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

Sheri Brown said:

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.

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Yay! Amazing news! I'm so happy for him and for you! He is a very handsome boy, he's going to be a very special cat for the right person. Thank you so much for all you did for him. And for personally taking on his vet care, even though he belonged to the shelter. I wish there were more out there that would do the same! I hope he recovers well, give him a big hug from me [emoji]10084[/emoji][emoji]10084[/emoji]
And enjoy the peace and quiet when he settles down. You have done an amazing thing for this cat, you deserve some quiet time

Feel free to post some pictures of him recovering, I'm very partial to brown and white tabbies.

He's a beautiful boy and should have no trouble finding his forever home!  Thank you for giving him a chance and helping him.

That's great news. I'm glad his neuter problem was sorted out. Hope he finds a new home soon.

Great news.  The vet sounds amazing and you are too, for helping him!

I'm late to this thread and want to thank you for getting care for this boy.  I have a neutered male who caterwauls every. single. night.  LOL  Shawn is a handsome guy and I pray that he finds a forever family quickly.  I love those brown tabbies.

Maddies Momma said:

Feel free to post some pictures of him recovering, I'm very partial to brown and white tabbies.

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He's up and around but obviously still sore. He's much more relaxed and affectionate but that may just be the drugs.

stephanietx said:

I'm late to this thread and want to thank you for getting care for this boy.  I have a neutered male who caterwauls every. single. night.  LOL  Shawn is a handsome guy and I pray that he finds a forever family quickly.  I love those brown tabbies.

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He's my first tabby and white, and he's so beautiful. I also have a neutered male who caterwauls about once a day. He looks like he's about to throw up when it comes on him, then he hollers maybe three times and is done.

Aw precious baby! Thanks for the pic, he is very beautiful. Glad to hear he's doing well! He's in great hands I'm sure.

Just an update, Shawn is doing great! It's been about two weeks since the successful neuter and he is so much more relaxed. I don't think he has sprayed at all since I brought him home. He is also much more affectionate, getting pets and tonight he even settled down against my leg, which he's never done before. Last night for the first time I saw him playing, he actually plays with his own tail. I've never seen an adult cat do that before. He'll stay with me for one more week and then it's out to the adoption center to find someone to receive all that love and cuteness

That's great news. I'm so happy to hear he's finally calm and happy.

Hope he gets his forever home soon. He's such a cutie, I bet someone is going to fall in love with him.

Glad he is doing great!! I wonder (apologies if I missed this earlier in the thread) - couldn't they have done an ultrasound to find the missing testicle before going in to dig around and look for it? My cat was born with cryptorchidism and had both testicles undescended. The vet did an ultrasound to find the testicles before taking them out. Unfortunately they completely screwed up an unrelated part of the procedure and almost killed him, but at least that ultrasound part seemed like a good idea :S Is this not always possible?

lazer said:

Glad he is doing great!! I wonder (apologies if I missed this earlier in the thread) - couldn't they have done an ultrasound to find the missing testicle before going in to dig around and look for it? My cat was born with cryptorchidism and had both testicles undescended. The vet did an ultrasound to find the testicles before taking them out. Unfortunately they completely screwed up an unrelated part of the procedure and almost killed him, but at least that ultrasound part seemed like a good idea :S Is this not always possible?

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I too think it's odd that neither of the vets consulted suggested ultrasound or any other imaging technique. Perhaps it just adds to the cost of the procedure? I trust my vet so completely, she's the top surgeon in our area, it didn't even occur to me to ask questions when she said a procedure was the way to go. I kind of wonder about the vet the shelter uses as they have several boys there that can never be adopted out because the vet could not find one testicle. Shawn is the only one who had to be kept in a cage because the other cats dlid not like him, the rest are out in the general populace and doing well. I could not bear to think he might spend the rest of his life in a cage, that's why I took him on.

This is good news for you both!  And it is odd that more than one male cat has only had one testicle.  I'd wonder about the experience of that vet.

