Francis' "little procedure"

sue and dave wrote:

HI Priscilla,

I'm in the process of arranging the ritual for my siamese Moxie who is 6
years old and still intact. Vet visit Friday for pre-surg check/labs and
then schedule the neuter.

This winter he has taken to the time-honored tradition of Male Cat Marking
and this morning backed up against ME in bed and plastered the duvet with
grossness.

Well, you *could* look at this as a compliment. He's marking you as HIS
and warning others to stay away.

He is the epitome of Handsome Male Cat, but the innate behavior that
arrived ( which I truly did not expect to happen after all this time)
rules out his retaining the gonad equipment.

I've sent for the Feliway to help curtail the behavior as much as possible
for as long as possible, until he regains some propriety about his home and
surroundings.

I'm afraid I've read that altered males may also spray, but I hope his
surgery plus the commercial aids do the trick.

I'm also feeling very guilty that I did not do this when I should have.

Now, if we were all perfect....

So yes, I understand your feeling sad, but I also know you've done the
right thing!

Yup. Thanks.

Sue
( yep, the Western Maine one)

Heh! Nice to see you. :-)

Priscilla

Cathy Friedmann wrote:

Nope. Because Herrie became an indoor cat, was already sexually mature - an
older kitten - when I adopted him, & he pee stunk to high heaven! It reeked
so badly that if his litter box needed new scooping, my eyes smarted, when I
entered his initial "seclusion" room.

Heh! Got it.

What's funny is that Sebbie's pee does smell strong, but just like
strong cat pee, matter of degree rather than kind. He's definitely
neutered, though. A vet friend who worked at Animal Rescue League did
him several years ago.

Priscilla

KellyH wrote:

Honestly, no. Loki came from the shelter already neutered at 12 weeks, but
Bartleby was 8 weeks and too small, they said. (This was before I
volunteered at a different shelter) My vet at the time would not neuter
until he was 6 months. I was so happy when 6 months arrived and I could get
it done. I was really afraid he was going to start spraying and developing
intact male behavior. Yes, I was a little fearful because my baby was going
under anesthesia, but that was it.

Francis' vet wouldn't do it before 6 months, either, though I would have
preferred it earlier. Caley and Benjamin were done at 12 weeks at the
shelter before I took them home. Sebbie was 6 months but mostly because
I wanted to socialize him better before I put him through it. He was a
genuine feral, not like Francis, who at 4 weeks took 20 minutes to
socialize. :-)

Priscilla

Justin L wrote:

My kitten Elwood went in for the snippage today too!
I thought he would be all mellow and relaxed once I got him home, but he
is very hyper!
I guess he doesn't miss them that much.
Hope your Francis recovery goes well too.

He was a little quieter than usual, playing quietly by himself in the
kitchen after dinner and then coming in to flop on top of Mom as I
watched TV on the sofa. He's giving no attention to the area of his
missing balls. None. No licking, no nothing. He showed little sign of
residual effects of the anesthesia, either, but then he'd had a long
time to recover, since he was out of surgery by 9:30 AM and I picked him
up at 6:00 PM. His post-surgery instructions were that he wasn't to do
a lot of jumping, etc. (ha!) but he showed no sign of that being a
problem for him. Like I could have stopped him. They clipped his
claws, too, so when he leapt up to my shoulder as I was making breakfast
this morning there was no pain involved for me. :-) He purred happily
while he supervised my work from his perch by my left ear.

Scritches to Elwood!

Priscilla

"Meghan Noecker" wrote :

Okay. Here is the early kitten photo. The main one we used to promote
him. I still carry it to show that ugly kittens do get better.

http://www.zoocrewphoto.com/cats/maynard1.jpg

Oh my. I do see what you mean.

This one was taken about 2 years ago. I'll have to scan more pics. I
have more recent pics as well as some older ones, though not the
really bright blue ones (can't find those). I have a nice one taken a
few weeks ago, but I gotta figure out where I put it.

http://www.zoocrewphoto.com/cats/maynard8.jpg



He bloomed!

"Priscilla H. Ballou" wrote in message
...
"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote:

On 2005-02-01, Priscilla H. Ballou penned:

Does anyone else experience this when they have their cats neutered?


It's definitely a little bit sad to me. When I was nine years old, I
cried
the day Puma (RB, dog) was snipped. But unfortunately, given the
reality (way
too many unwanted pets, behavioral issues, and the inability to teach
pets
"safer sex"), it's the best thing. At least in my opinion.

Oh, definitely. But sometimes the best decision can have accompanying
feelings.

