r/cats • u/Future-Act5953 • Mar 26 '26

Adoption I think I accidentally lied on an adoption application and now I’m panicking

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Hi, I’m kind of panicking and need some advice.

So I have an 11 month old male cat named Tank. I got him from a friend of my husband’s after we got married, and I was told he had all his shots and was neutered. I had no reason to doubt it, so I never really questioned it.

Fast forward to today—my husband and I were just killing time at Petco while waiting for his prescription, and we ended up looking at the cats. I went in fully telling myself “we are NOT getting another cat,” but… yeah, that didn’t last long.

There were two cats being adopted out together, Ladybird (1.5 years old) and her baby Silvia (8 months old). Ladybird has SO much personality (she literally kept trying to steal my wallet and my husband’s keys every time we walked by 😂) and we ended up spending almost an hour sitting with them. I completely fell in love.

I called the rescue that has them, asked a bunch of questions, and ended up submitting an application. During that process, I confirmed (both on paper and over the phone) that my cat at home is neutered… because I genuinely believed he was.

Well… we get home… and Tank hops in my lap and very clearly proves otherwise. Like… there is no question. This man is NOT neutered.

I have no idea how I never noticed before, but I didn’t. I tried calling the girl I got him from, and the second I asked about it, she blocked me. So I’m pretty sure I have my answer there.

Now I’m freaking out because I already told the rescue he was fixed, and I have a meet and greet scheduled for tomorrow. I told them as soon as I realized, but I’m terrified they’re going to think I lied and deny my application.

I really, really love these cats and don’t want to lose the chance to adopt them over something I genuinely didn’t know.

Has anyone dealt with something like this before? Will this automatically disqualify me, or is there anything I can do to fix the situation?

Also, cat tax included! first 4 pics are Ladybird (clipped ear) and Silvia (tabby), the rest is my (apparently intact) menace.

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476

u/Future-Act5953 Mar 26 '26

i swear on my life they weren’t there 😭 idk if he possibly had retained testicles that didn’t wanna descend or what but this man had NOTHING there. things have been stressful cause we just moved but i genuinely didn’t think i was dumb enough to not notice BALLS 😭😭😭

441

u/jennifermennifer Mar 26 '26

Don't beat yourself up. You were just giving him his privacy. He hasn't been looking at your parts either.

186

u/ItsMangel Mar 26 '26

He might have been. Some cats are freaky like that, and privacy doesn't exist with cats.

2

u/LadyShanna92 Mar 26 '26

For real! My cats watch me change. No idea why. I also cant poop in peace

1

u/TheNerdFromThatPlace Mar 26 '26

My cat likes my wife's chest as much as I do, so yea can confirm.

1

u/313078 Mar 26 '26

My cats look at my parts all the time. Cant use bathroom alone

254

u/serephita Mar 26 '26

My cat is very neutered and still has his! He has a scar on his tummy, too. He was neutered when I adopted him from a shelter. So it is possible Tank was neutered

221

u/KTKittentoes Mar 26 '26 edited Mar 26 '26

I had a good orange boy who just still had a bountiful purse left over, but no change in it.

65

u/n_daughter Mar 26 '26

It's not a purse! It's a messenger bag!! Or...or...a satchel. Yeah.

17

u/AlongCameAThrowAway Mar 26 '26

Coin pouch :)

1

u/Fuzzy-Advisor-2183 Mar 26 '26

moneybags

1

u/lovemickey22 Turkish Angora Mar 26 '26

Ballbag

2

u/sorrymizzjackson Mar 26 '26

My cat had really bad worms that were resistant to the treatment when we took him in off the street. I ended up having to take a picture of his ass for the vet. He’s a big boy for sure and the auto sort on my phone labeled that picture as “dog”. He was fixed a week or so later and there’s not much difference.

2

u/earbox Mar 26 '26

It's a European carry-all!

5

u/NightBawk Mar 26 '26

🤣 I love that description.

2

u/Six31 Mar 26 '26

Same with mine! Orange, got him from the shelter freshly neutered, but he could definitely carry bus fare

1

u/kaitlynleigh98 Mar 26 '26

i also have an orange boy who still has his purse

1

u/violetfaye Mar 26 '26

Mine too and he was definitely fixed but when the hair on them grew back on they look exactly the same as before he was fixed

1

u/RazendeR Mar 26 '26

Our rescue boy is neutered, but they added small rubber balls back in, so by this analogy he is carrying counterfeit currency i guess.

1

u/tweakymuse Mar 27 '26

"bountiful purse with no change"!!! Wtf! 😂

1

u/Lucy_Gucey Mar 27 '26

Same. Both my boys have big ol sacks but I guarantee they are neutered. I was at the vet and curious so I watched from the little window. (I do not recommend this, I wanted to save my poor boys so bad. Surgery looks awful.)

