How to determine the sex of a kitten after birth. How to distinguish a male kitten from a girl: a newborn, in the first days of life

22.04.2020 -

Starting up pet, it is important to know what gender he is. There are no problems when determining the gender of puppies, but difficulties often arise with kittens. Determining the sex of a kitten is a very common problem not only among potential animal owners, but also among sellers of animals. Still, there are several ways to differentiate between small cats and cats.

Determining the gender of a pet

The sex of a pet must be known even in its infancy. After all, it is gender that influences the choice of name for a pet and the characteristics of its maintenance and upbringing. The younger the kitten, the more difficult it is to determine its gender visually - these are anatomical features animal: in early age the differences between male and female genital organs are weakly expressed.

Install gender kitten perhaps as early as the second week of his life. The animal's fur is still short enough to clearly see its genitals. For representatives of long-haired breeds, this is the last moment when the hair is so short - it will soon grow back and the genitals will be visible only after cutting.

In a two to three week old pet, determining the sex by visual inspection is much more problematic.

The most suitable age for sex determination is considered to be 3 months - the formation of the genital organs is almost complete, the differences in boys and girls are obvious and it is difficult to make a mistake.

A six-month-old pet has already fully formed organs.

Genital examination

Once a newborn pet reaches a week of age, it is already possible to determine its gender by examining the genitals using visual and tactile methods. Such an examination remains the most common and popular way to identify a pet’s gender to this day.

Before you start studying, you need to wash your hands thoroughly:

V warm water so that your hands are not cold;
with unscented soap so as not to irritate your pet’s sensitive sense of smell.

If there is a mother cat in the house, the baby can be picked up only with her consent, if the parent does not try to prevent this and does not show aggression.

If you don’t want to check whether the mother will protest or not, it’s worth isolating her somewhere while the kitten is being examined.

If the kitten is still being fed by the mother, it is better not to touch the baby with open hands so that the human smell does not remain on its body and fur coat. If a mother cat smells something other than its natural smell on her baby, she may refuse to feed him. In order not to inadvertently deprive the baby of food, before picking up the kitten, you should put on gloves.

Inspection Features

When the preparation for the procedure has been completed, you can take the small pet in your arms and get down to business. The examination process should take as little time as possible so that the kitten does not become very worried and the stress it experiences is minimal. To shorten the duration of the examination, you can take a photograph of the subcaudal region with the genitals on a smartphone and only then study them from the photograph.

Having picked up the baby, you need to put him stomach down on your palm or other flat surface (you must first cover it with a warm towel). You need to both pick up and hold the kitten as carefully and carefully as possible, gently clasping it with all your fingers. If necessary for better review You can lift your pet’s tail, but under no circumstances pull.

Appearance of organs

In cats, the distance between anus and the vulva is practically absent - only 5 mm. The cat's genital organ is of the internal type (i.e., not convex) and has a vertical, slightly oblong shape. Visually, the location of the anus and genital organ resembles Latin letter i or inverted exclamation mark.

In cats, the location of the anus and genitals is similar to the colon. The distance between the “points” is 1.5 cm. The cat’s genitals are external type(i.e. convex) and have a round shape. In addition, unlike cats, cats have much more hair in the undertail area around the genitals.

Feeling or palpation

In addition to a visual inspection, a tactile examination can be performed. However, it is better not to rush into this and wait for the kitten to overcome the monthly limit - veterinarians It is not recommended to carry out palpation in the first month of a pet’s life, as this procedure can harm the baby.

To determine gender through tactile examination, you need to gently feel the small area between the anus and urethra with your fingertip. If you feel some compaction in this place, it’s a cat. When the pet reaches two months of age, the developing male genital organs will become noticeable in this place.

If no dense inclusions are found between the anus and the urethra, most likely the kitten is a girl. At an early age in male kittens, sexual characteristics are hidden in abdominal cavity and are not palpable in the indicated place. To confirm the results of the first tactile examination, it is worth carrying out additional palpation.

To do this, you need to carefully run your fingertip over the kitten’s tummy:

if the belly is smooth, the kitten is female;
if small convex lumps are felt in the lower abdomen, the kitten is male.

However, this does not provide an absolute guarantee that the results are correct.

The individual anatomical features of small cats can be expressed in various compactions and bulges, therefore, even if any compaction is found in the stomach or in the sub-tail area, this does not yet prove that the kitten is a boy.

Unconventional methods

There are quite a few unconventional methods determining the gender of a pet. These methods do not guarantee an absolutely accurate result, but they are still quite effective.

These include determining gender based on the following characteristic features:

look;
coat color;
smell;
voice;
muzzle.

You can distinguish a cat from a cat by their gaze - you just need to look into the eyes of your pet. The cat looks impudently and self-confidently, and the pussy looks wary and as if it is looking for something. This method only works on adult animals - the look of newborn kittens is far from gender specific.

