# kneading... male vs female differences?



## OsnobunnieO (Jun 28, 2004)

Ok, I'm really going out on a limb here... does the sex of a cat have anything to do with their kneading?

I know some cats really don't do it, and some get overly into it and it all depends on the cat. I was just wondering if males or females tend to do it more?

Early in the morning, Addison has his kneading set on HIGH  If I'm on my stomach, he'll be on my back just pushing away at my head and hair. When I first got him, he'd nuzzle under my neck and need away, getting so into it that he'd bite me, then realize what he did and get scared and run away (never really sure why, but I didn't appreciate his "love bites"). I was just wondering if female cats get into kneading just as much as males.

If you're wondering why this matters... its another pathetic attempt to prove to myself that my cat is a male. Some will remember the whole story of me adopting him from the shelter with the knowledge that he was male, and had just been neutered (saw the incision and everything). Now my vet is telling me she's sure he's a female. She even thinks she can see a spay scare on the stomach, even though I clearly remember that his stomach was not shaved (he'd been fixed a few days before) and the scar spot was tiny and very close to his tail end. Just trying to find some normally "male" behaviors to put my mind at ease.


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## RarePuss (Jun 16, 2004)

After a neuter there should be two small incisions on his testes, nowhere else on stomach. If you saw one scar near tail end, maybe it was a spay and they mixed some stuff up?

I had a female before marsh, she kneaded on specific fabric - i didn't like it at all, Marsh has never kneaded in his life  I always thought and still think they do it b/c they're adopted way too young but the female we got at 4 months.


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## Dusty&Lou (Jun 16, 2004)

Dusty (a neutered male) kneads on me all the time, but only on me. He does it on the bed when I'm in the bed, but no other time.

My mother's cat, a spayed female, used to knead on her all the time. But she seems to have grown out of that.

So, in my experience, the sex of the cat doesn't seen to matter... Sorry I couldn't help!


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## stephanie0122 (Oct 13, 2004)

sounds to me like your cat is a female. Mistakes like this are made allthe time at shelters. I used to volunteer at one and they were constantly mixing up the sex of the cats there. They even sent a few off to homes and had the owners come back complaining that their cats were not the sex they were told they were. 
Also your discription of the scar sounds likle a female cat to me...perhaps the hair had already gorwn back when you got her? 
As to your kneeding question...this is a trait that the cats keep from when they are young...both males and females do it and i have never notised one doing it more or with more intensity than the other.


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## OsnobunnieO (Jun 28, 2004)

see my biggest problem with the scar is that if my cat were female and had been spayed, it would have to have been completely healed because the surgery was performed like 3 or 4 days before I brought him home. The only thing they showed me was the small incision where they neutered him. I figure if they made a mistake and found out it was a girl during the surgery... they would have changed the card to say male right?

It was an owner surrender. So I'm assuming the owner would have said "this is a female that we had spayed" or "this is a male that hasn't been fixed" or something like that. I work in a vet, so I've seen both surgeries performed and the healing process. 

I REALLY keep meaning to go up to the humane society and get the paper work on him. I'm such a procrastinator :?


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## Doeremi (Aug 21, 2004)

See how you can see the fur shaved still - this is exactly a week after Nala's spay 










This is a month after spay - see that dot? that's where the dissolvable stitches are (one just took longer to dissolve - it's now finally gone) - you can still see a line where she was shaved









Hope that helps some


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## Luvit73 (Oct 6, 2004)

I don't mean to sound crass , but is there a reason you can't just look ? Fixed or not , a female still has an "extra" hole , and a male still has his other male part . Kneading won't tell you what it is , as Stephanie said , that is a behaviour left over from nurseing on mom .


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## OsnobunnieO (Jun 28, 2004)

Luvit73 said:


> I don't mean to sound crass , but is there a reason you can't just look ? Fixed or not , a female still has an "extra" hole , and a male still has his other male part . Kneading won't tell you what it is , as Stephanie said , that is a behaviour left over from nurseing on mom .


I completey understand what you're saying. I'm not trying to say that the kneading will prove anything, I was just curious to see if there was any relationship. (OK, so I'm in COMPLETE denial about the whole gender identity and looking for a glimer of hope to convince myself :lol: )

Anyway, from what I've always understood, the "male part" is still inside and not clearly visible unless you do some searching. After being neutered, some males' testicles shrink up and can almost disappear completely. This is the explaination the humane society gave me as to why he could appear male. The first vet I took him to, they asked me one two different visits if I was sure it was a male, and both times they looked and said "hm, I guess you're right, he is male"

Now my current vet (who I work for) is sure its a female because she thinks the "hole" looks more like a vagina than a penis. 

I know the humane society gets tons of cats in and out and nobody would really remember specifics, but the woman I talked to after explaining my situation was very curious. She asked me to bring him in to get a copy of the records of everything done (my request) and so she could have a look and see. I'm too lazy to drive all the way up there though.


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## Luvit73 (Oct 6, 2004)

In a female cat , the vaginal opening is very close to the anus , and appears more like a vertical slit - a male's penis is farther away from the anus , the opening appears as a circle , and if you squeeze it the tip of the penis will appear .


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## Lorna (Sep 7, 2004)

This might seem strange but in my opinion, you can usually tell the sex of a cat (apart from the obvious physical differences that Luvit posted) by it's 'look' and demeanour. Can you post a decent picture of your cat? Also, behaviour wise, I have always had girls but my bf has had male cats and there is definitely a difference in how they move, play and act . If vets aren't really sure, I would assume female however as male parts tend to show themselves sooner or later :wink: 

Lorna


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