Neuter problems. Shelter doesn't know what to do, any ideas?

I just brought this beautiful boy home from the shelter where I volunteer. His name is Shawn. When they had him neutered they couldn't find one of his testicles. They did find a small shriveled bit of tissue but could not identify it. So they don't know if he's intact or not , but it seems like he might be. Caterwauling, stinky poop, and if he's out among the other cats in the shelter they follow him around. The only solution seemed to be life in a cage. Their vet suggested waiting six months and then inspecting his penis for barbs that intact males have. So rather than six months in a cage, I brought him home. He's in my downstairs bathroom until I can build him his own enclosure in the basement. I'm willing to pay to take him to my vet if there's anything that can be done. Has anyone come across this before?

Hi Sheri Brown,
Thank you for volunteering at the shelter and also thank you for bringing this lovely boy home. It's is not a good idea to cage him for 6 months.
As far as I know, the cat's testicles have not fully descended yet when they neutered him. Therefore, it seems that they missed out the on testicle and he could be partially intact. That's why certain places or countries practice neutering at age 6 months or later and that's when the testicles are fully descended.
For this case, I think they have to perform a surgery on him to remove the other testicle.
Hang on, I'll get expert opinion ondine

Hi @Sheri Brown  Welcome to The Cat Site.

It sounds as if he had an un-descended testicle. This is not that uncommon. It is possible to do surgery to remove the remaining testicle, slightly more invasive than a regular neuter, but not impossible.

Intact male cat pee smells very strong, but I don't think stinky poop can be blamed on him being intact here. It could be that he is sensitive to something in his diet. What is he being fed?

Norachan said:

Hi @Sheri Brown
 Welcome to The Cat Site.

It sounds as if he had an un-descended testicle. This is not that uncommon. It is possible to do surgery to remove the remaining testicle, slightly more invasive than a regular neuter, but not impossible.

Intact male cat pee smells very strong, but I don't think stinky poop can be blamed on him being intact here. It could be that he is sensitive to something in his diet. What is he being fed?

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Thank you Norachan!

I'm told that they had him open "from stem to stern" and were not able to find the testicle. I guess I will have to ask my vet if it would be helpful to try again.

As to the poop, i bet you're right because at the shelter the food is whatever they have at the moment. Not awful but not great. They do what they can. I'll try him on a better quality food. He hasn't sprayed at all which I think is a good sign.

TabbyTom said:

Hi Sheri Brown,
Thank you for volunteering at the shelter and also thank you for bringing this lovely boy home. It's is not a good idea to cage him for 6 months.
As far as I know, the cat's testicles have not fully descended yet when they neutered him. Therefore, it seems that they missed out the on testicle and he could be partially intact. That's why certain places or countries practice neutering at age 6 months or later and that's when the testicles are fully descended.
For this case, I think they have to perform a surgery on him to remove the other testicle.
Hang on, I'll get expert opinion ondine

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Thanks Tabby Tom!

One of my rescues had an undescended testicle but they were able to find it. He was a kitten who had swallowed some thread and almost died from that, so they did that surgery first and then the neuter when he had recovered. He's an expensive boy! This kitty is fully mature, so it's not an age problem.

I think that shriveled tissue is an underdeveloped testicle. I think he is neutered now and will be fine, especially since it sounds like they did open him up further to find the other testicle. Caterwauling is done by some neutered males, I would go more by the strongness of the smell of his urine and whether he starts to develop the large head and cheeks of an intact male. An intact male will continue to spray surfaces too, although I have some neutered males who do this too. There should be a blood test that can be performed to determine hormones in his system, check up on that.  I feel sorry for him, i pray you can find him a home where they can observe him, but most of all, just love him. I'll say a prayer for you both!

I agree - it sounds like an undescended or undeveloped testicle.  I'd get him checked again in a few months.  Fingers crossed its a simple fix.

Thank you Ondine and Di and Bob. It seems we're just going to have to wait for an answer.

Yes it could be a retained testicle still in the abdomen area that they could just not find. Or it could be that the shriveled tissue was an unformed testicle. He looks to be full grown so he was most likely sexually mature at the time of the neuter. Which means he probably still has some hormones circulating his system. These should fade out over a few weeks and then his tomcat tendencies should settle down. If they don't it's possible he's not fully neutered. Maybe your vet could take some radiography too see if they could spot anything?
Either way he is a very beautiful boy! Thank you for taking him in and caring for him!
I fully support spay and neuter, however I find that male cats neutered after becoming sexually mature turn out to be amazing cats. They are so large and confident and mature. They just have a special way about them!

