One of the most difficult tasks for a novice cat breeder is to determine the gender of newborn pets. At this time, even experienced owners are pierced. And if the pet that brought the litter belongs to the long-haired breeds, then the task can be conditionally indicated by the code phrase “mission impossible”. So, how to determine the gender of a newborn kitten? We will give tips to beginners.
The reason sex determination is difficult lies in the field of physiology. Usually, in young mammals, sex is determined by the external genitalia. But how to determine the sex of a small kitten, if everything in this area is covered with a layer of fur, and indeed there are no pronounced signs at birth?
The structure of the genitals in kittens is such that the urogenital opening has a similar structure in males and females. How to determine the gender of kittens on such similar grounds? Only very carefully looking at each of them. You can try to compare different representatives of the litter: if you see the difference in the structure of the genital organs, then you have different-sex representatives of the brood. It remains to determine which of them is male and which is female. In boys, usually forming testicles are located near the urogenital opening. They can be noticeable immediately after birth, especially in smooth-haired representatives of the cat family. True, sometimes the testicles do not immediately descend into the scrotum, how to determine the gender of the kittens in this case? You should wait until 4-12 weeks, by this time they will probably be noticeable, and their presence will no longer be in doubt.
The above method is the surest. Other methods will not be as accurate, although they can also be used.
Such not too accurate methods of how to determine the sex of kittens include their color. It is believed that the red representatives of this tribe are most often cats. But tricolors with almost 100% probability are females. Males, which are black, red and white in color, are extremely rare. Most often, such cats cannot have offspring, since the three-color gene is a sign of the female sex, and in the case of the birth of a boy with it, this is considered an anomaly.
The last way to determine the sex of kittens is rooted in the belief that male predators are initially born larger than females. To determine who is in front of us - male or female, you should compare him with the rest of the kittens. The largest, with square faces, are likely to be boys. But quiet and small, probably cats. However, in practice this principle does not always work.
Whatever the gender of the newborn kittens, the main thing is that they are healthy, eat well and are near their mother. And if you need to give them names, but it’s difficult to determine the gender of the kids, you should come up with neutral options that are equally suitable for both boys and girls, and then in the future, when they grow up, the names will not differ from the gender of the pets.