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Your Cat Has a Clitoris, and 5 Other Things You Didn’t Know About Cat Genitalia

From the cat clitoris to the cat penis, we demystify everything you want to know (but might be afraid to ask!) about cat genitalia.

JaneA Kelley  |  Nov 21st 2017

One day I was thinking about the marvel that is the reproductive system and how ours differ from that of others, and the thought occurred to me, “Hmm, I wonder, do cats have a clitoris?” Since I’m a total science nerd, I had to research the answer to this question. Before long, I found myself down a marvelous rabbit hole of strange and awesome facts about cat genitalia — and because I’m such a nerd, I just had to share this all with you! So here are some of the things I learned about cat genitalia:

A cat butt.

Admit it — you have quite a few questions about cat gentialia. Photography by Vevodka/Shutterstock.

1. A male cat has barbs on his penis

Intact male cats have rows of tiny, backward-pointing barbs on the head of the penis. When a male cat is neutered, the barbs disappear.

2. Yes, cats do have a clitoris

Like most mammals, a female cat’s clitoris is located on the inside. It’s very close to the opening of the vagina, but it’s not quite as exposed as the human clitoris. However, knowing the location of the clitoris, I can’t help but imagine that those penile barbs cause a pain unlike anything I’d ever want to experience.

3. Female cats have a Y-shaped uterus

A cat’s uterus has two “horns” coming off the main body of the organ. The kittens grow inside these uterine horns, and each developing kitten and its placenta is held in its place as it grows by a special sac called the allantois-chorion.

4. Male cats have a penis bone

Actually, most placental mammals have a penis bone. Known as the baculum (Latin for “stick” or “staff”), this bone helps to keep the penis rigid and inside the female for as long as possible.

5. Cats don’t ovulate until they mate

Although a female cat in heat is ready to mate, she doesn’t actually release eggs from her ovaries until after mating. It’s currently thought that the pain caused by the barbs on the tomcat’s penis when he pulls out causes ovulation.

6. Cats’ penises face backwards

In its regular state, the cat’s penis faces backwards, toward the end of the tail. Even when erect, the penis doesn’t come much farther forward. This, and the fact that a tomcat’s fully erect penis is only about two inches long, is probably why the female cat adopts a sway-backed position during mating: She’s doing the best she can to make it easy for the male cat’s penis to reach her vagina.

Tell us: Do you know any other odd facts about cat genitalia? Are you as geekishly fascinated by this subject as I am, or are you just wishing you could unsee what you just read? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Thumbnail: Photography by dk_photos/Thinkstock.


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