Boy or a girl?

Ok i know this is going to be a stupid question but I have to ask it!
so we have the stray (it isn't so skittish of us so I think someone dumped it) that has been in our yard. Last night I went downstairs and glanced out the window and there it was. I stood and watched it for a minute till it saw me and slowly walked away. Now here is my question.
Is there a way to tell if it is male or female without seeing its bits? I thought it was a male cause for a few days it was meowing loudly at night (we had the windows open and i had put some used litter outside the door for the garbage) and I assumed it was trying to call for my girls. When i saw it last night it looked too small to be a Tom. It ws very petite and almost Calico (not patched but I gues tortie) of a light grey with some orange and white mixed in.

So is there a way to tell without looking at its bits?

Tri colors are almost always female, so if you say it looks like a tortie, then it is most likely a girl. A light grey with orange and white sounds like a diluted torbie.

That is what I was thinking too. But I knew you all would know better than me!!

OK, well, now that the question has been asked...how do you tell a neutered male from a female?

Originally Posted by kluchetta

OK, well, now that the question has been asked...how do you tell a neutered male from a female?

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I had thought about that one too!!!

If its a calico or dilute calico (blue/cream - grey/tan), then its probably a female. 99.9% of calicos are female.

A tom that is full grown and not neutered usually has a wider looking head.

And even if neutered, you can still see the remains of the male sack (if you get that close to see it).

Originally Posted by kluchetta

OK, well, now that the question has been asked...how do you tell a neutered male from a female?

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Momofmany gave a very concise and accurate description. My longwinded version follows...

In neutering, the testicles are removed from the scrotum, but the empty sack remains...so their outer 'bits' (empty scrotum) are still there, only MUCH smaller . As they age, the sacks get smaller (my observation anyway) but they are there nonetheless...unless the testicles never descended. There may be a different way of doing it but I haven't seen a neutered boy with a "naked" rear end. Beandip only has one little white 'cottonball' back there because he had an undescended testicle that had to be removed via an incision in his abdomen. Girls have fluffy tufts of fur/skin back there but they're shaped much differently.

Originally Posted by beandip

Momofmany gave a very concise and accurate description. My longwinded version follows...

In neutering, the testicles are removed from the scrotum, but the empty sack remains...so their outer 'bits' (empty scrotum) are still there, only MUCH smaller

. As they age, the sacks get smaller (my observation anyway) but they are there nonetheless...unless the testicles never descended. There may be a different way of doing it but I haven't seen a neutered boy with a "naked" rear end. Beandip only has one little white 'cottonball' back there because he had an undescended testicle that had to be removed via an incision in his abdomen.

Girls have fluffy tufts of fur/skin back there but they're shaped much differently.

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Wow I never knew this. Thanks.

Wow, really? I didn't think any of my guys had outside bits still left. Hmm...off to investigate.

Originally Posted by kluchetta

Hmm...off to investigate.

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I can picture it now......approach kitty, turn kitty around, lift tail......

I have three cats and one is male and although he was neutered, and quite early too, he definetly has two little testicle sacs back there.

Originally Posted by kluchetta

OK, well, now that the question has been asked...how do you tell a neutered male from a female?

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Well, I assume it is easy. My male cat was neutered, and I can still see his ballsack, even though nothing is in it anymore.

Originally Posted by msgoody2shoes

I have three cats and one is male and although he was neutered, and quite early too, he definetly has two little testicle sacs back there.

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Both my boys are fixed and they still have them as well.

OK. Of 4 boys....Cow(5), Sandy(3), Billy Bob & Tony Bob(2)...all neutered one year ago. Cow is the only one where you can hardly see the 'bits". The younger 3 all have them. All had descended testicles when they were neutered, too.

However, Cow never got to be "tomcatty" whereas the other 3 were.

Originally Posted by white cat lover

OK. Of 4 boys....Cow(5), Sandy(3), Billy Bob & Tony Bob(2)...all neutered one year ago. Cow is the only one where you can hardly see the 'bits". The younger 3 all have them.

All had descended testicles when they were neutered, too.

However, Cow never got to be "tomcatty" whereas the other 3 were.

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Yeah, I think when they are allowed to fully "mature" then the skin stretches and makes for bigger looking "evidence". Junior and Beandip were both neutered a bit late so theirs do look a bit bigger...even tho Beandip only had one on the outside.

OT, I was googling for some info and found something called "neuticals" for dogs...I didn't read much but it looked like an implant to replace the missing parts after neuter. Oh my. ...as if the dog really cares.

I swear out here in the wild wild west they do not leave anything, LOL.

Originally Posted by kluchetta

I swear out here in the wild wild west they do not leave anything, LOL.

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Really? Wow.

for the link Beandip. I see that what Tonky has is normal.
He was neutered at about 9 months.
Angie

Maybe I didn't look closely enough...