How do you tell if a male cat is fixed?

A friend of mine just asked me how you can tell if a male cat is neutered without having to take the cat to the vet to check.

That's easy. It the cat doesn't have its testicles he has been neutered (if the cat is old enough for them to start developing).

Feel at the base of the tail (a little below that) and see if you can feel any balls. Its obvious on a shorthair - are we talking about a longhair where they would be more hidden?

Thanks

I've never had a boy kitty, so I had no idea.

Are you serious Natalie??? You've never looked at the male cats (like the sphynx)? Now that is obvious

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Are you serious Natalie??? You've never looked at the male cats (like the sphynx)? Now that is obvious

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Yep. Serious. I've never inspected the hind end of a male cat before.

But the funny thing is, I gave him the information above and his jaw nearly dropped. He couldn't figure out what that had to do with what he asked me.

I'm dyslexic and thought I saw "clipped", but he actually typed "chipped", meaning micro chipped! Anyway, I told him that there is no way to know unless the chip is scanned for.

He found a pregnant female cat who has now adopted them. She's had her kittens and is inside/outside. I told him to try and keep her inside so that she can tend to the kittens, and to keep her safe. He also thinks she's pregnant again He said he will try to keep her inside now and after her next litter is born and then get her fixed. But he is wondering if she belongs to someone seeing that she was so friendly with them from the get go.

I told him that she might have been dumped or abandoned.

This is Berry Punch's husband. Again. I guess I should just create my own account.

Anyway. This is pretty much what I thought: neutering = no testicles. But then we picked up two boys from a local shelter (one's five months, and the other six), and they both have testicles. So now we're just confused. And we'll be annoyed, should we have to pay for their fixing, as this was supposed to be included in the adoption cost.

I know a lot of shelters spay and neuter earlier than is recommended--I think our guys had been there since they were each around three months of age. But is there any scenario in which neutering can result in... the cat still having what seem to be testicles? I know this is a bizarre question. But on the other hand, I haven't examined a lot of cats in close detail and have never been entirely sure what the before and after is like. The shelter insisted that they were both fixed.

Originally Posted by Berry Punch

This is Berry Punch's husband. Again. I guess I should just create my own account.

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you should!

Originally Posted by Berry Punch

But is there any scenario in which neutering can result in... the cat still having what seem to be testicles?

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well, i only have 1 male [inside] & he appears to have some bumps... i haven't tried the 'snatch & grab' technique since he's quite unhappy when i do necessary grooming of that area! he's also pretty fluffy, for a DSH.
my feral boys [when i see them] have much thinner coats & very visible bumps - bigger than Chip's. so a comparison might help... check out this pic of a male Sphynx [the lack of hair really helps the 'view'

].

Many vets these days will just make a small incision in the scrotum and remove the testes through the incision - this is a much smaller operation than removing the scrotum and testes together, and is therefore preferred due to quick healing and no stitches required. When neutered like this boy cats will still look like boys! and it will be more obvious the later they are neutered.

If the cat has a scrotum you need to feel it to see if there is anything in there, if they have been neutered it will be empty, if they haven't you will feel something.

I can see that all of my neutered males are males, it's really quite obvious, they still look as though they have all their parts - but they all have empty scrotums.

If the scrotums are like grapes they aren't fixed. If they are like little deflated sacks then they have been.

Riley was neutered as a baby and he barely even has a bump there. Xander, however, was neutered as an adult (1 yr) and although he doesn't have anything like the Sphynx in the picture he definitely has more showing than Riley.

All of the unneutered adult males I've seen are very obvious.

Agree with the above. Some may "look" like they have something there, but if you really feel - its empty. An unneutered male will have pretty tight balls.

One of ours was neutered at 8 weeks and doesn't have anything back there, but the other was done at 4-5 months and he looks like he's fully intact. If you squish them though, they feel empty.

Theyre like little fat pads back there. If the cat has testicles, and he is older -as others have said - it's pretty obvious. I would venture to guess that is what you're seeing - the remnants.

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

I'm dyslexic and thought I saw "clipped", but he actually typed "chipped", meaning micro chipped!

Anyway, I told him that there is no way to know unless the chip is scanned for.

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That gave me a good laugh. One doesn't need to be dyslexic to misread stuff, though. I'm sure it's happened to all of us before.

I'm as surprised as GoldenKitty that you've never had a male cat before. Your next kitty should be a boy, a nice big snuggly one.



And just what does everyone's cats think of being "checked"? Generally though, an especially in adults, it's pretty difficult to mistake an unaltered male for a neutered one... unless they didn't descend for some reason.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

And just what does everyone's cats think of being "checked"? Generally though, an especially in adults, it's pretty difficult to mistake an unaltered male for a neutered one... unless they didn't descend for some reason.

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Mine don't mind being "checked". I've used them as an example before.