Determine the sex of the kitten that you just bring to home is quite difficult. It is not that easy to know how to tell the gender of kitten especially if they are just several months of age since the visible differences and appearances between male and female cats when they still kittens are more subtle than when they already became adult.
You may simply bring them to the vet to ask the expert what gender your kitten has, however even veterinarian can occasionally make a wrong judgment. That is why; you can learn some ways to tell the gender or sex of the kitten below.
Know how to tell the gender of the kitten
Know how to tell the gender of a cat by following these simple steps such as:
Check their genital features
Of course there are some differences between male and female kitten’s genital features and you can tell it by checking directly. First, you need to make sure the kitten is warm because little cats are really vulnerable to cold.
When you want to check the kitten’s genital features, do not place them on cold surface such as kitchen marble countertop or table top. You can place them on your lap and then gently lift its tail, do not holding the kitten by its tail because it is very fragile.
After you lift its tail, check the shape of their genital:
Male kitten: Their genital appears like small circular hole and both the genital and anus openings look like a colon or (:).
Female kitten: Their genital appears like tiny vertical slit and both the genital and anus openings look like a lowercase ‘i’.
Moreover, you need to check the distance between the openings. For male kitten, the distance is further below anus while the female one is closer and higher up to anus.
In addition, although it is practically difficult to spot testicles on male kitten, you can still try to check whether there is pouch like a small bulge which is a scrotum on the male cat. But, do it gently because forceful check up will damage them.
Check their non-genital features
There are some ways to know how to tell if a kitten is male or female based on their colors. Orange striped kittens are likely male while certain colors like tortoiseshell (brown, orange, marbled black, and sometimes is white as well) ..
and calico (white, black, and orange) are mostly female. It is might be difficult to tell the sex of the kitten based on appearance only when they are not mature yet.
However once they are mature, you can tell their gender by checking the male cat’s build. Make cats usually are more muscular and lean and their bones are thicker especially in the jaw.
4 Week Old Kitten Care Tips
How to tell the gender of kitten can also be done when the cats are mature enough and go into heat. Female cats usually in heat for between 2 to 19 days but it can be shorter for unmated female cats, about 8 days only.
