Sunday 29 December 2013

Girls And Boys... Again!

According to some websites, it's simple to tell if your kitten is a boy or a girl.  Girls have what looks like a dot and a slit, with a smaller gap between the two, and boys have a dot and another dot, further away. So just look to see if they have a dot or a slit. Easy, right?
 
Hahahahahahhahahahaha... er... not so much!
 
The first thing to remember is that kittens wriggle! They don't stay still, and as such will not be terribly obliging when you try to look at their nether regions. Getting a good look, therefore, is a chore in itself! They may also pee and poo on you in the process. Nice. Keep the wet wipes to hand!
 
Once you have had a good look, there are several complicating factors. Testicles, in short! A pair of balls, side by side, can actually look very slit-like. So you look for the 'dot' under the slit... but therein lies another issue... the girls have a small 'pouch' under the slit too, (like a three sided purse) which can look dot-like. Boys bits tend to stick out more... but even that isn't a dead giveaway as for a week or so after birth, things can be a bit swollen down there anyway- result of maternal hormones.
 
What I'm saying, in short, is they can look very similar. Easy my backside! I was told the other day that Tonks are harder to sex than some other breeds... don't know why, but apparently it is so. It wouldn't surprise me, awkward little things *grin*
 
I am heartened though, by remembering a kitten from the last litter, Louisa. If you were reading then, you will remember that I had her down as a girl, but she was seven or so weeks old before this was finally confirmed by the vet... we had the whole surgery in, on several visits, speculating over this poor kitten's bottom, and the first time they saw her, they said boy.Well if a roomful of experts could get it wrong, it can hardly be as simple as the websites claim.  
 
So anyway, back to this lot. I've ummed and ahhed for days, and I keep coming back to five girls and two boys. What do you think?
 
 
Kitten 1. Looks like a boy to me.
 
 
Kitten2: Another boy. This one (little scrap) is HUGE! Or is it just that the rest of him is tiny? But do you see how what I presume are testicles can look like the slitted opening of a female?
 
 
Kitten 3: Girl- dot and slit. (but it just seems rather large!)
 
 
 
Kitten 4: Girl. I need another photo of her though, because yesterday I could have sworn she was a boy! This one is so feisty it was hard to get a photo at all.
 
 
 
Kitten 5: Girl.
 
Kitten 6: Girl
 
 
 
Kitten 7: Girl.

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