Penis
Domestic cats have barbed penises, with about 120–150 one millimeter long backwards-pointing spines. Upon withdrawal of the penis, the spines rake the walls of the female's vagina, which is a trigger for ovulation. Lions also have barbed penises. Male felids urinate backwards by curving the tip of the glans penis backward. When male cheetahs urine-mark their territories, they stand one meter away from a tree or rock surface with the tail raised, pointing the penis either horizontally backward or 60° upward.
Sand cat
The sand cat's fur is of a pale, sandy, light brownish-yellow color. Markings vary between individuals: some have neither spots nor stripes, some are faintly spotted, some have both spots and stripes. There are dark brown to blackish bars on the limbs, and the tail has a black tip with two or three dark rings alternating with buff bands. The head is sandy brown, whereas the lower and upper lips, chin, throat, and belly are white. Some individuals have a yellowish throat. The large, greenish-yellow eyes are ringed with white, and the nose is blackish. The lower part of the face is whitish, and a faint reddish line runs from the outer corner of each eye across the cheeks. The cat's whiskers are white and up to long.
The sand cat is a small cat, characterized by a flat, wide head, short legs, and a relatively long tail of . It stands at the shoulder and weighs . The head-and-body length ranges from . The long ears are set low, giving a broad, flat appearance to the head. The ears are tawny at the base and tipped with black, and more pointed than those of the Pallas's cat ("Otocolobus manul").