Ever heard the term ‘cryptorchid’ used in relation to tomcats?
Ashley, the youngest old cat lady and founder of Ashley’s Kitten Academy, explained, “Cryptorchid is when one (or both) of a male’s testicles are not descended into the scrotum.”
This changes up the way veterinarians go about neutering a male cat, having “to open the stomach to find the other testicle to remove it.”
Gus the cat has just learned all about this. He’s a stray cat lad who’s kept intact with his, ahem, ballsy side. Living on the street, he was unneutered and probably having a good time with the lady cats.
But after living the tom life a while, he found himself trapped during one of Ashley’s T-N-R outings. When she first met him, Ashley reported Gus was just chilling and eating a snack. He started purring as soon as she greeted him.
But the sweet stray was in a bad way. Covered in wounds and sore spots from fighting, Gus was sneezy, snotty, and gunky in the eyes because of an upper respiratory infection. He had broken and painful teeth in need of a cleaning. His ears were infested with ear mites, which caused him to tear up his ears from all the scratching. And the poor tom has a perpetually upset tummy.
A Lovebug Mess
But for all this and being a stray cat, Gus was quite the lovey gentleman. He enjoyed sitting in Ashley’s lap, getting all the cuddles while he purred away with a smile on his kitty lips. With this much love for people, he surely had some contact with them in past, meaning he could have been dumped off early in life. That part of his life will most likely remain a mystery, but his love for snuggles is easy to see.
“Gus loves lap time. He has not had enough lap time until my pants are 100% covered in Gus fur.”
Tummy Troubles
While he loves lap time, the handsome orange and white cat does not love car rides. Every trip has resulted in some nervous tummy accident for Ashley to tend to, but one messy trip actually became cause for joy. As Gus was wont to do, he pooped in the kennel on the way to the vet, and Ashley, being the amazing foster mom she is, celebrated because “it was solid stool! Yay yay yay!!!”
Ashley recently learned raw food is the only food some feral and stray cats can stomach. Which makes sense when you consider the wild diet of an outdoor cat generally consists of the fresh raw meat provided by hunting. And for Gus, the raw food helped his rumbly tummy settle down, meaning he could get the neuter surgery which would take him from spraying tom to content housecat.
But, there was one little hitch to this plan. Gus only had one testicle, classifying him as cryptorchid. Which meant pearl number 2 was somewhere inside Gus’s abdominal cavity.
Treasure Hunt
Ashley explained surgery would have to wait as the clinic didn’t have their ultrasound machine available to find the hidden treasure. To find the other testicle, the surgery team would have to poke around blind, “searching for it, causing him extra discomfort.”
Gus didn’t mind! It gave him more time to heal from his wounds and let his stomach find its balance again. But when surgery did go forward, the team found what they believed to be the second testicle, and “it was attached to another organ in a strange way.” A biopsy revealed the find to be an inflamed lymph node.
Still, that missing pearl eluded doctors.
A third surgical look also came back empty-handed, Ashley revealing, “Three vets all took a look today when they went back in and no testicle to be found.”
But just because it couldn’t be found, doesn’t mean there isn’t another testosterone nugget hiding somewhere. While the possible ball remains elusive, in a few months, Gus will have his testosterone levels checked.
“You have to wait for the testosterone to leave his body from the testicle they did remove. Then we will see if there is any testosterone left.”
Bloodwork may be the only key to unlocking the case of the missing testicle!
Drooly Cat = Happy Cat
Oh, by the way, Gus drools. A lot. Could he be any cuter?
Ashley assured his dental issues aren’t the root of his drooling, “that’s just a happy Gus trait.”
“That’s a good boy right there.”
And the best news of all? Gus has been adopted! Follow The Real Gus Gus on Instagram and never miss a moment of the drooling, puffy-cheeked cat in his forever home!
Feature Image: @youngestoldcatlady/Instagram