Maddies Momma said:

Yes it could be a retained testicle still in the abdomen area that they could just not find. Or it could be that the shriveled tissue was an unformed testicle. He looks to be full grown so he was most likely sexually mature at the time of the neuter. Which means he probably still has some hormones circulating his system. These should fade out over a few weeks and then his tomcat tendencies should settle down. If they don't it's possible he's not fully neutered. Maybe your vet could take some radiography too see if they could spot anything?
Either way he is a very beautiful boy! Thank you for taking him in and caring for him!
I fully support spay and neuter, however I find that male cats neutered after becoming sexually mature turn out to be amazing cats. They are so large and confident and mature. They just have a special way about them!

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Thanks Maddies Momma! He is certainly large ant confident!


Shawn spent two days in the downstairs bathroom and oh my lord what a stink! I thought it was his poop at first but now I know better. I guess it's urine, but it smells much more like something rotted with spices! I moved him into his new enclosure and he immediately began marking everything. Thank heavens it has a cement floor and is furnished with old patio furniture. He's very interested in the cats in the next enclosure, three spayed ladies with FELV. All this makes me think he's still potent. I'm going to check with the veterinary hospital tomorrow to see if they can do anything. It's going to be very disruptive to host him for the next three months, only to find out that he's still intact.

How long has it been since his attempted neuter? If he doesn't settle down (and smell better!) after 2-3 months, I'd assume there's something lurking around producing testosterone. I don't think waiting 6 months is necessary.

Willowy said:

How long has it been since his attempted neuter? If he doesn't settle down (and smell better!) after 2-3 months, I'd assume there's something lurking around producing testosterone. I don't think waiting 6 months is necessary.

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Yes, I forgot to mention that, it's been a little more than three months.

Sheri Brown said:

Yes, I forgot to mention that, it's been a little more than three months.

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Oh wow if it's been more than three months since his "neuter" then I'd defintely suspect he's not fully neutered. Although despite wanting to reproduce, being half neutered he might not develop ALL of the tomcat behaviors. Is he running around yowling at all? Tomcats with full raging hormones will wander around yowling like it's the end of the world until they can reproduce. Does he seem on edge or aggressive in any way? Or is he a regular nice cat, but just sprays and wants to mate?
If your willing, I would definitely take him to your own vet for a second opinion. I don't mean to bash the shelter, shelters do amazing work, however I find that in regards to veterinary care they seem to do the bare minimum or play the "wait and see" game a lot of the time. Your vet may be able to take a more active approach to figuring out what's going on and what should be done.

Yes he caterwauls a lot although he can't do too much wandering in his 8x8 enclosure, and he is definitely edgy, enough to make me cautious when handling him. I'm pretty sure there's still something causing the hormones and have a call in to my vets who have a full veterinary hospital and so have more methods at their disposal. And yes, the shelter does its best but they cannot afford more than a minimum of care.

Sheri Brown said:

Yes he caterwauls a lot although he can't do too much wandering in his 8x8 enclosure, and he is definitely edgy, enough to make me cautious when handling him. I'm pretty sure there's still something causing the hormones and have a call in to my vets who have a full veterinary hospital and so have more methods at their disposal. And yes, the shelter does its best but they cannot afford more than a minimum of care.

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I agree it sounds like he still has hormone production. Let me know how it goes with your vet! I'm very interested to see how this works out. Good luck with him and thanks again for taking him on!

I'm taking Shawn in tomorrow, my vet thinks she'll probably try surgery, see if she can find it. All I can say is I really really really hope she does.

Good luck! I hope it goes well, keep us posted !

Vibes all goes well!

Yay! Shawn is home from the vet minus one testicle! The vet said it was a little bit difficult because of scar tissue from his first neuter, and she didn't know which side to look on, so of course tried the wrong side first. She indicated that she found it in his inguinal groove area. Anyway, he's home and recovering and I'm elated! Now he has a chance to find a home rather than being locked up and frustrated for the rest of his life. He's such a handsome boy I think he'll have no trouble getting adopted.
Thank you all for the advice and the comfort of having someone to talk with about this, it was a great help.

Yay! Glad she found it. Poor fella must have felt half-hormone-crazed, lol. Hope he recovers quickly and can find a nice new home!