Yes, this is absolutely a ridiculous sounding topic for an article, but I’m totally okay with that considering I used to be REALLY confused over my male cat Avery’s nipples when we first got him.
It’s not that I didn’t think male cats would have any nipples, I just didn’t know there would be so many… and didn’t really realize what I was feeling when I rubbed my cat’s belly and found his.
If you’ve ever wondered about cat nipples before, even for a fleeting moment, this is the article for you; because boy is it a weird topic that does not come up often. 😉
Let’s do this Q & A style, as it’ll help me make sure I don’t forget anything interesting or important!
Tackling an Odd Topic: Cat Nipple Facts!
First: Cats have nipples?
Yes indeed! Female cats use their nipples to feed milk to their young, as many mammals do.
There actually aren’t all that many mammals that don’t have nipples. Monotremes, like the platypus and the echidna, don’t have any; they have milk patches instead.
But as I’ve said, these types of animals are rare.
Cats certainly do not fit in with them. Instead, cats fit in with dogs, cows, pigs, monkeys, a slew of other animals, and humans.
These mammals all use nipples in the process of feeding their young offspring milk until they are old enough to eat solid foods.
Okay, but – do male cats have nipples?
Yes! All cats have nipples, not just female cats. Just the same way human males have nipples although they do not use them to feed their young, male cats also have nipples.
Male cats, like male humans, don’t use their nipples for anything, but they both do have them.
Since they don’t use them – why do male cats have nipples?
In the animal kingdom, if the female of the species has nipples, it’s much more typical to see males with nipples as well, even though the males are not likely to use them in any way.
Thus, in mammals that have nipples, there are actually very few whose males don’t have nipples – rats and horses to name a couple.
The why is stated perfectly by Rob Harris in his article published on the Nest:
[…] Males and females start out developing the same as fetuses. As male DNA kicks in, the male hormones such as testosterone stop the development of some traits — like full sets of mammary glands — and start the development of others, including reproductive organs. Because it doesn’t hurt males to have nipples, most mammals haven’t evolved away from them.
Basically, males and females start out developing in exactly the same way at inception, and then if there happens to be a male component to the DNA, that component blocks specific traits (like the development of full mammary glands/breasts for feeding offspring) from developing.
But nipples aren’t stopped from developing in male mammals like cats and humans.
Why? Because they don’t harm a male cat or human to have.
If a male had full mammary glands that he wasn’t using, it would be a waste of resources (resources like energy) that could be used elsewhere in the body (like for building muscle or sent to the brain instead).
But since nipples take up little to no resources/energy to have and maintain, male DNA doesn’t bother to block them from developing.
If nipples were resource-consuming, male DNA would more likely have evolved to block them from being developed, to conserve those resources that otherwise would’ve been wasted on something that is, for all intents and purposes, useless.
Instead, nipples are left to develop, because there isn’t much benefit in the added complication of blocking them from developing, thus having them be gone.
Exactly how many nipples do cats have?
Apparently, this is one of the most common questions about cat nipples asked on the net!
It seems cats have varying numbers of nipples – some with 4, some with 6, and others with 8.
Cats can at times have up to 10 nipples, and there are cats that have an odd number of nipples as well!
Based on what I’ve read (a whole bunch of forum threads of people listing how many nipples their own cats have!) it seems that the most common number of nipples for a cat to have is either 6 or 8.
Let me know in the comments section down below if you’ve ever done a count of your own cat’s nipples (yes, I’m aware of how strange that question is!), and how many you found.
More than one cat? Do they all have the same number of nipples? Again, very weird thing to be discussing – I acknowledge that – but I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s ever been curious enough to wonder about odd things like this!
Where are a cat’s nipples on their bodies?
You can find cat’s nipples running along either side of their bellies. Usually, a cat will have two rows of four or six nipples, matched up evenly with one on the right and one on the left side.
Though again, sometimes cats will have odd numbered nipples, or fewer or more nipples than that.
What do cat nipples feel like?
This is where my confusion arose when I first got Avery. While petting his belly and his chest, I felt something almost like a little pimple one day, and confused I asked Thomas what it was.
He informed me that he actually looked it up months previously because he noticed it and didn’t know: turns out it was just nipples!
So that’s essentially how I’d describe the feeling of a cat nipple: like a pimple almost!
Are cat nipples easy to find?
Cat nipples aren’t particularly easy to find since cats (for the most part) are so stinkin’ fluffy!
They’re small, but they’re there! Beneath all the fuzz.
What do cat nipples look like?
Honestly, to me they look like pimples, though if you have a better description of them, let me know.
Check out this Google search for more images of cat nipples (!!! yes, I’m finding it hard to believe I typed that).
Can you tell if a cat is pregnant by her nipples?
Yes! Cats will have swollen nipples if they are pregnant. That being said…
What do I do if my cat has swollen nipples?
Not every cat with swollen nipples is a pregnant cat (especially if the cat is male!).