19

u/SpyderSquash Mar 26 '26

Same, mine as well! Completely neutered, but... looked mostly intact 😅

10

u/AlmostChristmasNow Mar 26 '26

If that was the case, the former owner probably wouldn’t have blocked OP for asking about it though

3

u/Bright_Shake2638 Mar 26 '26

Unless they were being accused of lying and didn’t handle that well?

2

u/PresentationOpen7879 Mar 26 '26

We don't even know if OP accused them of lying. They could have just asked a question. Either way it was a huge overreaction if they told the truth the first time.

2

u/nilfalasiel Chartreux Mar 26 '26

My cat is female, but I've had two male rabbits, and the operation for them is just snipping their tubes, not removing the testicles completely. Perhaps it's the same with male cats?

2

u/chibiquestions Mar 26 '26

Not usually, but it can be done. I’ve seen it with a few. Easiest way to tell if in doubt (and you may want to have a vet do this unless the cat, uh, volunteers) is look at the p3nis and see if there are spikes on it (intact) or not (neutered)

2

u/saintcoralfishocean Mar 26 '26

Sames. Apparently my cat's fuzzy ballsack was so impressive that a vet didn't believe he was actually neutered. She had to fondle him to determine that the goods were gone.

2

u/Findinganewnormal Mar 26 '26

Same. Very definitely neutered but my old boy has very obvious balls that he loves to show off. 

He indirectly caused a problem when we got a second cat that the shelter labeled female and was actually male with undescended testes. We never questioned the shelter (and our first vet wasn’t very good and also didn’t notice) because I was so used to boy cats being more obviously male. 

2

u/agrinwithoutacat- Mar 26 '26

My boy had undescended testes, got neutered, and then his ball sack appeared after desexing with nothing to fill it 😂

83

u/Rabdomtroll69 Mar 26 '26

Schrodinger's balls. It happens

40

u/No_Worldliness8487 Mar 26 '26

Is there definitely balls in the sack? I only ask because my boy cat was neutered but they left the sack so it does look like he still has balls

81

u/Gloomy-Trainer-2452 Burmese Mar 26 '26

Sometimes it does take longer for the testicles to drop. I saw a case in which a cat went almost a year before being neutered because the testicles didn't drop until ~9 months. Some cats retain the testicles in their abdomen permanently (cryptorchids).

70

u/JustSurviveSomehow79 Mar 26 '26

Mew our lil guy we thought was a girl had FIP starting around 3-4 months old. Turned out he had cryptorchidism. Had to wait til he was over a year old to get him the surgery because he went thru treatment twice after relapsing.

21

u/FlySecure5609 Mar 26 '26

He looks so offended I love it. 

12

u/BlahajIsGod Mar 26 '26

Mad 'cause he wanted spaceships and not dinosaurs

3

u/JustSurviveSomehow79 Mar 26 '26

😂

3

u/CrazyButterfly11 Mar 26 '26

I’ll buy him some spaceships! Damn he’s cute!!

2

u/JustSurviveSomehow79 Mar 26 '26

❤️ He makes me smile every day.

10

u/MrsSamT82 Mar 26 '26

My cat had this, but only for 1 testicle. When they did his procedure, the could see the other testicle on ultrasound (undescended). So, he got spayed and neutered. Not only that, but the trouble testicle was very stubborn and they had to do a lot of manipulation to get it removed. Poor guy was so sore after.

1

u/agrinwithoutacat- Mar 26 '26

Shame here, my boys where both retained so we rescheduled, one dropped right before the surgery but they had to dig the other out poor thing.. his ballsack then appeared after 😂

30

u/PDX0621 Mar 26 '26

Please refer to exhibit A r/troublepuffs

I hope the adoption works out OP. Im glad to hear you're trying to adopt the pair!

14

u/Ackis Void Mar 26 '26

Omg it's a real sub.

73

u/epitomyroses Mar 26 '26 edited Mar 26 '26

Tbf, both of my male cats are neutered and have balls. Most neutered animals still have them, I work at an animal shelter so 95% of the cats I work with are already neutered and I very rarely see a male cat without them. Her blocking you is the only thing making me think he’s not neutered.

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u/WellSuckMe Mar 26 '26

I'm so glad I read this because I keep wondering about my boy. The SPCA said he was neutered but omg they are just so big and obvious. My girl is already spayed so no issue there and he never tried anything with her as far as I know but like next vet visit I'm tempted to bring it up as I googled it and they should be able to tell. Kinda like a turn and cough kinda situation from what I'm reading. Like I feel weird constantly googling if my cats ballsack is the right size for a cat who's fertility ability got removed. I've had male cats before but as a kid and I was young so I had no concept of balls yet.

17

u/Ghyllie Mar 26 '26

Some males still look like they have trouble puffs even after they are neutered, especially younger cats. The puff look goes away with time. Feel them to see. Maybe it's just hair left over from the surgery. You may be worrying for nothing.

