The weird saga of Casper...long.

A couple years ago I acquired Casper AKA Crappie. He apparently belonged to a neighbor who tossed him out. This is Crappie. (looks like a mugshot, don't it)



Casper is an all white, blue eyed cat who is deaf. I took him to the vet who said he was a fairly young neutered male. After a bad experience with peeing on the dog's bed, I confined him in a large breeders cage for a couple of weeks and the problem seemed to correct itself.

I placed him in a home from which he was promptly returned the following morning. (peed on her bed)

From then on we have taken numerous steps to correct the problem and consulted specialists. Crating, Feliway, Prosac, Clomipramine... The latter two worked for a while, but then stopped. I'm running low on Clomipramine (which BTW costs $55 per bottle compounded) so I schedule an appointment today for another exam. Different vet this time, same clinic. He comments on his jowls. I say, yes, he's always had those. I presumed he was altered at a slightly older age. The vet says the jowls go away after they're neutered. Hmm...didn't really know that. I tell him how strong his urine smells. (just as I have told all the other vets) He checks his butt and says, hmmm....that smells like tomcat urine. Exactly, I say!

He asks me who neutered this cat. I tell him the people who threw him out must have, because he was already neutered when I found him. I also mention that this surprised me, cause I doubted they would spend ANY money on animals.

We tried to draw blood, but he's an SOB to work on and would have to be sedated. Instead I have an appointment for Wednesday to have him sedated and thoroughly checkout out. They suspect he may not be neutered at all! I asked...you mean like a double crypt? Well, yes, no, maybe or something like that. Or possibly he was a crypt and they didn't find the second. He also mention he seemed a bit swollen back there and it could be a hernia.

I can't believe I've been medicating this cat for two years, putting up with his behavior, the stink, washing things 2,3,4 times to get the smell out, etc.... And he may never have been neutered. ARGHHHHHHHHHH!

Thanks, I feel better. I'll let you know what they come up with.

Oh man! If he wasn't neutered and appears to have been, it's hard for you to know! Poor Casper.

I'm so sorry that you've been through all of that with Casper. Hopefully you'll find the solution on Wednesday!

He checks his butt and says, hmmm....that smells like tomcat urine.

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As a side note, I got a chuckle out of that. I've been known to check butt odors ...and my husband makes fun of me. He says I've been hanging out with the cats too much.

Oh dear! Poor you and poor Casper. I hope it is easily found and remedied. He is a beautiful cat, BTW.

Oh no! I suppose if he did have one or both retained then he would very well look as if he'd been fixed! What a nightmare of vet visits, meds, and peeing you've been through. I suppose looking on the bright side that if it is that, it can be fixed with surgery, even if it is more invasive than a regular neuter.

I sympathise re. the smell. Went through it with Radar until he was neutered and Sonic being an oriental is an early bloomer - my word that kitten and my flat REEK of tomcat pee at the moment. Just over a month til I can get him done, but I know from experience that the smell doesn't diminish for about a month to 6 weeks after the op

He sure is a beauty. I hope the vet can figure out the problem and hopefully take care of it this time!

This whole situation is almost funny! I know how awful it is to having boys peeing everywhere. At one point in time, we had 3 neutered males who were still competing to be top cat. Needless to say, the smell was horrible; you couldn't leave clothes lying around, had to check your shoes daily, etc. When one of them got on the bed and peed on my pillow we banished them from the bedroom. (that same cat actually peed on my back one evening as I was sitting on the edge of the couch; I guess he loved me )

Anyway, I certainly hope the vet can figure out what's going on with Casper. Good luck with his problem.

Poor Casper! He is such a prety boy, it's a shame he has been through so much. I hope things will get better for both of you now.

Originally Posted by Cinder

Different vet this time, same clinic. He comments on his jowls. I say, yes, he's always had those. I presumed he was altered at a slightly older age. The vet says the jowls go away after they're neutered. Hmm...didn't really know that.

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Bijou has jowls similar to that (perhaps a wee bit smaller but definitely jowls) and he was neutered when he was very young.

Thanks everyone....well the countdown is on. I just took his food away for the appointment in the morning. I'm actually kind of nervous about it because he is such a strange little guy. (well, not so little anymore)

He's deaf. His behavior is *odd* to say the least. His tail is rigid...not like a kink in the end of it, but the last 6 inches is just stiff, it doesn't bend. I guess I just worry that when they give him the anesthetic he's going to drop like a rock and not come back up. Truly, he is an unusual cat. I know...good vibes, good vibes...

If you lay him on his back in the crook of your arm he'll stay there forever. Snoozes, looks around, talks to the other cats, doesn't move. Odd.

Yosemite, I'd never heard that about the jowls before, but Casper definitely has them. Bijou must be very....manly.

I hope all goes well tomorrow! Let us know as soon as you get a chance!

His behavior is *odd* to say the least.

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Ah, but's that's why we love them so much; each one is so incredibly unique.
Hope all goes well for Casper at the vet's today. Keep thinking those good thoughts; I'm sure he'll be fine. Sending lots of good vibes to your little guy.

He sounds like a doll!! His jowls do remind me a bit of Ernie, one of my foster rescues. He was about 18 months old and unneutered when I found him. His jowls didn't disappear post-neuter, and in fact the area where his testicles used to be still look big and intact (but he was neutered) apparently if the skin has been stretched for long enough... (i tease his adopted meowmy that she got him implants to make him feel manly! LOL).

In his first phone call this morning the vet said that he had examined Casper under sedation and was 60% certain he had already been neutered. He went on to explain everything he'd done, checked, etc. He asked me what I wanted to do. The options were to do bloodwork, which would eventually tell if he'd been neutered 100% or not, or to open him up and look around.

I told him to do a urine analysis and to open him up.

The next phone call came about a half hour later. The vet said he'd found them BOTH!


Casper also has a bladder infection and will be coming home with antibiotics.

I can't believe it. He was never neutered. I don't know whether to or We're going to slowly take him off the Clomipramine and see if the behavior resolves itself. I guess we'll test that jowl theory too!

Well, what do you know? Poor Casper; I hope this resolves his innapropriate behaviour. Apparently, he just couldn't help himself.

Cinder, just wanted to let you know that my first cat, Phaedra, was cryptorchid just like Casper. Once he had surgery and the vet removed two undescended testicles, Phaedra stopped spraying. He had had an urinary infection and this started him peeing and spraying around the house. He couldn't have surgery until the infection was cleared up, so it was a long month.

Oh man....at least he's now neutered & hopefully things will go back to "normal" soon!

I guess the longer you have cats, the more you learn.

I did some research because I'd never had a cryptorchid with both testicles unaccounted for, it's always only been one. They refer to one as unilateral and two as bilateral cryptorchids, and the two studies I read said that unilateral accounts for about 90% of the cats affected. It also said that the bilateral cryptorchids will have their testicles retained in the abdomen, which is where Casper's showed up.

Cinder, just wanted to let you know that my first cat, Phaedra, was cryptorchid just like Casper. Once he had surgery and the vet removed two undescended testicles, Phaedra stopped spraying.

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Phaedra? Was that a mistake or intentional? Of course, I have a boy named Grace.

I'm hoping to see some improvement, although Casper has issues beside peeing outside the box. He likes to do everything outside the box.... I guess we'll see what happens. At least he probably won't smell as bad.