These are all the health issues there could be if your cat has swollen nipples (sourced from Wag Walking):
- Pregnancy
- Mastitis (mammary gland infection while lactating)
- Galactostasis (milk collection in mammary gland while weaning)
- Feline Mammary Hypertrophy (benign masses)
- Mammary cancer
- Mammary Hyperplasia (from high levels of progesterone)
And yes, just like with humans, sadly it is possible (however unlikely) for male cats to develop breast cancer.
If your cat has swollen nipples, please take him or her to the vet.
Can you tell if a kitten is male or female by looking at the nipples?
Nope! Because both male and female kittens have nipples, and because gender makes no difference to the number of nipples a cat has, no, you can’t identify a kitten’s gender by nipples.
Time for the Nipple Talk!
Hope I didn’t make that too cringy or strange to read through!
I know this is an extremely odd topic but if you have absolutely any questions or comments about cat nipples, the comments are wide open!
It may be uncomfortable to ask or respond to them, and if so, don’t leave a real name down below if you don’t want to, but I’d like you to be as comfortable as you can be to open up about your curiosity on such a strange topic, so believe me when I say there will be no judgement here – no matter what your comment! 🙂
Oddly enough, I’m looking forward to seeing what you guys have to say on the topic of cat nipples. 😉 Leave any thoughts down below!
I have fostered mom’s with kittens for years but my very 1st mom had 14 nipples not all of them worked But I was so surprised to learn that cats could have more then 8.
Curiously, I was feeling my male siamese on his underbelly last night and freaked when I felt all these “bumps”. Ok, so the majority are nipples, but during the exercise and freaking out and calling the vet for an appointment, I found a cyst. So he’s going in anyway tonight and it’s probably benign but I’m glad I freaked and reacted. I hope it is nothing but that sent me to your article today. Funny that I felt his brother’s belly and couldn’t find even one nipple on him – maybe because his fur is a tad bit heavier. Yes, weird topic but glad I know. My Himmies don’t seem to have prominent ones (also male).
Just discoverd our (foster) mama cat has 5 nipples. We couldn’t figure out why the 6 kittens were always fighting at feeding time. Now we know!
Update – 5 kittens born, all done in 3 hours. I had to do mouth to mouth on the first, but minimal interference with the rest. I was a gibbering wreck after the first, and so relieved after he started breathing and moving. Erik is now very special to me, but I will likely keep them all 🙂
Dave
G’aww! What an amazing connection, to help him with his first breath of life 🙂
Goodness gracious – 5 kittens from the same litter all staying together in the same home; I can’t even handle how cute that sounds ❤
Great article. I found it while searching for cat nipples. Some people have the weirdest fetishes 🙂
I was curious because Shelley the 1yo is about to drop a litter. For the record, she has 4 pairs. This was not a planned thing, she escaped through a hole in the ceiling while in heat. I took me a while to figure out how she got out, as the hole seemed impossible to me. Here is a video of the escape route:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsKXvaGD2G4&index=18&t=0s&list=PLU5AuKif2G7ToZH-IytwXeGPnE97OJjGE
Dave
Um wow – you have a Houdini living in your house! That is a CRAZY video, I’m surprised you even figured it out at all! She’s incredibly clever!
Yes, this is a strange thing to finally think about after having male cats my whole life! But it occurred to me that it was something I had never contemplated, so thank you for the info. I just examined my 12 pound Bengl boy and for the life of me I couldn’t find any! I’ll just have to take your word that they exist cause I don’t think I can take the looks he gave me again 😽
Laughed my bollocks off! Oh, wait a minute i’ve just found them, back in a minute………….Ah!!! Sorry just had a moment.
Brilliant article. I’m just as daft as you. For the last 15 years I’ve had old female cats have just wandered into the house and I’ve ended up for 15 years looking after them. The last one died just before Christmas. We celebrated her 20th birthday . I told her not to die and two days later she kicked the bucket. So i’ve another rescue cat. Coco, four a half months old. He’s a pie bald bruiser, fit as a butcher’s dog! He loves a bit of loving ( nose touching & stroking ) and I found a nipple. (Couldn’t see it,His fur so thick but a nippele it was.) So you and I were on the same track. However, don’t you think the number of eyelids is a bit sketchy? Cheers, Paul.
Wow twenty!! Oh my goodness gracious me! Now that’s a long life, hope mine live to be that old!
Isn’t it crazy how we can go so long living with cats and never realize things like that until one day we’re petting them and all of a sudden feel something odd, haha.
Eyelids! That’s definitely something to look into – thanks for the tip, it may just make for another article topic! 😉
Hahaha that’s too funny! Poor boy must’ve been ever so confused about what you were doing on his belly!
No one mentioned why know where your cats nipples are?? So if your ragdolls under side (belly.etc) you feel a few little fur mats u need to snip off you know it’s not a nipple!! Get it!
REALLY good point! Never had a cat with long enough hair to have mats before, but now that I do with my new one, boy can I say the point you made is spot on!
Thanks for your article. It seems that the number of nipples can vary quite dramatically. One of my furbabies has 13 nipples in total and is due to have kittens in just a few days. She has seven nipples down one side and six on the other. Three of the 13 are just tiny pimples, the rest are now large and ready for her offspring.
