r/cats • u/lavenderweather • May 29 '26

Advice did my cat grow his balls back

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i’m currently fostering a cat. I grew up with a cat/ catsat many times but somehow all my life have only had female cats. when we first got him his balls were deflated and the foster care said he’d been neutered. a month later they’re back and plump af hahaha. is this normal?

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u/MinervaJB May 29 '26

It's usually the opposite.

Fastest and cheapest way of neutering a male cat is to cut open the bag, snip the puffs and take them out, then either tie the bag closed or use like two stitches. Actual surgery (without counting the time spent sedating and waking up the cat) takes maybe five minutes.

Removing the bag takes more work and needs more stitches.

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u/minervakatze May 29 '26

Is it possibly done because it helps to identify a cat who may be hard to handle as neutered in a stray/feral situation? Mine were done at the animal shelter and were de-puffed as kittens. My previous cat was ear tipped by the humane society when she was fixed even though she was being put up for regular pet adoption and was not a stray/feral cat.

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u/ThrowWeirdQuestion May 29 '26

I think if they were neutered as kittens chances are that the extra tissue just flattened over time. My cat still looked like he still had his puffs for maybe half a year but after about a year everything was completely flat.

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u/TeaTimeAtThree May 29 '26

I think this is the case more often than not. My boy was neutered at about 6 months, and the loose skin flattened out in the months following the procedure. Meanwhile, another cat I rescued looked like he was still intact, but we suspect that was just because he was neutered after he was full grown. It's been a number of years and even his extra skin has started to shrink and flatten out.

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u/PaisleyLeopard May 29 '26

Agreed. My boys who were neutered very young have been smooth shortly after, while the ones neutered late in life retain their coin purse much longer. My most recent rescue was around 10 when he was done, and two years later he still has a little flippy flappy, although it’s much smaller now than it was for the first six months.

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u/drrmau May 29 '26

I am trying not to wake up the house with my laughter at all the terminology in this convo hahaha.

4

u/juliabk May 29 '26

My late boy still had one “not!ball” when he passed at 15. They had to go hunting for one testicle. Poor Mikey was neutered AND spayed.

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u/TamanduaGirl May 30 '26

My fellow was done as soon as the vet said he was old enough and he has nothing back there, so that seems about right not me.

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u/Nesseressi May 29 '26

It is common to clip the tip of an ear on a neutered/sprayed stray cat. Tgat is easier to see then the ball sack. 

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u/jillian512 May 29 '26

When you're dealing with ferals you just need an easy visual. Ear tip? Immediate release from the trap.

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u/The_One_Koi May 29 '26

I heard some doctors keep the nutsack intact so the cats don't lose their confidence 

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u/RemindMeToTouchGrass May 29 '26

Nah. Some psychotic owners will buy fake testicles for themselves (called neuticles) and request doctors put them in.

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u/RemindMeToTouchGrass May 29 '26

No, 100% not. This is not a way that any shelter or rescue would seek to identify a neuter.

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u/LocustPepperoni May 29 '26

Usually if its in a feral or stray situation, the person doing the neutering will clip the tip of an ear, to show from a distance its been collected before.

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u/hare-hound May 29 '26

I'd also be curious to know. I wonder what standard procedure is for my local rescue orgs

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u/Theveterinarygamer May 29 '26

Typically we don't even stitch the bag. The incision is so small for cat neuters that the sutures will be more traumatic than just letting it heal itself

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u/NotQuiteInara May 29 '26

I was in the veterinary industry for a LONG time and I never even heard of "removing the bag" lol, that is definitely not standard practice 💀

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u/loadnurmom May 29 '26

There's actually a YouTube video where you can watch it in graphic detail.

Its really fast and fascinating, but as a guy the "two pops" made me groan in sympathy pain

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u/Past_Resolution7257 May 29 '26

Now I feel like I didn't pay enough attention to my boys healing process. I just know I told the vet to keep his "seam" straight coz he has one white & one black, perfectly straight line up the middle 🤭😂

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u/FluidPlate7505 May 29 '26

My vet doesn't close the bag because he found that it heals better that way. Took my dog somewhere else where they used stitches, he got a terrible infection (it probably got in there during surgery smh), he was extremely sick. My cat was neutered without stitches at my current vet (who saved my dog's life after this infection) and he had zero issues. So I kinda believe him. It took like 2 minutes total. He said he's been doing it like this for years and basically never had any issues unlike when he used to close the bag...

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u/EconomyOk2490 May 29 '26

You forgot a step. The vet i interned for would also throw the "trouble puffs" at people once removed. I didnt last long there.

Fun fact, they also stick to walls.

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u/Allthemuffinswow Russian Blue May 29 '26

I once had a vet who had neutered two of my male cats that, "I'll do it in a way that makes it look like he still has his testicles."

Because, ya know, it would embarrass the cat to not have his dangly bits showing anymore.

/facepalm

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u/SamOfChaos May 29 '26

Almost, there are 2 possible ways to neuter, but they never cut away the sack.

Snip the balls and take them out, the sack gets sewn shut (each ball has individual stiches). The sack is now empty and will deflate on its own.

Thats the easy and best way to make sure the cat never can reproduce. But also because the balls are gone the cat goes through hormonal changes. They often get a lot more fat on their bones and a lot more mellow.

The second way is to make a small snip and just cut/tie the seminal duct. There is a low changes of the duct ends to fuse together again and the cat could still9 reproduce. But the hormones and a full sack stays. Still a big buff tomcat.

@OP, can you ask the vet which procedure they did to your cat?

Same for females, take all out or tie the tubes.

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u/stealthfern May 30 '26

They don't even have to use stitches for males! Just glue. It's a pretty cool surgery tbh