Is this cat tipped?

Received a call today that a feral cat was getting put down today at closing. I went picked him up and yes he is totally feral and I think he is tipped. I don't want to make him go through a vet trip if he had already been neutered. The hair is a bit grown up but the incision is completely straight. What do you think?

Need a better shot of that ear.  Possibly.  Injuries are not too often straight across.  Can you get a better picture?  Sorry I couldn't give a definite answer.

Right ear is tipped 

The right ear could be tipped, but even after enlarging the shot I have to agree with Mamanyt1953.

Yes, it looks like he's been tipped to me. If it's a male it's quite easy to see if they've been neutered or not. Most vets leave the sac but remove the tissue from the inside, so his testes will look much smaller than an intact male's will.

Ah yes.  The ear isnt hidden by the metall bar, the end isnt there, its why we dont see it clearly.    Yes, tipped for sure.

Unless it got seared into strips and a vet mercfully amputed the tip to stop the bleeding.  But this is to speculate too much and too highly.    @wildpuspus

Boys are easy to check.  Just take a look at the other end.  Either he has them, or he doesn't.

Catmom Marcia said:

 
Boys are easy to check.  Just take a look at the other end.  Either he has them, or he doesn't.

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Not always.  The boy I had neutered last November still looks pretty male,  They are not quite as big but he has testicles.  When they are older (he was over one year old) the sac is big and doesn't always shrink up much when empty.

@wildpuspus  it's disappointing that whoever was holding this cat hadn't checked neuter status or the ears so you wouldn't have to guess like this.

Piano Cat said:

 

Catmom Marcia said:

 
Boys are easy to check.  Just take a look at the other end.  Either he has them, or he doesn't.

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Not always.  The boy I had neutered last November still looks pretty male,  They are not quite as big but he has testicles.  When they are older (he was over one year old) the sac is big and doesn't always shrink up much when empty.

@wildpuspus  it's disappointing that whoever was holding this cat hadn't checked neuter status or the ears so you wouldn't have to guess like this.

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I have two former feral cats that were neutered around the age of 3.  You can still see their testicles and it has been 2 and 3 years since the neuter.  They are both ear tipped, but if you looked from behind you would wonder if they are neutered.  The testicles are definitely smaller and shrunken, but still very visible.  So just by looking it is very hard to tell. 

If this is truly a feral cat with an eartip, why is it in a shelter about to be put down? I thought eartipping was a sign to Animal Control that the cat is part of a managed colony and so to leave the cat be. This is distressing because I hoped that all my outdoor ferals with eartips would be spared this fate.

Baar Baar Jinx said:

 
If this is truly a feral cat with an eartip, why is it in a shelter about to be put down? I thought eartipping was a sign to Animal Control that the cat is part of a managed colony and so to leave the cat be. This is distressing because I hoped that all my outdoor ferals with eartips would be spared this fate.

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I don't know where the OP is but where I am, as far as I know, there are no managed colonies.  Yet our local OSPCA will give a low rate on spay/neuter and tip ears and then the good citizen can release the cat back in their own yard or farm.  The same thing the OP reports could happen here.

I would point out, to avoid confusion, that neutering a male cat removes the testicles, however, the scrotum, which contains the testicles, remains, and can actually look fairly full,

It was the norm, years, decades even, ago where I am that the whole scrotum was removed.  In hindsight   that did make telling the neutered boys from the not much easier.  I remember the first time the scrotum was left on a male cat of mine.  As is fairly common it was quite swollen after the neuter and was even bigger than it had looked before I took him in.  Yes I did, I called the Vet to check that he really had been neutered.  LOL