# Can cat neuter not work? Kitten still has his testicles?



## Pushkabounce (Nov 6, 2012)

Hello, I wasn't sure if this was the right area to write this but I'll be quick!

I had my kittens neutered when they where just under 6 months old. Oscar started mounting Wilson so I thought it was a clear sign it needed to be done!

Tinker was neutered a long time before I got him but he has nothing there, just hair. Wilson now looks like Tinker, with all being smooth and hairy. Oscar, however, still has his balls, well at least one. You can clearly see the shape of them and when I feel it feels like there is still one there! And he doesn't like them being touched and poked (how I imagine all men don't like their tackle poked around).

He doesn't mount Wilson as much anymore but still does scruff him (just doesn't follow through with the humpy motion).

The vet said they don't remove the testicles, that they just cut the cord and they should shrivel up and be sucked back up by the body almost. Is it possible that they didn't cut one properly and he still has it?


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## cat face (Apr 4, 2013)

Well, *anything* is possible. What did the vet say? Did you ask him that?


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

It's possible I suppose.

I know that MowMOw is very neutered and he still mounts poor little Shepherd Book. MowMow is 9 and he's been doing it since I got him (before SHepherd Book it was a poor abused teddy bear).


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## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

Ditto with_ cat face_.


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## Blakeney Green (Jan 15, 2013)

I think it's highly unlikely that the neuter was done incorrectly.

More likely the testicles simply haven't shrunk at the same rate. Actually, they don't always shrink at all. They tend to, but I've known of several cases where they didn't.

It takes awhile for the cat's behaviour to adjust after the supply of male hormones is stopped. That's pretty normal.


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## anie (Dec 4, 2012)

Blakeney Green said:


> More likely the testicles simply haven't shrunk at the same rate. Actually, they don't always shrink at all.


but neutering is removing testicles, so there is no shrinking of testicles involved. maybe you mean scrotum? sometimes it stays bigger after neutering, but should be empty.


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## orrymain (Dec 9, 2011)

When Orry was neutered almost 5 years ago, his testicles were removed. I'm no expert but could it be swelling you feel?


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## Venusworld21 (Oct 23, 2012)

You said the neuter was done at 6 months old. How long ago was that (how old is kitty now)? It could be the hormones just haven't subsided yet. The mounting behavior doesn't necessarily mean the procedure failed. Our 4 year old kitty mounts our 8 year old also-neutered, male kitty....he was neutered at 3 months and the mounting didn't start until he was about 2.


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## librarychick (May 25, 2008)

Neutering just makes sure they can't breed. Typically the testicles are removed, yes, but that doesn't need to be the case. (when a man gets 'neutered' they certainly don't remove anything  ) It seems as though the OP's vet simply snipped the tubes and tied them back to prevent sperm finding the right path. In this case I don't know that the testicles would shrivel, or that it would cause a reduction in testosterone levels...if the testicles are still there they'd still produce testosterone, that's a large part of what they do.

OP, I'd suggest phoning your vet and clarifying what exactly was done and why.


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## LaurulFeatherCat (Sep 16, 2011)

All my neutered males look like they still have their testicles because the vet left the scrotal sacs in place for cosmetic reasons. The testicles, however, were removed; yet if you palpate the scrotal sacs, you can feel a little bit of tissue in there: my vet said it is scar tissue.

I think what you are seeing is dominant behavior, not sexual mounting. Cats create a ranking among themselves, with the males having their ranking and the females their own ranking. During mating season, the males will try and rule the females, but the females usually don't comply! The cat doing the mounting is trying to claim dominance over the other cat. If your cat is not marking or producing the characteristic tom cat urine smell and producing an actual pallus, then the neuter was successful. As far as the dominance mounting issue, just let it run its course; the two of them will work it out. As long as fur is not flying and biting or blood is not involved, let them settle the argument.


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## Pushkabounce (Nov 6, 2012)

Thank you all for your replies. They are nearly 8 months old now and were neutered in February.

The Vet said that they no longer remove the testicles, they just tie or cut the tubes and that the testicles get reabsorbed back into the body (this is how it was explained to me). When they came back from the vets they looked no different apart from around that area looking a bit wet. I couldn't even see any cut marks. They had no stitches or anything. After a few days they looked a bit red and swollen but still no change in testicle size.

Wilson had black fur in that area and Oscar has a light tan coloured fur so his testicles and 'area' are more in your face in general. But when I feel Wilsons I don't tend to feel so much. Oscars however, still feel round..

I haven't called the Vet yet because I didn't want to sound stupid if it was something really normal.

I just wondered because he stopped the mounting straight away after the op and just started doing it again a couple of weeks ago and I guess I felt like they 'fixed' themselves and were back to working order!

I will cat the Vets on Monday and see what they say.


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## cat face (Apr 4, 2013)

It's possible that they discontinued their mounting behavior because they were a wee bit too tender to be knocking "things" around? And now that things probably feel a bit more comfortable, the dominance games have resumed. <shrugs>


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## Pushkabounce (Nov 6, 2012)

This is possible. Anything I can do about the mounting? It's not constant but I don't like it. Or should I just leave them to sort out their place in the group. Me of course being the Queen of the house (I wish!)


