A pet owner thought they were simply taking their orange cat to the vet for a routine grooming appointment—but the visit ended with a surprising revelation.
Reddit user u/Mika_Milk05 shared a photo of their beloved cat in the subreddit r/OneOrangeBraincell, where the post quickly caught attention, racking up more than 12,000 upvotes. “Just found out that Rosie is a guy,” they wrote.
Just found out that Rosie is a guy
by u/Mika_Milk05 in OneOrangeBraincell
“Got her (his) butt hair trimmed at the vet today and got a surprise. tiny fuzzy balls so yah we’re gonna have to change the name now,” the poster added.
The pet owner noted that the timing made the situation even more amusing, as they had recently seen a very similar post on Reddit involving another cat whose sex had also been misidentified. “Nah this is wild,” they added.
The revelation sparked a flood of comments from fellow Reddit users, many of whom shared their own experiences of pets whose names didn’t quite match their biological reality—and offered suggestions for Rosie’s potential new name.
“He’s stealing my heart either way,” one user commented.
“And this is how Rosie became Rocco,” wrote another.
“Lmaoo [laughing my a** off] rocco low-key sounds good. thanks for the suggestion,” the original poster replied.
“Or Ro,” another user posted.
“You can say he’s Italian and call him Rosario, or “Rosie” for short,” someone else added.
“My dad had named him rosie and he joked back then that if it’s a male we could name him Rosario. this just made me remember that,” the pet owner responded.
Other commenters chimed in with similar stories. “Happened with my most recent. At first she was Bones. But now he’s Bones,” one user shared.
“Yup, years ago I adopted a female kitten and named her Mouse. She turned out to be male and I named him Mouse,” another wrote.
“Ours went from Princess Jasmine to just Jazz,” said a third commenter.
As for Rosie—or Rocco, Rosario, or Ro—the owner admitted they are still adjusting to the change.
“Ro is good too. more on the neutral side I like it. I’m still getting used to saying ‘he ‘ and not ‘she'” they said.
How To Choose a New Name for Your Cat
Experts at Zoetis Petcare, a veterinary pharmaceutical and animal health company, say there are a few key tips when selecting a name that your cat can learn and respond to: choose a simple, one- or two-syllable name that you will use consistently, and avoid names that sound too much like common commands so as not to confuse your feline.
Short, clear names are easier for cats to pick up, and using the name regularly during positive interactions—such as feeding or play—helps strengthen recognition.
Newsweek reached out to u/Mika_Milk05 for comment via Reddit. We could not verify the details of the case.
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