Either that, or the area population has a genetic disposition to one nut!  (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

I'm so glad he's doing well! I'm happy for you both feel free to post another picture before he goes off to be adopted! And thanks for the update.

Note: for those concerned that ultrasound was not used. Yes ultrasound would have been a great way to find the testicle before going in. However the cost of an ultrasound is around $600. So that cost on top of the surgery would have been insanely expensive. Especially for someone doing a favor for a shelter animal and not even their own pet. Also ultrasounds require specialized training to use them. So most clinics don't have them just lying around and a specialist has to be called in to do it. If money was no issue and one was available then it would have been the best option, however he still received excellent care and will go on to have a great life.

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Sheri Brown said:

I kind of wonder about the vet the shelter uses as they have several boys there that can never be adopted out because the vet could not find one testicle. Shawn is the only one who had to be kept in a cage because the other cats dlid not like him, the rest are out in the general populace and doing well. I could not bear to think he might spend the rest of his life in a cage, that's why I took him on.

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Hmm that is very strange. It wouldn't be the vets fault that the cats only have one descended testicle. However it is questionable that she is either unable or unwilling to find the testicle surgically. Also it's strange that all the other cryptorchids get along fine. If they were truly not fully neutered then they would have tomcat tendencies just like Shawn. Which would mean that there would be some fighting. If they all get along and their not acting like tomcats then I think they would be adoptable. I would even question if their really cryptorchids. Definitely a strange situation. It's hard to know what's going on without being someone who's directly involved. I try not to judge too much, I don't know the full story, but definitely some second opinions could be sought after for those cats.

Ondine said:

This is good news for you both!  And it is odd that more than one male cat has only had one testicle.  I'd wonder about the experience of that vet.

Either that, or the area population has a genetic disposition to one nut!  (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

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Your joke may be more right than you think! There do seem to be quite a lot of cryptorchid boys coming into the shelter, and the little boy I adopted last summer before I started volunteering, also had only one descended nut, but my vet was able to find the other one. :lol3:

Maddies Momma said:

I'm so glad he's doing well! I'm happy for you both feel free to post another picture before he goes off to be adopted! And thanks for the update.

Note: for those concerned that ultrasound was not used. Yes ultrasound would have been a great way to find the testicle before going in. However the cost of an ultrasound is around $600. So that cost on top of the surgery would have been insanely expensive. Especially for someone doing a favor for a shelter animal and not even their own pet. Also ultrasounds require specialized training to use them. So most clinics don't have them just lying around and a specialist has to be called in to do it. If money was no issue and one was available then it would have been the best option, however he still received excellent care and will go on to have a great life.

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Thanks for the info on ultrasound, that explains it. I do wonder about the other cats, but am not in a position to question their decisions at the shelter, Here's a picture of us cuddling on the couch. Lots of purring and happy paws.

Aww what a cutie!

Maddies Momma said:

I'm so glad he's doing well! I'm happy for you both

feel free to post another picture before he goes off to be adopted! And thanks for the update.

Note: for those concerned that ultrasound was not used. Yes ultrasound would have been a great way to find the testicle before going in. However the cost of an ultrasound is around $600. So that cost on top of the surgery would have been insanely expensive. Especially for someone doing a favor for a shelter animal and not even their own pet. Also ultrasounds require specialized training to use them. So most clinics don't have them just lying around and a specialist has to be called in to do it. If money was no issue and one was available then it would have been the best option, however he still received excellent care and will go on to have a great life.

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Oh wow I didn't know that the cost of an ultrasound was that high! In our case if it added any cost (probably yes) it was fairly small and nowhere near the (very reasonable) cost of the neuter itself. I can't even remember paying more than the original quote for the entire surgery, which was given to us before the ultrasound was suggested by the vet. The mention of it made it sound like a casual, routine addition: "Oh just get here an hour earlier so that we can do an ultrasound to find the testicles first" type of thing. I imagine there was something added, but that whole surgery was followed by so many more hospital visits and emergency vet bills that I can only remember not being hit with a giant ultrasound bill and not the exact price.