Another characteristic gender feature is the color of the fur coat. Both boys and girls have a certain coat color that is unique to their gender. Moreover, this is reflected even in newborn kittens.

If the kitten has tortoiseshell color or, in other words, tricolor (black-white-red), then you can be 99.9% sure that this is a cat. The tricolor color is formed at the gene level and is determined by the presence of two X chromosomes.

Calico cats exist, but finding them is extremely problematic - tortoiseshell boys are born one in a million. This color in cats is caused by a disease - a genetic mutation. The characteristic male color is red. Cats of this color are very rare and their coat is much paler in shade.

The smell of a pet can help distinguish a cat from a cat - in boys more pronounced and quite bad smell . One more distinctive feature- this is the voice. In cats it is usually low, but in cats, on the contrary, it is high.

Pet owners claim that boys and girls differ in the characteristic shape of their faces. Cats have rougher and tougher features, while cats have soft, feminine features.

There is an opinion among experienced breeders that female cats are more playful than males, and males always walk with their tails raised up. But you shouldn’t focus too much on such signs.

Carrying out a DNA test

The gender of the animal can be determined through DNA analysis. The result differs from the results of a simple inspection in its absolute accuracy and the elimination of the possibility of error. But this is not often practiced, since not every owner of an animal can afford to distinguish a girl from a boy using DNA research - the cost of the procedure is very high. The result of the analysis is recorded in the pet’s passport.

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: characteristic features muzzles, difference in genitals. The difference is noticeable both in character traits and certain behavior 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 the animal during such a tedious period of “demanding love” is also 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 your baby and, with your free hand, gently feel the area between the urethra and the 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 floor domestic cat associated with color.

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

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

There is also a genetic method: if the litter has parents of a certain color, then the gender 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.

A cat of tortoiseshell color or any non-red color gives male offspring if the babies’ fur coat is red or cream.

Unconventional methods for identifying the sex of kittens

How else is it possible determine the sex of a small kitten? Of course by the look! The cat looks wary, and the cat looks self-confident and even arrogant.

You can also distinguish the sex of a kitten by the presence of undercoat between the anus and the genitals. The cats in that place are “fluffier” than cats.

Our great-grandmothers did it simply: they put a saucer with warm milk and watched. The animal raised its tail straight up while lapping - the cat; lowered it - the cat.

If the animal's urine has a pungent odor, most likely the baby is a representative of the male half of the feline.

Of course, it is not difficult to determine the sex of an adult animal. But how not to make a mistake with a kitten? If you read the article and decided to try to determine on your own who is a cat and who is a female cat, then the procedure will no longer be difficult for you.

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 ended up taking a cat, is quite common.

Ways to determine the sex of a kitten

In fact, there are several standard and non-standard 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 resembling 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 they can also determine the gender of a kitten by its color.

The fact is that tortoiseshell coat color occurs only in cats; in cats, tricolor coat 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 color 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 the age of 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 experts and connoisseurs of cats 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 emit a sharper and stronger smell, while 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.

Surely, you have often wondered how to find out what sex kittens are. If your cat has given birth and you decide to keep the babies so that you can sell them and give them away, you need to figure out how many boys and how many girls you have. But while the kittens are small, it is very difficult to understand. Unfortunately, the cats do not come with instructions that tell you how to determine the gender of the kitten.

When buying an animal at the market, you will also want to find out who you are taking. After all, when you bring a cat home, you will need not only to feed it and shower it with love, but also to give it a name. How many cases have there been in the history of human-cat friendship when Murok had to be urgently renamed to Murzikov, and Lyus to Lyusikov.

If with dogs, even at a young age, everything is simpler, then not every cat breeder knows how to determine the sex of a kitten 1 month old.

How to determine the sex of a kitten - basic techniques

Of course, from a scientific point of view, there is nothing complicated. Nowadays, even the sex of an embryo in the mother’s womb can be easily determined. Of course there is similar means and for animals. After all, cats, like people, have innate sex differences determined at the chromosomal level. That is, if a scientist does not know how to distinguish a cat from a cat, he will simply conduct a DNA test and get the desired result.

But we all understand that a family that bought/picked up an animal on the street hardly has the means to conduct complex tests.

You can also try to determine gender by looking. In cats it is more wary. They are constantly looking for something, studying. The cat almost always looks with a confident look. But in the case of children, this technique does not work. Their look, other than bewilderment and confusion, expresses nothing. So we reject this option.

How to find out the gender of a kitten yourself simple criterion– anatomical differences? It is known that until the age of three months, kittens are almost the same. The fact is that before this age their genitals develop and are very similar in appearance.

But it is still possible to determine the sex of a kitten if you know what its excretory and reproductive organs should look like and where they should be located.

Prepare - wash your hands with soap and carefully pick up the animal. You need to do this carefully so as not to scare him or force him to break free. We take the kitten in one hand, a gadget with a good camera in the other, and take a photo. It will be easier and more convenient to see everything on it than on a ball of fur that wants to get free as quickly as possible.

