People often have problems identifying a cat’s gender, but that ends now! This article will guide you through the differences between male and female cats and help you learn how to tell a cat’s gender without looking at its genitals.
This should be helpful as you won’t always be able to look at a cat’s private parts to see whether a cat is male or female. So, enjoy your reading and learn something new and helpful!
How To Tell If Cat Is Male Or Female By Looking At Their Face?
While you may think that it’s not true, I’m telling you it is. There are many differences between male and female cats; therefore, in some cases, it’s possible to tell a cat’s gender by their face.
The most noticeable feature between male and female cats is that females are usually smaller than males.
When you take a look at their face, in most cases, the differences are clearly visible. If you wish to learn more and find out how to tell a cat’s gender by its face, then just keep going on!
Male VS Female Cat – Face Shape And Physical Differences
| Face Type | Female Cat | Male Cat |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Smaller head | Larger, rounded head |
| Cheeks | Slender cheekbones and smaller cheeks | Stronger cheekbones and chubby cheeks |
| Whiskers | Shorter whiskers | Longer, emphasized whiskers |
| Nose | Longer and narrower nose | Long, angular nose |
| Forehead | Small, slightly curved forehead | large, thick forehead |
It’s true that a cat’s gender can affect its size, and that can help you a lot in recognizing its gender without looking at its genitals. Male cats are usually bigger than females, with stronger and more muscular body structures.
Besides that, there are other facial features that are different in male and female cats, and I will mention them later on in the article. First, how does a cat’s gender affect its size?
Male cats produce a sex hormone called testosterone which is responsible for muscle development. This hormone allows them to get stronger and bigger. The main reason why females stay smaller than males is that they don’t produce this hormone.
NOTE: This refers to the cats of the same breed only. For example, a female Maine Coon will be a lot bigger than a male domestic cat, or another small cat breeds, because their size also depends a lot on the specific breed and genetics.
The most noticeable differences between male and female cat faces are their shape and some other characteristics.
Although there are both cat breeds with genetically bigger heads and those breeds with smaller heads, male cats almost always have bigger heads than females. But, let’s discuss this in more depth!
What Does A Male Cat Look Like?
Unneutered male cats are very recognizable. They are characterized by well-developed, strong body structures and big, round heads. The male cats’ cheeks are chubby and they have strong cheekbones, while that isn’t the case with females.
There’s even a reason for this. We all know that male cats are popular for being territorial and for catfights. Their chubby cheeks are actually protecting them from serious injuries.
Besides their bigger heads and fat cheeks, a male cat’s face is often characterized by long emphasized whiskers, a long angular nose, and a large forehead.
Still, not every male cat will look like this, especially not neutered ones. Keep reading and find out why they also differentiate from unneutered tomcats.
What Does A Neutered Male Cat Look Like?
Whether your tomcat will grow big with a big head and strong body or stay smaller, actually depends on when you neuter your kitty.
Most vets and experts say that you can neuter/spay a cat at any age, which is correct. However, I personally believe that it’s better to neuter a cat as soon as they reach maturity.
According to the Cornell Feline Health Center, neutering is the procedure of removing the male cat’s testes. When you remove the cat’s testes you also remove the sex hormone testosterone.
As this hormone isn’t produced anymore, the tomcat cannot develop the same way an unneutered one would due to the lack of that sex hormone. So, usually, neutered males stay smaller and may be the same size as females, or slightly bigger.
While spaying and neutering procedures have many benefits, they also have drawbacks. Some of the benefits include reduced unwanted behavior, decreased risk of severe health issues, and similar.
On the other hand, young neutered males may have bone issues as they wouldn’t have had the chance to fully develop if they were neutered at a young age. But, if you wait for your male cat to develop fully and then neuter it, then he will have fewer health issues and will be as big as an unneutered one.
What Does A Female Cat Look Like?
As previously mentioned, female cats are more similar to males who were neutered at a young age. They’re not as big as unneutered males as they don’t have the sex hormone testosterone, which influences their development.
This is why female cats have smaller heads with shorter whiskers, more slender cheekbones, and a smaller forehead.
Sexual dimorphism is highly emphasized in our feline friends. That is the reason why female cats also have smaller bodies than males, so they are shorter and lighter than males.
This information can be quite helpful if you want to identify a cat’s gender without looking at its genitals. Remember that this may not always work. For example, if you see a young unneutered male, at first you may think it’s female, or similar.
Mistakes can be made if you try to compare different breeds, for example, a Siberian cat and a Siamese cat. So, remember that a cat’s size doesn’t depend only on gender, but also on many other things such as the specific breed of cat you have, and their genetics.
How To Tell A Kittens’ Gender?
Compared to sexing adult cats, it’s much harder to tell a kitten’s gender by face, head, or body structure as they’re still young and undeveloped. Sometimes, the differences in their size may be visible and sometimes they may not.
If you have a litter of kittens, you can determine whether your cat is male or female based on its coat color. Calico, tortie, or torbie cats are usually females, while orange cats are mostly males.
However, as these color and size methods aren’t always the most accurate, it would be best for you to learn how to tell their gender by looking at their genitals.
So first, you should carefully take the kitten in your hands and gently lift its tail. Just like in adult cats, the genital opening in female kittens will be in the shape of a vertical slit and the distance between their anus and vulva will be much shorter.
On the other hand, the male kittens’ genital opening will be round and the distance between it and the anus will be much longer. It may be difficult to differentiate them in the beginning but once you learn how to do it properly, it will become easy!
Final Thoughts On Cat Gender
Most cat lovers have problems telling male and female cats apart. If you’re the one who’s struggling with this issue, your problems end now. This article provides you with tips on how to tell a cat’s gender by face.
It can be possible to tell a cat’s gender just by looking at their head and body. Male cats are usually much larger and have bigger heads, cheeks, whiskers, and foreheads, including stronger body structures, than female cats.
Finally, I hope that this article helped you learn another method for identifying a cat’s gender.
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