Cats. As they are so popular on here (usually), can I please ask...

[WildRosie]

...is it possible for girl cats to be pretty and boy cats to be handsome ? Or are cats just cats, regardless of any positive facial features ? My Mum used to describe females as 'pretty pussycats' which I found to be a bit twee, in the nicest possible way. I don't know what she thought of tom cats.

@WildRosie and @Hazelmazel - you're both right, she is female and we think she's beautiful. She "begs" for treats, either lifting one paw or sitting upright and waving both paws (if it's a very exciting treat that she really shouldn't be having) it's so cute!

Smudgie my very handsome man he is 2

What breed is Smudgie, lockdown?

I used to have a very pretty male ginger Tom he was absolutely beautiful 😻

My black and white cat (gingers brother) is handsome not pretty but handsome he’s 16 now, and starting to look old.

I think my boys pretty😻

Another of mine. 🙂

The two cats we had at home when I was a bairn were sisters. Apart from them both being black and white, they couldn't have been more different. Cat C was sleek and elegant and small-headed. Very aloof and not really a people cat. Cat M looked more rugged and butch with something of a fat head. She was much more personable and affectionate than her sister.

I can remember my late DM saying whenever we saw a cat, 'Oh it's a girl,you can tell from its pretty face'. Then she got a dark totoiseshell cat who was a female,which is usually the case with torties,who was not at all pretty! My DM kept referring to her as 'he' or 'him'. When I corrected her,she said 'It's because she's so butch looking that I keep thinking she's a boy'.

I meant to add,that you can usually tell an unneutured tom cat by his large head and comparitively smaller body. When they've been 'done',they usually don't develop this characteristic. And I've noticed that all the female cats that I've had over the years (all neutured) have small heads and bigger bodies.

Then she got a dark totoiseshell cat who was a female,which is usually the case with torties,who was not at all pretty!

Torties are always female, unless they have a genetic disorder :). It’s due to coat colour being on the x chromosome. Only way you can get 3 colours is with two x’s. So a male tortie is an XXY. Very rare!!

So far, I am surprised none of our cat owners (or persons owned by cats) have come on here to say that all this talk is irrelevant because their boy/girl is the beautifulest, most handsomest, prettiest pussycat in the whole wide world. So there.

My cat says that her human is the beautifulest, most handsomest, prettiest cat slave in the whole wide world. So there!

My boy cat is definitely pretty rather than handsome. He's also quite small and likes to curl up in the bag of princess dressing-up dresses, so I reckon he's quite happy with "pretty" as a descriptor!