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Frequently Asked Questions - Answers
White Bear Animal Hospital
Otter Lake Animal Care Center
 
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Question 17: Twice now I
have brought in new kittens to be examined that I believed
were female only to be told that they were both male.
How do I tell the difference between male and female kittens?
Answer:
Surprisingly enough, this is not all that unusual of a
situation. The problem in identifying male versus female
kittens arises for a number of reasons, including: the small
size of kittens' genitals, poorly developed scrotums in the
young, immature males, and the failure to recognize that male
cats have a prepuce and penis that point backwards
rather than forwards as many people are used to seeing in
dogs, horses, cows, etc. Refer to the photographs below
for the primary means of distinguishing between male and
female cats and kittens. In both photographs the cats
are facing away from the viewer with their tails at the top of
the picture and the rear legs at the bottom of the picture.
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Male Cat
The blue arrow points to the cat's anus, the green arrow
indicates the cat's scrotum containing the left and
right testicles, and the white arrow points to the circular prepuce which covers the penis. The red
line indicates the cat's anogenital distance, which is
relatively greater in the male than in the female cat. |
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Female Cat
The blue arrow points to the cat's anus, and the
white arrow points to the cat's elongated vulva.
The red line indicates the cat's anogenital distance,
which is relatively smaller in the female than in the
male cat. |
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