Female or male cat (tomcat) – which sex should you choose?

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One of the more frequently arising questions when planning to buy a kitten – is, jaką płeć wybrać?

Sometimes it happens that someone comes to us who already has an idea and a plan that they absolutely want a female (or a male). And we respect that – everyone may want to look for a specific companion for life. But we have had cases zmiany tej decyzji po rozmowie z nami, and from what we know – everyone was satisfied with their final decision 🙂

Teorie i pogłoski

You often hear that male cats are friendlier and more cuddly than females (but also that they are bigger rascals). And that females are more independent and keep a bit of a distance. You can come across opinions that females are less aggressive, much easier to raise, more curious, eager to play and cuddle, and gentler than males. There are theories saying that females are aloof and easier to annoy.

Ile ludzi (i kotów!) tyle opinii… i część z nich może być prawdziwa, if the cats are not neutered, if they were not well socialised and if they are cats of breeds other than the Devon…

No więc jak to jest naprawdę z tymi płciami?

Zacznijmy od kilku ważnych conditions, bo mamy na myśli:

• kotka Devon Rex – bo mają specyficzny charakter i takie hodujemy
• kotka z hodowli (naszej) – czyli mocno zsocjalizowanego
• kotka wykastrowanego – bo tylko takie opuszczają naszą hodowlę

I krótką odpowiedzią (przy powyższych warunkach) będzie – PŁEĆ NIE MA ZNACZENIA 🙂

Koty rasowe mają określone wzorce zachowań, so a Devon Rex in this respect will generally be very pro-human, cuddly and squeezing in everywhere (generally regardless of sex).

Finalnie charakter kota zależy głównie od jego indywidualnych predyspozycji and socjalizacji w hodowli (możesz zobaczyć jak my socjalizujemy nasze koty).

That is, if you want to, you can stop reading here 🙂 But if you feel like it, take a look at a few additional pieces of information on this topic…

Chcesz bardziej przytulaśnego kota?

Jedną rzecz już masz w pakiecie – wybrałaś rasę Devon Rex, which by its nature is very friendly to people and in most cases simply likes to cuddle.

Drugą rzecz dajemy od siebie – wczesną i fantastyczną socjalizację, which has a huge influence on how the cat then behaves in its new home. In this context, beware of catteries that release cats before 14 weeks of age. The longer a cat stays in the cattery the better for its character and socialisation – we release ours at around 16 weeks.

Trzecia to Twój czas spędzany potem z kotem. The more time you devote to it, the more willingly it will come back to you and show its affection. Also make sure it has resources (scratching posts, climbing frames, places to sleep). And in the end the cat will surely appreciate it and gladly come back to you for more. One small note, though – respect the cat's boundaries – they sometimes like to sit/sleep away from us. Don't force them to cuddle or sit on your lap, and you'll see they'll come back to you on their own.

Czy na pewno nie ma różnic?

Z naszego doświadczenia and quite a number of kittens already released to new homes, there really are no differences between the sexes, but…

Różnice faktycznie mogą się pojawić dwie:

1. Wielkość – females are usually smaller/finer than males, but in Devons there are not such drastic differences (although they do occur). Males, on the other hand, may have a greater tendency to put on weight (even though Devons are naturally slim cats).
2. Kolor – jeśli marzy Wam się szylkretka (a two- or three-coloured cat – red + colour + possibly white), it will only be able to be a female (a male tortoiseshell has a genetic defect). The same with the colour rudym – here there are decidedly more males (only about 20% are females). However, all other colours – you will find a female and a male without any problem.

The third difference – though we haven't come across studies on this, rather theories – is that female cats may be slightly less allergenic. This is because the allergenic factor is a protein found in sebum or saliva, and male cats have more sebaceous glands than females, and consequently may teoretycznie secrete more of this protein (but this again – is a matter individual to the cat and it is hard to measure and predict). 

Drugi kotek w domu

And what if you already have a cat at home and are wondering what is best to match with it? The same sex or a different one?

Zaczniemy od tego, że Devony najlepiej brać w dwupaku 😀 I nie jest to żart, więcej opisaliśmy w osobnym poradniku pt. 6 reasons why Devons should be bought as a pair.

Natomiast jeśli w Twoim domu już mieszka jeden kot, nie ma większego znaczenia, jakiej płci będzie kolejny zwierzak.

Even though you can come across the opinion that mixed pairs get along best, in our opinion najważniejsze znaczenie nadal ma charakter indywidualnego kota. And here too a combination of the characters of two cats (the current and the new one).

So the question is whether you have a moggy at home, or maybe a cat of another breed, or maybe another Devon, or maybe you have a cat with specific problems? Here it is hard to describe everything in a guide (which was meant to be short), so sugerujemy tu rozmowę z nami – we will give tips and advise something from our experience. We will also tell you more about socialisation, so important when adding another cat to the home (you can also przeczytać samemu nasz poradnik o tym). Natomiast naszym zdaniem w tym wypadku – kompletnie nie ma się co sugerować tylko płcią.

Płeć opiekuna

It is also an interesting topic, which we sometimes discuss with the potential parents of our kittens.

Bo słyszymy czasem „a bo poprzedni kot to ciągle wybierał żonę„, albo „this time I would like a kitten that will come more to me than to my husband” 🙂 Tu też od razu powiemy – Wasza płeć też nie ma znaczenia!

Koty, niezależne od płci (swojej i opiekuna!), wybierają sobie jednego „głównego użytkownika”, with whom they most often spend the most time and to whom they are most drawn. It is to them that they often come to be fed or played with, on their laps that they sleep more often, to them that they come to bed.

Na jakiej podstawie wybierają? Kluczowe są oczywiście pierwsze interakcje (spotkanie w hodowli, transport, pierwsze chwile w nowym domu) oraz sposób, w jaki Opiekun odnosi się do kota.

Even if the whole family loves the new cat, even if the whole family devotes a lot of attention to it – there will always be someone who feeds the cat more often, plays with it more often, takes care of it more often. Cats notice even small details that we don't always see, and on that basis they set up a hierarchy of household members in their heads. Sex has rather little to say here.

However, this does not always work either. Sometimes even the greatest willingness and dedication of one person will not make the cat choose them as the most important one 🙂 Some of our new families (including ours!) know this pain too. Here sometimes nature and instinct simply take over.

Finally one „but”… Cats have a very keen sense of smell. And sometimes it happens that naturalny zapach jednego z domowników (a woman, a man, a child) simply works better on this particular cat. And here too there is rather nothing we can do 🙂

Podsumowując…

No to na koniec – kocur, czy kotka? My jesteśmy zdania, że nie ma to znaczenia, but the final decision still depends on you – so as you prefer 🙂