Conference misery::feline

My previous male cat, Ruslan, was neutered like Spunky.  The vet removed the
testes but left the scrotum intact.  The testes produce the male hormones, so
without them the cat does not turn into a "real" male.  I guess there's less
trauma to the cat by leaving the scrotum.   The penis is always left intact,
so far as I know.

My current male cat, Joey, has long hair so I can't tell what he's still got
:-)


Pilar.

    Yes, they leave the "equipment" in tact when they neuter a cat.  What
    they actually do is make an incission in the upper part of the sack and
    remove the testes.  The sack is still in tact.
    
    How can you tell if a cat has been neutered when they still leave the
    sack?  Well, an unneutered cat's "sack" will be much larger.
    
    Holly
    

    >>How can you tell if a cat has been neutered when they still leave the
    >>sack?  Well, an unneutered cat's "sack" will be much larger.
    
    And empty. :') :')
    
    And usually, if they leave the scrotum intact, there is no need for
    stitches since the incision is so tiny.
    
    Jo

         I wondered the same thing when I had my pet rabbit neutered.  It
    looked like the surgeon hadn't done a thing (and a rabbit's ... sacks
    ... are almost as big as a human male's ... really!).
    
         But I notice that even though he's been neutered he still knows
    how to "do" it ;^) ... though he's a getting less and less agressive
    about it ;^) .
    
         Same for a kitty!
    
    					- Andrea

    Ah!  Thanks!   It's amazing how stupid you feel asking things like
    this......   But better to ask than worry!
    
    Dana

    Naw! Andrea that's for real?  No wonder they hop around alot 8^}
     
    If the sacks are full, my cats look like they have two huge and furry
    thompson grapes sticking out.  ANd then on the other way it is like
    loose skin hanging.
    
    Ps. a woman I work with said her rabbits weren't that big!;)
    K

         Yep, it's for real.  I have some un-neutered male rabbits at home
    (finances prevent neutering for now, but at least they're separated
    from the females ;^) ) if anyone wants to see 8-0 .

	I went through the keywords to find one on nutering, and didn't
	see one, please feel free to move this if it's in the wrong place.


	There's and article in the finanace section of my paper regarding
	the British drugs company Proteus International, and the American drugs
	company Home Products, on animal related drugs.

	They are to start a whole reange of animal related drugs, their first 
	one is a "cat snip" to replace nutering. Apparently the cat nutering 
	market is 400 million pounds a year in the US, and is also subject to
	being sued if castration goes wrong.

	Proteus is designing the drugs, and AHP will do the development and
	testing.

	They are aiming at the animal market, as the regulatory process is
	faster than for humans.


	Hmmmmmmmm. I'm in two minds about this - it could be a godsend for all
	those strays, an injection instead of taking them to the vets for an op.
	But the reasons behind it are purely financial........it could be
	expensive, and maybe a little more risky at the start.

	Heather

    For all who are wondering, the keyword for spaying or neutering
    topics is SPAY_NEUTER.  Typing SHOW KEY/FULL *SPAY* or 
    SHOW KEY/FULL *NEUTER* should bring up the keyword and associated
    list of topics.
    
    Jan
    Moderator, FELINE 

    Do you know exactly what the drug is supposed to do, Heather? I mean is
    it like a "pill" or does it actually alter the cat permanently?

	It was the finance section, so they concentrated on the partnership,
	market and time-to-market, rather than the techi details.

	Reading it I assumed it was a one-off injection.....but it wasn't clear.


	Sorry about missing the keyword, I tried all the N's, put an asterisk
	after it, but not before!

	Heather

    
    
    - 533.8 <Neutering - chemical>
    
    	Heather, do you have an address for AHP?  I would like to write
    	and find out more.  Lately I have been thinking about this form
    	of pregnancy prevention.  With humans, I believe the 'patch' is
    	good for 5 years.  I can't see why a drug can't be developed for
    	animals that will be effective for a comparable time.  
    
    	Spay/neutering is so expensive, that people have a hard time justifying
    	the expense (even if they can afford it! ... sigh, sad, but true.)
    	In the long run, only a low cost treatment will work with the
    	general public.  Wouldn't it be great if there was a safe
    	over-the-counter solution?  I don't see why this is not possible.
    
    	If you do have that address, thanks in advance.
    
    	Eleanor

	Nope, sorry, no address.

	The American company is  "Home Products", as it already does other
	drugs for cats, maybe the vets have a contact?

	I believe they were trying to get the drugs passed by America, so I 
	don't think they'd be available for 6 months or so.

	Heather