My daughter had her boy-cat fixed a few weeks ago, and she’s a bit puzzled because his little furry balls are still there. Everyone she has talked to (except the vet who did the surgery) says you shouldn’t see them anymore. I’ve only had one male cat in my cat-owning career, and we had him fixed rather late in his life (he was a stray who adopted us) and I truly can’t remember what his testicular area looked like after surgery. She’s worried that the cut-rate (hee hee) surgery may not have been complete, but she hasn’t called the vet back because she’s afraid of looking silly. But she is concerned because there visually is no change to that area of his anatomy…well, maybe slightly smaller, but still obvious.
So I turn to cat-owned Dopers for guidance. He has stopped spraying, which he had just started to do, but he’s still trying to get friendly with the girl-cats.
IANAVet, but I do have a cat. When our cat was fixed, I was also surprised that he still looked intact – our vet used a procedure where the blood vessels that supply the testicles were snipped, and the tissue was left in place. Without any connection to the rest of the cat, eventually the tissue is reabsorbed by the cat’s body. It was gradual, and took a few months. Years later, the cat still looks like he has a little, um, kitty package, although much smaller than one would expect to find on an unfixed male cat.
To me, this looked very different than the fixed male cats our family had when I was a child, but I don’t know if it is a new(er) procedure, or just a preference on the part of our current vet.
My mom got her cat fixed a few years ago, and the procedure appeared to leave his balls in tact. The next time I was over, my mom explained to me that the Vet did it that way so the cat’s self esteem would not be effected. :rolleyes:
My boy-cat was fixed about 3 years ago, and he looks almost the same as he did pre-surgery. They might be a little smaller, but they are very definitely there.
He does act fixed, though. No love for the girl-cats anymore.
The furry ball-sack is still there. There is a difference. Cats have a hide, and a thick leathery skin, even on their scrotum. Also, only the balls are removed, not the other parts of the scrotum. That takes away a significant part, but the shape of a scrotum remains.
He can also still get an erection and his pleasurable areas are still intact (unless the vet has been a real clutz). Only if this has been done at the beginning of puberty will the instinct to do something to female cats sometimes not develop at all. But if it was there before, it will stay. I know a cat that likes to do it with a bit of cloth a few times a day, even though he has been neutered.
The scrotum is indeed left in place when a cat is neutered. When the testicles are removed, it takes a while for the hormones to totally leave the system, so the kitten may act interested in females for a while.
I’ve only had one male cat who ever bred before he was neutered. My female was still intact, and when she came into heat she would try to seduce poor Pellinore. He would have this look on his face, like “I know there’s something I’m supposed to do when she acts like this, but I just can’t remember what it is!”
Let me be the third to say that he does not have his testicles anymore. The scrotum remains and can still look like it contains his little nuts especially right after surgery when there is still some swelling, but it’s just an empty sac.
Don’t know about the rear view but several years ago a formerly stray male cat that my mother had spayed, later sprayed white ejaculate onto the bread toaster. She had him put down.
You know, when I first told my husband of these things (after using “neuticle” as an insult one day), he looked thoughtful, then said, “Maybe they should make these things for humans, too. You know, for men who might have lost one in a tragic accident, or maybe for transexual folks? We could call them [wait for it…]: dudeicles.”
I had a cat who was fairly light-colored all over his body, but not his balls. Not that he had balls. But he sure looked like he did.
He liked to hump things occasionally. I’m not sure if he wasn’t into kitty puberty when he was fixed, but he obviously knew SOMETHING was supposed to happen down there!
Considering that they’re basically just tiny breast implants, it might be poetic justice considering how much squeezing is usually being considered by the male of the species…
My cat is fixed and he’s still quite visually male, so to put it. Although his personality would suggest otherwise.
Her cat is going to be friendly with the ladies for a bit because after surgery it will take a while for his hormones to die down to “no balls” level. Maybe what’s left of his manhood is swollen, which would explain the size. Give him a couple of weeks and see how he acts. If he’s stopped spraying then it’s probably safe to say the procedure was successful.
When our cat was fixed, I was also surprised that he still looked intact – our vet used a procedure where the blood vessels that supply the testicles were snipped, and the tissue was left in place. Without any connection to the rest of the cat, eventually the tissue is reabsorbed by the cat’s body. It was gradual, and took a few months. Years later, the cat still looks like he has a little, um, kitty package, although much smaller than one would expect to find on an unfixed male cat.
:rolleyes:
Cats have a hide, and a thick leathery skin, even on their scrotum. Also, only the balls are removed, not the other parts of the scrotum. That takes away a significant part, but the shape of a scrotum remains.