Gender-characteristic urination behaviours in cats

[Second Summer]

Do male and female cats pee differently? Like human males can stand up while females sit? Does bending the hind legs tell us anything? The shaking of the tail?

I'm asking because we're trying to determine the gender of one of the neighbourhood cats who is causing some trouble for our good friend Thor the cat. We think it's a female, but if that is the case, then she is ferocious. (She's also got a very strange voice, almost like something is wrong with her vocal chords.)

Bonus points if you can give me other characteristics to judge by for determining the gender of a cat. She doesn't have any boy parts that we can see, but obviously that doesn't rule out a castrated male.

 

[Mischief]

Male cats are more likely than girls to stand and pee, but only "more likely"; I wouldn't try to judge by that.

Quivering tail (while the tail is standing straight up) often accompanies spraying, but sometimes its just an indicator of excitement - no spraying going on. Also, contrary to common belief, females can spray, although it's much less common with females.

If you can get a good look at the under-tail area, even neutered males retain a testicle sac - their nether regions look completely different than a female's.

If you can't get close enough to get a good look, it's pretty easy to tell male or female from the face, if you know cats. (And mature unneutered males are unmistakable, because of head and shoulder size.)

Females can be quite fierce. The alpha of my quite large family is Sir, who was a fully mature tom before I trapped him and had him neutered. He's bullied all the other alpha males into submission (often he simply sits on them - he's close to twenty pounds), but he steers clear of Isis, who is four pounds of ferocious femininity who happens to hate him. She goes out of her way to attack Sir, even though he tries to give her a wide berth. (It's interesting, because she's not aggressive to any of the cats other than Sir, although she is aggressive toward one of the dogs, who also tries to give her a wide berth. And Sir is otherwise really popular with the girls; several of them are really devoted to him.)

With cats, it's all about attitude; size is secondary.

One thing I've noted is that an aggressive/assertive male cat is more likely to be aggressive/assertive toward males only, while aggressive/assertive females are more likely to be aggressive/assertive toward both males and females.

As to the voice - have you ever heard Siamese in full voice? Many cats who have Siamese in their genes can sound like Siamese, even if they don't look the least bit like a Siamese. That's just another alternative as to why this cat may sound strange.) OTOH, a number of my cats don't meow at all - the most sound they ever produce is a tiny squeak.

To summarize, if you can't get a good look under the tail, enlist the aid of someone who has spent a lot of time with a lot of cats, and who can give you a good idea by looking at the face.

 

[Mischief]

You can test your ability to tell girl/boy cat from this photo quiz: He-cat or She-cat. A photo quiz from B3ta.

 

[Mischief]

As a general rule, female cats are neater than males about their bathroom behaviors, with girls being more likely to cover their pee and poop.

I've had female cats who've gone into litterboxes after males used them, simply for the purpose of covering other's poop.

OTOH, I've had some males who've dug and dug and dug to get a hole deep enough to suit their likes before pooping. I call them "excavators."

 

[KLS52]

So interesting...I have two males and two females. I’ve seen all four pee and they all squat. Occasionally, Stella and Joon, both female, spray. Stella will also pee outside of the litter box when her anal glands are full and need expressing so we have them done at regular intervals now, every 2-3 months. Joon does not cover her poop and Stella will always go in after her and cover it for her! I only just recently learned, after I witnessed Stella doing it, that cats will cover other cats poop...I had no idea!

 

[Mischief]

So interesting...I have two males and two females. I’ve seen all four pee and they all squat. Occasionally, Stella and Joon, both female, spray. Stella will also pee outside of the litter box when her anal glands are full and need expressing so we have them done at regular intervals now, every 2-3 months. Joon does not cover her poop and Stella will always go in after her and cover it for her! I only just recently learned, after I witnessed Stella doing it, that cats will cover other cats poop...I had no idea!

They are endlessly interesting, aren't they?!