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## cat face (Apr 4, 2013)

LOL we like to THINK we're queen of our house but ... nahhhhhh LOL sorry

I know its hard, I have a tough time letting B.B. and the kittens sort themselves out. They're girls and don't mount but B.B. will swat and hiss up a wicked storm! lol
It is best to let them sort themselves out. Not easy but the best for them.


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## ccw (May 16, 2013)

This is one of the reason why I am so careful that all my cats will neutered, not spayed. Your cat has been spayed. Then the seed leaders can grow back together. The testicles do not disappear. And hormones do not disappear.


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

Spaying is the procedure to remove the female reproductive organs, nothing to do with male cats at all.


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## ccw (May 16, 2013)

it is the common term "all" people use. Most people say that neutering is the male cats and sterilization on her cats. But it is wrong. Neutering is both male and female, as long as all the internal reproductive organs are removed. And spaying is only when either sperm or egg leaders are cut off.


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## NebraskaCat (Jan 15, 2013)

This came up before with a German member (Highlight) about a language difference. Here is what she said.




> I looked it up and you are right, it's a language thing. We have 2 different things:
> 
> 1) only the tubes are cut through
> 2) the testicles are completely removed (male) or the ovaries or uterus is completely removed (female)
> ...


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## cat face (Apr 4, 2013)

Oh no.. I truly admire people that speak more than one language. I tried and tried and am stuck with one.
CCW, I'm afraid you may be misunderstanding a wee bit of English. Spay is for female animals.

spay |speɪ|
verb [ with obj. ]
sterilize (a female animal) by removing the ovaries.


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## ccw (May 16, 2013)

If it is wrong in the words of what is what I put the blame on Google! :lol: I had to check what word was what. It said that the Norwegian word we use "kastrer" which is used to remove all the interior is neuter, and that "steriliser" that we use to just cut the leaders are spay :O Stupid google giving me the wrong word! : P Even veterinaries said wrong. When I just a few weeks ago were neutering Viola I called every vet in this area, and half said "sterilser" for girl and "kastrer" for boys. And when I asked why they said that when it is wrong they said that it is because most people do not know the difference so they say that becouse it is easier.


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## Jacq (May 17, 2012)

Well, I'm glad that's cleared up!
"kastrer" would be more equivalent to English "castrate", which is indeed the removal of the testicles. But we don't like talking about 'castrating' our cats because it sounds icky.
The southern hemisphere seems to prefer the term "desex" for both. I like that.

To be honest, I think if you did some semantic backflips you could wrap your head around "neuter" being used for both genders, and it's just that English has decided by mutually agreed-upon insanity to use it only for boys.

After all, latin has three linguistic "genders" - masculine, feminine, neuter. It's just the patriarchy that tries to subvert the gender neutral term to apply to men. ;P


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## Blakeney Green (Jan 15, 2013)

Yeah, in English "spay" is used to mean hystero-oophorectomy (or in rarer cases just oophorectomy,) and since a male doesn't have a uterus or ovaries, the term would not apply.

It's technically correct to use "neuter" for either gender ("castration" is the exclusively male term, which is seldom used in the United States) but almost nobody does that and you'll confuse many native English speakers by trying to use "neuter" as a gender-neutral term.


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## ccw (May 16, 2013)

:lol: I'm confused most Norwegian by saying "neuter" as a gender neutral words too. :lol:

And I must say I like that in spite of language barriers, we understand each other and agree! 

*In your face informative errors google! * :lol:


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## 3gatos (Nov 28, 2012)

Both of my males mount, and they are definitely neutered. I've never heard of the testicles NOT being removed.


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## LaurulFeatherCat (Sep 16, 2011)

Many zoos do a ligation of the sperm ducts on male animals on display because removing the testicles changes the appearance of the animal; ie: loss of mane in lions, thinner skin on the face and chest of rhinos as well as smaller horn formation, etc. For humans the term is "vasectomy" and leaves the testicles in place, the hormone levels of the body at male normal yet prevents the delivery of impregnating sperm into the female reproductive system. Removing the ovaries and uterus in female animals on display do not tend to change their appearance in most animals, but it does in a few and in those animals they just simply do the same surgery as a human tubal ligation, preventing the egg from getting to the sperm and fertilized.

In pet animals, the testes in the male, and the ovaries and uterus in the female are completely removed to prevent the development of cancer. The females tend toward uterine and breast cancer and the males toward testicular cancer, so it is actually a very good way to increase the life expectancy of a pet animal. Not only do the surgeries eliminate the production of unwanted litters of babies, but they also remove cancer risks for those pets at the same time; both win/win situations. At a low cost spay neuter event I participated in, one of the surgical techs said a vet or tech could lose their state license if they allowed ovaries or testes to remain in tact and the animal was only ligated to prevent pregnancy. Most states have defined the surgery to include removal of the organs as I outlined above and the surgery has to be done to state specs for the vets can be sued.


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## Pushkabounce (Nov 6, 2012)

I've tried reading the last bunch of these posts but it's 10.30pm and my brain isn't working.. zzzZZZZzzzzz!

I'll let ya'll know what the vet says on Monday


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