A friend called today, telling me what happened when she brought a newly-captured male street cat to the vet for neutering. The vet failed to notice that the male cat had actually been already neutered (and we are told it’s very obvious, ie. the absence of the testicles) so the vet sedated him and went ahead with the surgery only to discover that there were no more testicles in the poor cat’s scrotum.
The cat is back home and doing well now. So, that’s good to hear.
But here’s the thing. Vets do make mistakes sometimes, so now we know why it is best to ear-notch neutered male animals too.
Then, there is the story of one of our previous claims where the applicant had caught a cat without identifying the cat’s gender. The cat was brought to the vet for neutering. The vet sedated the cat and an incision was made in the abdomen to locate the uterus only to find that there was none, not because the cat had already been spayed but because the cat was actually a male!
Now, how did that happen?
And yet it happened.
So it pays for rescuers and feeders to learn how to tell the gender of the dog or cat, just to be on the safe side, right?
This might help….
For cats, especially kittens.
For dogs.
LOL!
Comments
2 responses to “Why neutered male animals should also be ear-notched”
I get my vet to notch the male cats’ ears as well, though they say no need. I say, nevermind lah, just notch, so that from a distance i would know the little fella is “fixed” and i don’t have to bend down and try to peep below to see whether they are neutered or not. They don’t always stick their tails up and show it, you know….
I like very much Wong Yoke Mei’s comment. I have the very same problem!