Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties:
I am fostering a mama and three kittens. How and when can we see their sex? They are a month old right now. How are we supposed to tell their sex?
~ Summer
Thomas: Well, it is pretty difficult to determine a kitten’s sex, especially when they’re newborns. But the good news is that by a month old, you should see some definite signs of genitalia.
Bella: We put together a picture to show you the general idea of what kitten genitals look like. Here you go!
Thomas: As you’ll see, male kittens have their little “dot” — the opening that protects the penis — somewhat far below the anus. That allows room for the testicles to descend when the male kitten is old enough for that to happen.
Bella: With female kittens, you’ll either see a dot or a slit closer to the anus. This is the vaginal opening and the opening out which we pee.
Thomas: But even shelters can make mistakes. When Mama adopted our sweet Dahlia (may she frolic forever in the catnip fields on the other side of the veil), the shelter people told Mama she was a boy cat.
Bella: But Mama knew the minute Dahlia showed her butt that she was in fact a girl kitty! Tee hee hee!
Thomas: If you’re still not sure after holding up their tails and checking them out, we’d recommend that you ask the vet to check the next time they go in for their shots or checkups. The vet can show you how he or she makes the determination, too.
Bella: But don’t worry — even if you get it wrong, the kittens won’t care because they’re warm and safe with you. *purrrrrrrrrr*
Thomas: Oh yes, thank you so much for fostering this mama and kittens: you’re making a huge difference in their lives by socializing them in a home and protecting them from contagious diseases while their immune systems are still growing stronger.
Bella: Fostering can be incredibly rewarding, and we strongly encourage it.
Thomas: Oh, we almost forgot to mention … we’ve got Another Kitty in our house. She was found outdoors and nobody came forward to claim her, so Mama took her in. She’s still too shy to come out and talk, but once we get used to each other, I’m sure you’ll get a chance to meet her.
Bella: Her name is Tara, and she’s hiding in Mama’s bedroom right now.
Thomas: Do you readers have any stories about or tips for determining the sex of kittens, of fostering, or of taking in a surprise stray kitty? Please share them in the comments.
JaneA Kelley is a punk rock cat mom and award-winning blogger. She is a regular columnist for Catster Magazine, and she and the Paws and Effect Gang share a home in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
Ms. Sam Adams, (you might see where I’m going with this) was very tiny when I got her. But I looked in the appropriate places and said that’s a boy. Well, about six months later when we visited my daughter in Ohio, one of hers went into heat and then so did Sam Adams. I didn’t want to change her name, so she became Ms. Sam Adams.
Many years ago, I want to say about 16, I began helping feed a colony of cats at our local fairground. A small group of long haired “females” were fixed at one time and returned to the colony. One beloved was a large long haired gray and white cat we called “Pammy”. Pammy was sweet and laid back and adored for many years by a couple young females. When she was about 9 years old a nice lady I knew took her home to live with her and her dog Chloe. Although my friend was disappointed that “Pammy” did not warm up for a long time to her dog as her previous female cat had, she stuck it out. I got a surprise phone call that first month and my friend informed me that the staff at the vet’s office kept wondering why she kept calling her a girl. Pammy turned out to be a “Sammy” and all those years we had referred to him as a girl (although he never seemed to mind). “Sammy” meanwhile has warmed up somewhat to the dog and is still beautiful at a ripe 16 or 17 years old. No wonder those other ladies in the colony loved him so much.
after so many fosters, mom is right about 75% of the time. That being said, the first litter of the year this year, she was 0 for 3….got them ALL wrong. MOL That being said, if all else fails they figure it out before surgery. :)