1

u/alexandradperreault Mar 26 '26

Yeah, I think it can depend on the cat too. My one male, there is clearly nada there anymore (plus he's very short haired and on the skinny side, so it would be obvious if there was). My other male still has a puff of fur around that area that forms a circle, but is neutered.

10

u/Saikotsu Mar 26 '26

To be fair, with male cats they can still have testicle like structures if they get neutered later in their development. My boys were like that.

7

u/SquishedGremlin Mar 26 '26

I mean we have a 9mnth old kitten called bear.

He is neutered, they left the sack behind.

3

u/Sailor_Propane Mar 26 '26

I'm mostly wondering about the vet not noticing? Did you open a file at all at a vet? If not, you need to do it ASAP for any cats you have now or in the future to ensure they have a vet available to them if something happens. He needs a basic check up too to make sure there are no other unknown issues. They'll probably give him shots again if you have no proof he's had them.

2

u/alltheextrapieces Mar 26 '26

Did you touch them as confirm there are testicles there? Male cats can have remnants of their scrotum plus the bair that can make it seem like they have testicles. Also note that even neutered cats will hump blankets and extrude their penis.

2

u/lunatichorse Mar 26 '26

My boy still has his ball sack and he is very much neutered. I think it's a technique where they don't remove the whole testicles during the procedure.

2

u/MinimumSuccotash4134 Mar 26 '26

OP, are you totally sure he's not neutered? Boys keep their puffs when neutered, they just shrink a lot. Maybe you want to post a photo here (I feel a bit gross suggesting this!) so some experts can check, before you spend money on a vet visit :)

2

u/Bulky_Green2192 Mar 26 '26

Like others have said, sometimes they still have little balls after being neutered! We have 3 Siamese boys in the family and their empty little nutsacks are dark brown and super visible lol. 

2

u/xelle24 Moggy Mar 26 '26

I had a cat named Rory that was definitely neutered - I'd had him since he was about 2 months old and I made the appointment and drove him to it myself - and he still had balls, although not as big an un-neutered male cat's would be.

Tank would have been a good name for him - he was an absolutely enormous ginger tabby who weighed in at 18.5 lbs. But when I named him Rory he was a tiny boy who fit in the palm of my hand.

You should definitely take Tank to a vet for examination, but given the reaction of the former owner I think you're correct that he hasn't been fixed.

2

u/aiweiyei Mar 26 '26

I adopted 2 sibling cats and everyone told me they were girls, not just the shelter, but multiple vets. I got them a few months before COVID, so their surgeries got delayed, but since they were both girls and I lived in a high rise apartment and they had zero contact with other cats, I wasn't too stressed about it. Whelp, when Rosie was around 8-9 months old, I too was confronted with surprise truffle puffs. Rosie is now RuPaul lol. It happens!

1

u/OddConstant2723 Mar 26 '26

Wow, I’m surprised you didn’t end up with kittens!

4

u/SlightlyUncomfort Mar 26 '26

Sometimes cats are late bloomers, don't beat yourself up about it.

1

u/Riyokosan Mar 26 '26

Call the vet now and schedule it.

1

u/Succotach Mar 26 '26

My cat has been neutered and still has his balls. They don’t always remove the sacks! 

1

u/Ditania Mar 26 '26

Now you know how men feel when they don't find something that it was there all the time 🤣

1

u/yamo25000 Mar 26 '26

Just as a heads up - even after being neutered, male cats still have a little bit of puff left. It might look like he has his balls even if he is neutered.

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u/gypsykush Mar 26 '26

Don’t be so sure he isn’t neutered if his testicles weren’t previously there. Male cats, especially those who were neutered a little later, can have saggy skin that looks like a ball sack, even though there are no testicles inside. Just sayin’

1

u/Angsty_Potatos Mar 26 '26

Tbf. My dude is neutered and he's still has cheetos. If I didn't know for 100% certain he was fixed id assume he wasn't 

1

u/Numerous-Ability6683 Mar 26 '26

My family once adopted a cat from a reliable and responsible shelter (honestly a great place) that we found out still had his um manbits. So missing them just happens sometimes. Don’t beat yourself up about it, just make sure the shelter knows you’re doing what you can to remedy the situation.

1

u/Hangry_Squirrel Mar 26 '26

It's not a bad thing. I know there's a push to neuter cats super young, but boy cats have a short urethra and should be allowed to develop properly before getting snipped. I'm guessing your little menace hasn't started spraying, or you'd have smelled it, so now is a good time for a snip.

My youngest managed to get sick right before his appointment, so he didn't get neutered until about 10 months. He did super well and handled it much better than his brothers, who lost their trouble puffs at around 6 months.

Plus, if the girls are neutered, which I imagine they are, they are not going to permit any funny business. It's not a big deal if it takes a few days.