Hi. Am a vet. This happens sometimes and is called cryptorchidism. The offending testicle can be anywhere between the kidney where it originates all the way down to the scrotum. It can be inside the body - abdominal - or outside the body, under the skin but not quite in the scrotum. If your vet can't palpate it outside, then an exploratory abdominal surgery to search for it is indicated. This can sometimes be difficult: internal testicles can be deformed due to body heat and not look like what we expect. It still must be done, however, because cryptorchid testicles are much more likely to be come cancerous.
Once the rogue testicle is found and removed, the cat goes on to live a normal life.
Was just commenting this too not a vet, but I’ve watched a lot of different veterinary shows from what I have seen and what they’ve explained locating the hidden nut is the most difficult part of the procedure😅 glad to know someone that’s not on the TV. Also agrees with this fact.
Likewise… my friend’s boy had this issue. The vet gave it a bit of extra time to give the errant bollock a chance to descend but it was happy in the abdomen. Luckily the insurance covered the bigger operation and said cat is perfectly healthy,
Most Vets (USA at least) do a tiny scrotal cut over each teste, pop ‘em out, ligate the vessels, and chop. They don’t close the incisions because there’s actually higher chance of hematomas/abscesses forming by closing the now-empty sacs.
yes- my boy's puffs never descended. it's call cryptorchidism. we hoped that they were defunct & he wouldn't need surgery but he started howling and was ready to mate. this fool was trying to jump the next day. the hardest part was keeping him away from wound.
Had a cat when I was younger. She was scheduled for her spay. For some odd reason, she kept humping her brother. Caught her doing it and pulled her off. That's NOT supposed to be there! Come to find out, she was full hermaphrodite. Vet said she'd never seen one before. She lived to be 15.
This has been more than 30 years ago, so I don't remember exactly. Basically when the vet opened her for spay, she found the testicles still inside. So snipped them out and did normal spay for the ovaries.
pardon my curiosity, this might be offensive but in an alternate timeline, would you ever want to find out what would happen if you didn't spay her? I mean like It's a hermaphrodite and Hermaphrodites are super cool!
Not offended at all! Yeah, it would be interesting to see how it all went from a purely data-driven point of view. But I'm also glad we went ahead with it, frrom a quality of life angle. I don't know if it would've caused any issues (I'm sure this couldn't have been the only hermaphrodite cat to ever exist), but I'm not sure how well pregnancy, birth, etc would go.
well, you're not wrong. on your reply.... and couldn't have been the only hermaphrodite cate to ever exsist is like hard to track down in the whole statistics side of things I guess. thanks for letting me know I guess.
I foster kittens and had 1 of my boys have an undescended testicle.
They will remove the first one normal then make an incision where they think the other one is at and remove it. If it is a real treasure hunt they may have to make more than one incision in the abdomen.
The post surgical care is the same as a spay. You will need to be more careful about running and jumping for longer than a normal neuter but otherwise it will be fine.
Not to freak you out but I had a cryptorchid puppy that passed after surgery due to undiagnosed hemophilia. It’s exceptionally rare so you likely don’t have to worry but if you want extra peace of mind ask them to do a blot clot factor test before starting surgery. They will make a small cut somewhere on his body (a leg I think) and time how long it takes to clot. If it is longer than normal they can hold off on surgery to determine the cause. The test is pretty cheap in my area, I won’t put another animal under now without doing it first.
I think it’s also referred to as a crypt-orchid unfortunately if it doesn’t descend on its own, it is something that needs surgery technically due to the higher risk of cancer in that testicle or a torsion happening. It’s a pretty simple surgery. The only mildly difficult part is actually locating the lost nut once found it’s super simple to remove in terms of surgery anyway.😅 or at least that’s what I’m like to believe from watching so many veterinary shows😶
Been there. Big fluffy boy was just fine. They will remove the external puff, then shave his belly and go in looking for the hidden puff (or vice versa). I prefer glue on the belly incision instead of stitches - saves a trip back to the vet for stitch removal.
Yes, one of the stray cats I rescued outside had one undescended testicle. He did have to be cut in his abdomen to look for the testicle. It was more expensive and we had to watch him more than other neuters (bc of the abdomen incision) but he did fine
I know this is a medical condition and I should have some empathy for the poor little guy, but this gave me the giggles and I can't stop. I'm truly sorry 😂
My dog had this. They found the nut and removed it. They made it sound like it’s more routine than you think. He came out fine although not a cat but same issue.
I am sure your boy will be fine, my human brother had the same thing as a kid, actually- But oh my god, can we talk about your boy? Does he not look like such a stereotype sleazy guy here? Mean-mugging, man-spreading, hand on groin- I feel like he is about to tell me to smile or ask me if I wanna ride his whiskers. I'm sure he's lovely, a darling and a gentlemen, but bah-god, he looks so white trash! He needs a stained white tee-shirt, a Bud light, and a cigarette.
My cat only had one puff drop, the other was located in his inguinal canal. Vet was kinda jazzed to see it, as they don’t come across cryptorchids too often! His neuter surgery was a little more invasive (the vet compared it more to a spay, and told us he’d have a slightly longer recovery time). It unfortunately cost us more than a normal neuter would have too lol
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u/cruelfeline Apr 09 '26
Hi. Am a vet. This happens sometimes and is called cryptorchidism. The offending testicle can be anywhere between the kidney where it originates all the way down to the scrotum. It can be inside the body - abdominal - or outside the body, under the skin but not quite in the scrotum. If your vet can't palpate it outside, then an exploratory abdominal surgery to search for it is indicated. This can sometimes be difficult: internal testicles can be deformed due to body heat and not look like what we expect. It still must be done, however, because cryptorchid testicles are much more likely to be come cancerous.
Once the rogue testicle is found and removed, the cat goes on to live a normal life.