Let’s face it: telling whether a tiny kitten is a boy or a girl is pretty hard, especially when it’s a newborn. Many people end up asking a vet or waiting 10–12 weeks (2–3 months), when the difference becomes obvious. Here’s how to tell a kitten’s sex yourself at a much earlier age.
This article covers everything you need to know, with photos to help you tell a male kitten from a female.
Dos and Don’ts When You First Check a Kitten’s Sex
Do:
1. Hold the kitten gently.
2. Place the kitten on its tummy and gently lift its tail.
3. If possible, wait until the kitten is 3–4 weeks old.
4. Make sure the mother cat is comfortable with what you’re doing.
5. Keep it short to avoid stressing the kitten.
Don’t:
- handle the kitten carelessly;
- lift the kitten by its tail;
- handle very young kittens (under about 3 weeks) more than necessary. Most mother cats accept brief, gentle handling, but too much fuss can stress both mom and babies, and in rare cases a stressed mother may neglect a kitten;
- interrupt a kitten while it’s nursing;
- keep a very young kitten (under about 4 weeks) out of the nest for long. Tiny kittens can’t regulate their body temperature yet and can get dangerously chilled in just a few minutes;
- press on the genitals.
How to Tell a Male Kitten from a Female
To check a kitten’s sex, place it tummy-down on a warm towel and gently lift its tail. There are several differences you can see from birth. Once you know what to look for, telling boys from girls is easy.
Distance Between the Anus and the Genitals
Look at the photos below. These are close-ups of 3-week-old kittens: a male on the left and a female on the right.
Pay attention to the distance between the anus and the genital opening. In males, it’s noticeably bigger than in females (roughly half an inch in a young male kitten versus almost touching in a female). Here’s another picture to make it clearer.
Shape of the Genitals
Look at the photos below. These are close-ups of 3-week-old kittens: a male on the left and a female on the right. When it comes to sexing kittens, it’s better to look under the tail than into their eyes! If you see something like a colon (“:”), you’ve got a boy. If it looks like an upside-down “i” (or a semicolon), it’s a girl.
In other words, in a male kitten the genital opening looks like a small round dot, while in a female it looks like a short vertical slit.
Testicles in Male Kittens at About 3 Months
In male cats, the testicles sit between the anus and the penis. They’re barely noticeable at birth but start to show and grow when the kitten is about 10–12 weeks old. The photos below will help you see what to look for.
Feeling for the Testicles
Gently feeling the area is an effective way to tell a kitten’s sex almost from birth. This method helps you detect the testicles by touch, even in a kitten just a few weeks old.
Very gently run two fingers held together (your index and middle fingers) over the area shown. If the kitten is male, you’ll feel two small, pea-like lumps (about 1/8–3/16 inch across).
Pick a name: names for boy kittens or names for girl kittens
Coat Color Can Give You a Clue
Surprisingly, the color of a kitten’s coat can be a strong hint about whether it’s a boy or a girl.
Tortoiseshell and calico (black and orange, with or without white) are almost a 100% sign that the kitten is female. That’s because the genes for orange and black are carried on the X chromosome, and a cat needs two X chromosomes to show both colors at once. Females have two X chromosomes, while males have only one. A male cat can’t be tortoiseshell or calico except in the case of a rare genetic condition (XXY), and those males are usually sterile.
Orange cats are mostly male: about 4 out of 5 orange cats are boys, though orange girls definitely exist.
Some people also say you can tell a kitten’s sex by its face. Personally, I don’t trust that method and recommend trying the methods above first.
Unusual Folk Methods
Some people claim they can tell a kitten’s sex by its… expression! A wary look is supposedly more common in females, and a confident look in males. But this method doesn’t tell you much, because you might just get a very confident little girl.
You can also look at the fur. In male kittens, the fur between the anus and the genital opening tends to be thick, while in females there’s usually less fur there.
There’s also a “grandma’s method”: set a saucer of food in front of the kitten. If its tail points proudly to the sky while it eats, it’s supposedly a boy; if the tail points to the floor, it’s a girl. (Just don’t use cow’s milk for this test: most cats are lactose intolerant, and milk can upset a kitten’s tummy.)
A stronger smell of urine can also be a hint that you have a male, especially as he gets older.
That’s about all the advice I can give you. If you’re still not sure, your vet can tell you in seconds at the kitten’s first checkup. And if you have your own ways of telling kittens apart, please share them in the comments!
