is because female cats have two X chromosomes in their genetic makeup.
Generally, the breeder or owner may see large orange patches, black patches and white ones. Female cats can also have marbled black or brown patches. These are already visible in baby cats and are called tortoiseshell. The coat of a male kitten only shows two colors.
Behavior
The behavior of cats and kittens can offer clues to their sex. According to the clichés, a male tends to show his claws, while a female is more sociable. These aren't reliable criteria: they're more the result of how kittens are raised. When they're young, their behavior is still identical. At puberty, a male tends to do his business around his new home and outside his litter box. He does urine marking in the room where his bowl and cat tree are. It's not a question of house-training, but of instinct in a male kitten. In a female, you'll notice meowing and restlessness during heat periods.
Also worth reading: Guide to Preparing for the Arrival of a Litter of Kittens