Oh my goodness 13! So interesting how some swelled and some didn’t.
Great awesome and amazing my cat has 4 but she can’t have any kids
When rubbing my cat’s tummy, I only came across 1 nipple. Even though Milo is a docile kitty, I doubt he’d be ok with my groping him in search of more nipples lol.
Haha, totally fair!
Hi Elise, I am a new, unexpected, cat owner. My family and I were walking our 4 month old Border Collie Beau next to a river in the woods when my 7 year old granddaughter spotted a tiny black kitten in the long grass. She had no collar or, as we subsequently found out, no chip either; (the kitten, not the granddaughter) so after nearly two months of trying to find the owner, (though not too eagerly if I’m honest) we have accepted her as ours, or more correctly, she has accepted us as hers. My granddaughter immediately said ‘We can call her Midnight’, so Midnight it is, ‘Middy’ for short. I have always been a ‘dog person’ but Middy is such a joy that I’m now, although no less of a dog person, I am now very much a cat person too.
She sleeps on my desk beside me, as she is at this moment, or on the back of my chair, from which she will wake, bat me around the back of the head for some imagined misdemeanor or the other, before going back to sleep again.
I’m a 70 year old man, and all my life I have never imagined I could love a cat as much as a dog, but since Middy came into my life I can now understand, at least a little, the mind of my ‘crazy cat-lady’ sister.
p.s. I found this site while searching for cat nipples, I don’t understand why you are so apologetic about discussing it but I think I will delete the phrase from my search history anyway, just in case.
Oh I love Middy and Midnight for names – so gorgeous!
I’m so happy you found her – it sounds like a match made in heaven. Your story reminds me of my mother and her cat’s – she was never a pet person, let alone a cat person, and that one special cat who my brother adopted for himself turned into hers in a heartbeat because of how crazy well they bonded.
Sometimes I think it just takes finding the right cat to open up this world of “crazy cat lady mentality” to some people. Cats are awesome, but each cat is so unique, you may not find one whose personality you will bond with until you’ve met quite a few. So glad Middy found you 🙂
Giggled about deleting the search history – I guess you won’t read my comment back then. 😉 But that’s sort of what I meant, as it’s a bit of an awkward thing to search for!
Thanks for the post! My other cat has 6 nipples, but my kitten has 8! I was just petting her tummy and found one way up by the armpit! Good to know she’s still “normal”.
Absolutely! That’s too funny about one being all the way up there! I would’ve done a quick check to see if that was normal, too!
Hi Elise, Fascinating. I’ve been so worried about my Male Cat having a ‘tick’ on his belly and gearing up to visit the Vets I realised he had another one which seamed to be perfectly aligned with yet another two I’ve just seen. Never, ever in all the fifty years of having pet cats did I realise that male cats had nipples and more than two! Of course my cat has not found a ‘tick’ thank goodness but I have found his nipples lol. Many thanks for your Blog
You talked about the number of nipples a cat has, but I am wondering about what it relates to how many kittens they may have in a litter ?
Can they have 8 nipples and have a litter of 10 ?
I don’t know for certain, but my guess is that it’s not relevant, since if a cat has 8 nipples and a litter of 10, the kittens can simply take turns eating. Maybe I’m wrong though! Please someone chime in if you have any experience with this.
I just read this article, because I did not know your blog existed until you commented on Eastside Cats! But this is a wonderful post about a topic that we ALL discuss! When we first brought Angel and Chuck home, I too wondered what those bumps were on Chuck’s belly. Great post!
It was a difficult topic to tackle because it’s a little awkward and I wasn’t sure how many did discuss it. But definitely more and more I’m hearing that, “What the heck is on my cat’s belly that’s like a pimple??” conversation pop up, so I feel a lot better about having written this, haha. Thanks for the approval! 🙂
Interesting post. Many of my cats were not fixed until I got them so they were older and I know that makes them more likely to get cancer.
I had no idea cats are more likely to get cancer if they aren’t fixed until they’re older!
Great post ! That’s a lot of good information about an unusual but interesting topic ! We only regret that you give to Claire the fancy idea of counting our nipples… Purrs
Oh no! Hopefully if she does it she finds them quickly & doesn’t annoy you too much! 😉
Really great article. I actually had a friend who took their cat in because they thought their cat’s nipples were a growth… :’) Landed them with a $100 vet bill. Better google before going in!
To be fair, if you didn’t know they were nipples, how would you know what to Google? Hahahhaha.
Try counting them at your peril!
Luckily for us Avery is super passive, even about his belly! Thomas counted 8.
Actually, human males do have some vestigial mammary tissue. Often, after starvation, they will lactate, like the Jewish prisoners in the concentration camps. So, they can develop breast cancer, though rare, just like women. So, men need to do a monthly breast exam, just like women do.
No idea if cats have the same set up.
Thank you for this comment! I changed the article to read full* mammary glands in both instances, which I think corrects the issue?
Either way, I’d assume that yes, male cats have the same set up. They too can develop breast cancer (although like in human males, it’s rarer than the females developing it), so it would make sense to me that they have the same sort of biological build in this respect.