Thread: Коты и кошки. Как называть?

rv9yw,
female cat (кошка)
male cat, tomcat (кот)
kitten (котёнок)

Originally Posted by Paul G.

rv9yw,
female cat (кошка)
male cat, tomcat (кот)
kitten (котёнок)

Note that with any pet animal, it's perfectly okay to use "boy" and "girl" -- because, you know, pets are like children. So you can say "girl cat" for кошка, and "boy dog" for пёс, etc.

However, if you're talking about wild animals, it's much better to use "male" and "female" -- if you say "boy shark" or "girl elephant" or whatever, it sounds a bit childish (or foreign).

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

However, if you're talking about wild animals, it's much better to use "male" and "female" -- if you say "boy shark" or "girl elephant" or whatever, it sounds a bit childish (or foreign).

I know, if you use "male/female" for cats it sounds close to Russian самец/самка, a bit formal. We also use "boy/girl" in Russian for pets.