How to find out the gender of a kitten: follow the cat with a ruler

Experts know well how to distinguish a cat from a tomcat based on simple parameters. Take a look at the photo we received. On it you see two areas, this is the anus and the area where the genitals are formed. In the female there is no distance between them for an obvious reason, while in the male it is “reserved” for the testicles. Usually this area takes up one and a half or two centimeters.

So, if you want to figure out how to determine the sex of a kitten, a photo will help you do this the easiest way.

Shape of genital organs

While there is no penis or testicles, the shape of the hole through which the kittens relieve themselves will be different. In a cat it is round (anus and urethra form a colon), and for a cat it is rectangular (similar to the letter i, or an exclamation mark).

Check by touch

If you are not sure of the accuracy of the previous option, then check the floor with your hands. Between the anus and the area where the genital organ is formed, the cat will have two swellings that can be felt. Testicles are formed from these over time. But how can you determine whether it’s a cat in front of you if it’s just a baby and nothing has begun to form yet? Often this option is not suitable, because... The characteristics of growth and formation of secondary sexual characteristics are different for each individual kitten.

Choosing the sex of a kitten is one of the main issues that interests everyone who wants to have a pet. However, it is not always distinguish a cat from a cat possible at an early age of the pet. Today I will tell you how to understand whether the kitten in front of you is a boy or a girl, focusing on several important signs.

How can you find out the gender of a kitten?

There are several ways to determine the sex of a kitten. Not one of them is considered 100% accurate - it’s much more reliable to carefully examine the animal’s genitals. However, if you are unable to conduct an inspection, please consider other external signs. So, a cat and a cat are distinguished:

By color. It is believed that you can distinguish a cat from a cat by looking at the color of the animal's fur. For example, the tricolor pattern is most often found in females. While male kittens most often have red fur. Tortoiseshell coat coloring is a more striking indicator, since it can only be found in cats.
On the face. In small newborn kittens, the shape of the muzzle is the same in both boys and girls. However, with age, it can also determine the gender of the kitten. For example, cats have a small and slightly elongated muzzle, while cats have a large and round muzzle.

When is the best time to determine the gender of a kitten?

Many owners of furry cats are interested in when is the best time to find out the gender of the kitten. Based on the recommendations of veterinarians, the most noticeable signs of differences in the sexes of fluffy animals appear at the age of 2 months. Then, even without any experience, you can easily distinguish a boy from a girl through a simple examination.

Of course, this can be done a little earlier, but then there is a risk of receiving unreliable information. Surely, you have heard more than once how a kitten, once named Vasily, over time (due to incorrect gender determination) turns into Vasilisa and gives birth to kittens.

How to conduct an inspection - what is possible and what is not?

The best way to distinguish the sex of a kitten is to conduct a thorough examination of the fluffy one. How to do everything right and avoid mistakes? During the inspection you must:

hold and turn the kitten as carefully and carefully as possible;
place the kitten exclusively on its stomach, and not on its spine;
do not conduct examinations on cats that are too young (up to 3 weeks);
monitor the reaction of the kittens’ mother; if she is not delighted with this idea, it is better not to touch the babies;
avoid large quantity unnecessary movements.

During inspection, under no circumstances should you:

lift the kitten by the tail;
inaccurately and abruptly turn the animal over;
tear the kitten away from feeding for examination;
holding small fluffies (3-4 weeks old) in your hands for too long - this can affect the animal’s thermoregulation;
apply strong pressure to the kitten's stomach or genitals.

It is also important to prepare the correct location for the inspection and all the necessary items. To do this you will need:

a clean, soft, warm towel on which you will place the kitten;
additional light source (if necessary).

How to tell a boy's kitten from a girl's

Even if the animal’s genitals have not yet formed, there are several ways to determine the sex of a cat. Today I will tell you about the most popular and effective ones. Using these methods, you can 100% distinguish a girl from a boy kitten.

To begin the examination, you should carefully pick up the kitten and place it on a previously prepared towel. Raise its tail a little, watching the animal’s reaction. If the baby is scared, it is better to postpone the procedure.

The main differences between boys and girls appear from a very early age:

There are also traditional methods How to distinguish a girl from a boy kitten. However, I strongly do not recommend believing them. These grandmother's methods are more like superstitions than real signs. For example, it is considered that if little kitten if he drinks milk with his tail raised, it means there is a boy in front of you, if with his tail lowered, then it is a girl.

Also, some people believe that the sex of kittens can be distinguished by the smell of urine - it is supposedly much stronger in boys. Use all these methods as additional method It is, of course, possible to determine gender. However, they are less informative compared to a one-minute inspection.

Video: how to determine the sex of newborn kittens

In order to better understand how to determine the gender of a newborn kitten or an older cat, we recommend that you watch a useful video. It discusses in detail all the main aspects of the differences between male and female kittens, and also provides important recommendations to examine the animal.