I think this is an interesting question but we don’t truly know the answer unless someone can correct me. My preference is to suggest that domestic cats cannot tell the difference between women and men in a strict sense. They will be able to tell the difference between the scent, visual appearance and sounds of men and women but I don’t think they are able to use this information to inform themselves that they are interacting with a man or a woman. They are just interacting with two different creatures. They might have preferences and probably do.

Some cats seem to like men and some cats seem like women but that doesn’t mean that these cats can tell the difference between men and women. My former lady cat was frightened of the sound of workmen’s footsteps – harder and noisier – but she was scared of the sound not the men.

I think most people would probably believe that domestic cats can tell the difference but, as mentioned, I don’t think they are correct. My cat can’t tell the difference between a fluffy dressing gown and a female cat! He thinks my dressing gown is a female cat because he thinks that he can create babies using it. How, therefore, can a cat tell the difference between a man and a woman?

Any thoughts?