AIBU to want veterinary advice?

[Almostalive]

Long story short.
Vet confirmed the female kitten I bought was indeed a female also not pedigree, Domestic shorthair. Cat was booked in today to be neutered as she is desperate to go outside and I didn't want her to get randomly pregnant and endanger her health at such a young age. Approx 5 months.
Receive a call from the vet today. Female cat is a boy, testicles removed and ovaries searched for? Cat is actually a different breed than they thought. Pedigree cat is not a Domestic Shorthair but a British Blue. Surely I should have been notified before my cat went through 2 operations (3 if you count the microchip I also requested). Can this really happen? My poor boy.

Yes, I would also want a Tom cat castrated. I think I was a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing. My girl is now a boy 🤣 To see her shaved, stitched, confused and walking backwards was a bit much. IBU.

She’s not a pedigree. I hope you didn’t pay an overinflated price for her from a back yard breeder. Was that kitten photo taken when you had her?

What you need to ask your vet is were the testicles undecended? That is quite a big wound for a spey (and not the neatest I've ever seen!). If they were that would explain the need for a bigger incision.

If the testicles were undecended it would explain why they made a mistake.

It's not your fault! You believed what you were told. I think the best way to draw a line under it would be to request a meeting with the vet or practice manager to debrief on what happened. I think it's important what the wording on the form you signed said - if it was consent to neuter or desex that covers either spay or castrate, if it said spay then they should have sought your verbal consent to castrate once they realised their mistake. I think any vet would have advised you to castrate a male just as strongly as to spay a female. Where were the testicles located? Is there a clipped patch and two tiny wounds under his tail (between anus and prepuce) in which case the testicles were in his scrotum and they just didn't check the sex, or does he only have that flank wound in the picture? It's important they can be honest and say actually someone made a mistake and here is how we are going to change our protocol to ensure it doesn't happen again. We frequently get cats booked in for neutering with the owner having the sex wrong (usually via Cats Protection as we often haven't seen them for vaccination) but they are sex-checked by nurse on admission, by vet before being given a premed, and by vet again under GA before we start clipping.

Microchipping isn’t an ‘operation”!!
It takes 10 seconds to pop in and the chip is smaller than a grain of rice.
Who originally sexed the cat?
I think you’re being very dramatic about seeing the cat shaved/stitches; that’s what you must have been expecting surely with a ‘girl’.

its not uncommon that a cat is both male and female and this is not determined until the vet opens the cat up and finds things are not quite as expected inside.

That is just not true, I've worked in veterinary practice for 25 years and have never seen this

OP, sorry your cat has been put through unnecessary abdominal surgery. It doesn't look like your cat's abdomen was clipped which would suggest the testicles were indeed decended. You'll be able to tell as there will either be 2 small incisions in the testicle sacks or a large abdominal incision if they were undecended. I would be making a complaint and asking what procedures they will be putting in place to ensure this doesn't happen again. Our neuters are sexed on admit by the admitting nurse/vet and again prior to prepping for surgery where a vet and nurse will verbally confirm patient/procedure etc. Every practice should have protocols in place to ensure this can't happen.

I do not know why the vet could not tell that a cat was a five month old tom, it's not that difficult. He shouldn't have had to go through two operations, I'd like to hear the vet's explanation. I've had kittens about whose sex I was unsure but the vet always knew.

If your little cat is a British blue, good for you. Blues are gorgeous cats, quiet, very intelligent, kind and friendly. I had a Russian blue for a while, he was a friend, especially to my husband.

In my 20 years as a veterinary nurse I have only ever come across one intersex cat. It's rare.

If the testicles were descended then the vet did not check the sex of the cat before proceeding to operate which is a mistake and should be taken further.

If the testicles were retained then this is trickier as abdominal surgery would have been required regardless to remove them.

I'm not clear from your posts whether the testicles were descended or not, unless I have missed a post.

The microchip is not an op BTW, it's just like having an injection for a vaccine.

@Almostalive Do you have paperwork got the kitten?
I would contact the Governing council of fat fancy if I were you and have a chat about the breed confusion, they should be able to advise pedigrees should have a very distinctive look by nature.
The spry itself is quite large, my vet does very small midline incisions and I'm told many vets are moving away from the flank cut. Nonetheless, Your kitten is now well, by all accounts there is a justifiable reason the mistake could have been made. It's obviously a big shock, but try to put this beyond you and enjoy your kitten. If you desperately want a female, you could contact the breeder and explain the situation, perhaps they will change him for another kitten?

The testicles were retained and apparently more than half normal size. The vet did show me them and they were around the size of a 5p coin in a teardrop shape. It sounds as if all is above board and just unfortunate. Kitty is doing well and breed is unimportant to me. Thanks for all the advice.

Just to add the testicles were removed and left to heal naturally, no stitches underneath. Also, I didn't realise how simple it was to place a microchip.

On the breed side of things he looks similar to my Russian blue ,even the stripes as mine has faint stripes on his tail but is pedigree.
British blues have round faces , not slim like the Russians

I really dont know what the problem is. You needed the cat to be neutered, male or female. Done. If the sexing was only discovered internally, not an error. Why dont you just talk with the vet and get the facts right so you can understand. As far as I can see they did the right thing

Oh poor kitty, and poor you OP it must have been a bit of a shock! But not to worry, it would have only been one operation and better safe to be sorry in regards to looking for ovaries. Your boy is gorgeous, I hope he recovers well! Give it a few weeks and he'll look totally normal again. Hope his name doesn't require too much in the way of adjustment for sex ;)

He is lovely OP.

I do not know why the vet could not tell that a cat was a five month old tom Surely that goes for the owner too? If the penis was that obvious it would have been noticed by the owner sometime during the 5 months prior to the op!

Undecended testicles? Arnt those more common in inbred animals? ,(no facts to back that up just a memory from the vets when we had an inbred puppy with one testicle descended his paws were originally fused at birth too)

No matter what breed the cat is -- your vet did not check for the sex of the cat before the operation??!!! They should not have a license! Where do you report them for that??? Really outrageous. Your poor cat.

It's normal to not suture a cat castration. (Ex vet nurse).

This is totally bonkers

Definitely not a full British Shorthair, I can tell in the face from the kitten pic. I have 2 and their faces when they were babies were totally different, a lot fuller, distinctive shape.

eg:

Yep , op’s looks similar to my Russian blue when he was little

Regardless wether it's a he or a she he is NOT a pedigree he is a moggy. Just because he's grey does not make him a Russian blue they are more solid coloured. And as first pic shows as with many grey kittens he's turning black. As pp said I hope you didn't pay over the odds for a cat that sells in my area for around £30. Also if they were pedigree breeders they'd know how to sex a kitten correctly.

I'm still not buying this - if the testicles were removed through two tiny unsutured incisions in the scrotum then they were in the normal place. About 5p size is normal for a young kitten. If they were retained in the abdomen then the procedure would be to then make a midline incision to fully explore the abdomen.It looks like they thought he was female, made a flank incision, couldn't find ovaries, made the hole bigger then actually checked the sex and found he was actually a boy. In which case the least they can do is hold their hands up, apologise profusely and sort out their protocols so it can't happen again. Does be have a clipped area and two small incisions under his tail?

Patchwork I tend to agree