Cat doors

Question
Hi Jessica

my wife and I have just. a few days ago found a stray kitten and have taken it in and obviously fed and cared for it . we are not cat people and have had lots of dogs in the past but really like this cat and and hav bought all the necessary stuff to make it comfortable such as lots of food, a litter tray and have given it lots of tlc and it has really made itself at home. purring all the time and giving lots of cuddles we live in the country and only have vet visits about every two months . we don't know how to tellits sex can you help?

we estimate it to be about two or three months old.

Thanks kieran

Answer
Hi Kieran.  Thanks for taking in this little baby!

Sometimes you can tell the sex of a cat by its coat.  If it's a calico or tortoiseshell, you can pretty safely assume it's female.  Only one out of every few thousand is male.

Calico cats are white with spots of different colors - usually white with orange and black patches or white with gray and cream patches.

Tortoiseshells, also called torties, are sort of brindled.  They have black coats with orange peppered throughout, or vice versa, or gray coats with cream peppered throughout, or vice versa.

Beyond that, if you look at the anatomy, a female has a verticle slit just below the anus.  Imagine it to be an upside-down exclamation point.  A male at this age will have a pouch of skin about 1/2 inch below the anus, which is the scrotum.  And just below that, you will see a round opening that is usually raised, as opposed to a flat, narrow slit as with the females.

This picture may help:

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/cliented/kittensex.asp