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This is Islay (eye-la), my hermaphrodite cat!
(lemmynsfw.com)
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this post was submitted on 14 Apr 2025
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They're gorgeous!! I'm curious, what do you mean by hermaphrodite?
Both parts. Islay has both testicles and a uterus. We call her a she (since our other cat is a boy so it’s just easier if one is he and one is she), but technically she’s a they. Unfortunately it’ll be very expensive to get her fixed because of it.
Spend the money unless you want to be responsible for Cat Jesus.
Immcatulate catception (I couldn't decide on just one)
It's ok, cats are best in pairs
Oh definitely, I will. She’s worth the much higher price.
I always assumed that sort of situation would render them sterile. It probably varies but the more you know!
Well, I suppose fixing has hormonal consequences too and not just reproductive, now that I think about it.
More often than not, cats with both parts tend to develop cancer as a result of it, apparently. That’s according to the vet anyway. But yeah I think they tend to be sterile in most cases.
Having another whole system to develop something cancerous probably doesn't help, but that's interesting. I'm guessing it could cause unusual stresses on the body throughout aging too. I hope fixing/spaying mitigates the risk! Such a pretty one, and extra enigmatic.
if you asked her pronouns she'd probably say "meow"
Ohh interesting! So would her chromosomes be XXY?
I’m not too sure! That’s a good question though. I’m curious now, I’ll have to ask the vet the next time I see her.
Hey, by the way "hermaphrodite" is considered a slur, as it has a long history of being associated with horrific abuse of people with genitalia that isn't considered 'normal'. So in the future, I'd recommend using the term intersex.
This is an odd one, cause it's also medical I think? Or just scientific like hermaphroditic plants. For sure a person-slur though. Like a person may be hermaphroditic, but at the very least it's a faux pas to call them a hermaphrodite, if not derogatory outright.
It is used in a medical/scientific context, but most intersex people consider it bad, as it only used to refer to people until fairly recently (19th century I think?). When talking about species that can reproduce by themselves (like slugs or some plants), I've heard the word cosexual is preferred.
Good to know, thanks. That’s just what the vet called her, I wasn’t aware there were bad connotations with the term.
Np. They're a very pretty kitty!
Isn't that what Viktor Krum said when he was trying to pronounce Hermione?