I can't look at my cat :(

[catburglar]

My pet cat disappeared on Thursday. I've a microchip catflap for him and his sister so they're always coming and going. He arrived back on Saturday and he'd been neutered and ear tipped. I'm really upset. I don't know how I can cope with seeing him looking like that for the next 20 years. I don't know who did it or why. I feel like I'm being really shallow but I feel like he's been mutilated. He's perfectly happy himself at least.

OP: is there a CPL group in your area? Sounds like you could use their support.

OP you are incredibly irresponsible and I don't believe you are fit to have a pet.

Your wilful ignorance is staggering. You are getting a hard time on this thrread because you deserve it.

My lovely boy cat is missing the tip of his ear due to the local unneutered Tom biting it off. Entire Tom cats are an absolute pita, they have cost me a fortune in vet bills treating abscesses etc. Plus entering and spraying my house. I also work in cat rescue and have to deal with the many unwanted kittens produced all year round (note not just in kitten season) due to people who don't get their cats neutered.

You should find out who runs your local TNR campaign and thank them for saving you the money you should have paid on getting your cat neutered. Or perhaps donate to the charity.

As for the ear, yes it's rubbish when your cat comes home with its ear tip missing. Thankfully for you though you don't have to take yours to the vet to get it cleaned and antibiotics like I did with mine.

Look, it’s a huge shock but it’s done now & he’ll get over it & so will you.

Your obviously putting a lot more effort into these feral/stray cats than most people I know would.

You’ll get used to his ear & it won’t detract from his awesomeness.

I think this thread is a wind up.

No one in their right mind goes around neutering the local feral cat population then forgets to get their own tom cat neutered sending him out to further increase said cat population. Oh then moans when he comes back home neutered and tipped, the very thing she’s doing!

Utterly bonkers, if you cannot afford £50 to get a cat neutered don’t get a cat!

At least it's only the tip of his ear. Most Toms have far more scars from fighting. My old boy has left than half an ear on one side, a chunk missing from the other, various bald patches, loads of raised scars and a bent tail.

If someone had mistook him for a feral when he was young he'd just have a tipped ear. Or better still if his previous idiot owners had got him done before he ever went out.

I'm in Ireland where cats don't get pregnant in the winter...
I'm also in Ireland, and I picked up an 8 week old kitten last weekend (dumped in a pub car park)

fivedogstofeed

Maybe it wasnt a fully, magic Irish kitten? Its grandma might have been svorroce or english?

Scottish or English

Ah the mythical Scottish magic cat 😻🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 known to journey over the water to Ireland 🇮🇪 in its wee magic canoe 🛶

It's sounds a little bit like you're angry about the tipped ear because it's a reminder that he has been the same as other cats and you feel that he's different to the other cats, almost like mild snobbery and there's hints of you thinking he shouldn't have been treat the same, you said you didn't want him mixed in with the strays for neutering? But you're letting him out to mix with them on the streets?

If money is tight and you can't afford to have him done would the charity you're taking the strays to be neutered with not help you?

@AFemaleWoman
Have you missed the point? He has a tipped ear as someone has had him neutered.

jkscot

I know why the ear is tipped, OP seems mad about the tipped ear because her cat has had the same treatment a stray or feral would have. I kind of got undertones that OP is mad he's been viewed and treat the same as a feral or stray and is pissed off because if that. I was wondering if her annoyance came from her thinking her cat shouldn't be mixed in with ferals and strays.

I'll read my posts back tomorrow and they'll make no sense to me. I've had a pain meds change and taken oramorph today so probably not making sense to anyone outside of my head. :)

You should have had him neutered and chipped. of course he was going to wander off as an entire Male. Totally irresponsible.

@AFemaleWoman, I got the same impression from the OP's posts.

I think JKscot got the wrong end of the stick - JK, I believe AFemaleWoman was suggesting that the vet who neuters the strays should have been approached by the OP to get her own cat neutered too, for free or for a reduced fee.

Cockw0mble I agree, it's a daunting task to find the tattoo. I somehow lost the sentence I had typed to the effect that males are tattooed near the scrotum. Again, not the easiest to see if the cat doesn't want you handling him. It's easier to be sure about spay/neuter status with a tattoo because a tipped ear could potentially have happened in some other way (though a neat accidental rip is less likely than a more jagged one).

Such a weird threat

Thread *

Can't people see that unspayed female cats are more of a liability than toms?

@catburglar - how do you think female cats get pregnant?

You are completely wrong in your thinking here, that females are the problem. A tom can impregnate dozens of females in a weekend. Even tame ones who eat grain free food and have glossy fur. Your tom behaves differently with you from the way he behaves around female cats in heat and other males in the neighbourhood, I can guarantee it.

I am really surprised that your vet didn't suggest neutering when you had him microchipped. Surely microchipping a cat suggests that the cat might need tracing because of being out and about, and surely a vet would ask you to consider the ramifications of letting an entire male out?

I am also surprised that, knowing your cats so well, your vet hasn't been suggesting to you for at least eight months that it's time for your tom's date with destiny.

Your cats look gorgeous, and I applaud your dedication to the spay and neuter ideal even though you have shown a good deal of misunderstanding of priorities here - toms are a huge part of the problem.

Hopefully you will feel better in time about the ear. Your tom is far better off having had the much needed op. It will greatly improve his quality of life.
Maybe suggest tattooing to the vet next time you bring a stray in?

Surely this is a wind up? No-one really can be this stupid? I mean, Irish cats can't get pregnant in winter, WTAF?

Hi OP,
I just wanted to give you some moral support. You love animals and care for them deeply and I applaud you for that. You made a mistake, don't be too hard on yourself.
Some of the responses on here are very harsh and out of proportion in my opinion.

@JayAlfredPrufrock kitten season refers to the time of year when all the cars start breeding, generally as the weather warms up. It is a common term used by vets/rescues etc. OP your undesexed cat shouldn't be roaming but if he is chipped to you he can't legally be castrated without your permission.

I have been tempted to catnap an unneutered tom cat in my area because he looks so tatty and flea ridden and he keeps fighting and weeing everywhere .... but I would not because he is not my cat. The person who did it probably thought he was stray and that is why he has cut off the tip of his ear. You really should have done this yourself because I think he must have been doing stuff that unneutered tom cats do and that is why it has happened I'm afraid.

Look at all the typical MNetters with their claws out! Oh so righteous aren't we

It classed as righteous to not let an u spayed male out to shag and fight. Whilst complaining and trying to control the stray population.

Its righteous, to see that the ops cat is a huge part of the problem and understand that she actually is very ill informed?

Its righteous to see the hypocrisy of the ops actions?