The spay procedure on girls is a lot more invasive than the neutering
procedure on boys. If I had thought it reasonable not to do this to
Oscar, I
would have avoided it. But I'm glad she had it done.

I wonder if I'd react the same way if Francis were Frances and had been
spayed. Francis had big beautiful bulgy balls, and they are very
obviously Not There Anymore. It's a visible reminder of the loss.

BTW, he's home now and doing just fine. I'm probably seeing what I
expect, but he already seems to be behaving less agressively towards his
older siblings. This is a Good Thing.
;-)


Not to worry. The testicles are generally not the best thing about
the man.

On 2005-02-02, Priscilla H. Ballou penned:
"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote:

The spay procedure on girls is a lot more invasive than the neutering
procedure on boys. If I had thought it reasonable not to do this to Oscar,
I would have avoided it. But I'm glad she had it done.

I wonder if I'd react the same way if Francis were Frances and had been
spayed. Francis had big beautiful bulgy balls, and they are very obviously
Not There Anymore. It's a visible reminder of the loss.

Yeah. I guess I just get irked when male-type-humans get really worked
up about neutering. They don't have at all the same reaction to
spaying. Just because spaying isn't visible doesn't mean it wasn't a
big deal! Guys' egos notwithstanding, snipping boys is a much simpler
procedure.

BTW, he's home now and doing just fine. I'm probably seeing what I expect,
but he already seems to be behaving less agressively towards his older
siblings. This is a Good Thing. ;-)

I'm glad he's doing well.

--
monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!*

Mary wrote:
"Priscilla H. Ballou" wrote in message
...
I wonder if I'd react the same way if Francis were Frances and had been
spayed. Francis had big beautiful bulgy balls, and they are very
obviously Not There Anymore. It's a visible reminder of the loss.

BTW, he's home now and doing just fine. I'm probably seeing what I
expect, but he already seems to be behaving less agressively towards his
older siblings. This is a Good Thing.
;-)


Not to worry. The testicles are generally not the best thing about
the man.

LOL! My attitudes towards humans and felines are not identical. At
all. ;-)

Priscilla

"Priscilla H. Ballou" wrote in message
...
Mary wrote:
"Priscilla H. Ballou" wrote in message
...
I wonder if I'd react the same way if Francis were Frances and had
been
spayed. Francis had big beautiful bulgy balls, and they are very
obviously Not There Anymore. It's a visible reminder of the loss.

BTW, he's home now and doing just fine. I'm probably seeing what I
expect, but he already seems to be behaving less agressively towards
his
older siblings. This is a Good Thing.
;-)


Not to worry. The testicles are generally not the best thing about
the man.

LOL! My attitudes towards humans and felines are not identical. At
all. ;-)


I know, you just love your little Francis. I think it is adorable that you
are
grieving his lovely bulging balls! As you know, they would have become
the source of some unlovable behaviors. I imagine if I had gotten
Cheeky intact instead of from a shelter that had already spayed
her, I would have grieved for the parts they took out of her.
Irrational, but so is love. :P

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote:

On 2005-02-02, Priscilla H. Ballou penned:
"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote:

The spay procedure on girls is a lot more invasive than the neutering
procedure on boys. If I had thought it reasonable not to do this to Oscar,
I would have avoided it. But I'm glad she had it done.

I wonder if I'd react the same way if Francis were Frances and had been
spayed. Francis had big beautiful bulgy balls, and they are very obviously
Not There Anymore. It's a visible reminder of the loss.

Yeah. I guess I just get irked when male-type-humans get really worked
up about neutering. They don't have at all the same reaction to
spaying. Just because spaying isn't visible doesn't mean it wasn't a
big deal! Guys' egos notwithstanding, snipping boys is a much simpler
procedure.

Indeed.

I actually felt a little squeamish about asking my (male) neighbor to
drive us to and from the vet for the procedure. When other women at
work who are cat people have been talking cats with me there has been
the occasional human male who's expressed discomfort with the casualness
of the way we toss around terms like "castration." That may have made
me a little more sensitive. Women don't have the same reaction when
hearing about other women having their ovaries removed, and that's
exactly the same thing. We have a reaction, just not the same one.
There's something about one's gonads being on the outside of one's body
that makes them loom larger in one's self-image I guess. I guess. I'll
never completely understand, since I am irrevocably (and gladly) female.


BTW, he's home now and doing just fine. I'm probably seeing what I expect,
but he already seems to be behaving less agressively towards his older
siblings. This is a Good Thing. ;-)

I'm glad he's doing well.

I want to leave now to go home to my snuggle-muffin! I think it's rude
and unfeeling how my employer insists upon my earning my pay check. Harrumph.

Priscilla