A few weeks ago my aunt who is not far off her eightieth birthday was attacked by a strange cat that came into her garden and bit her without any apparent provocation.

Some weeks later she managed to find the owner of the cat who told her that the vet had not been able to castrate the cat properly as one of its testicles was inside its body.

All this took place a long way from Bradford but it may well be correct. As a male kitten develops in his mother's womb, his testicles form inside his body but should move out into their normal position by the time he is born. Not uncommonly one gets left inside.

The tendency of un-neutered tom cats to wander, catch leukaemia and other diseases from the cats they mate and fight with and come home with torn ears and abscess are all good reasons to have tom cats neutered.

Puddy, a pretty young Maine Coon cat was bought to me to be neutered last week. He should have needed a five minute anaesthetic and operation. Instead a close inspection revealed that whilst one of his testicles was in his scrotum, the other was nowhere to be felt.

Although not all cats with a retained testicle behave like the cat that bit my aunt, they certainly keep their tom cat characteristics if it is not removed. Testicles that are inside do not produce fertile sperm, but if anything they produce extra testosterone and they have a nasty tendency to turn cancerous as time goes by. With Puddy asleep under an anaesthetic I made a careful cut into his groin.

It took some prolonged and meticulous dissection to locate the offending testicle stuck exactly between his body cavity and his groin before I could finally remove both it and his other one. Fortunately he is insured so the extra cost of his operation will be covered by the insurance company. His owner had no ambitions to breed from or show him both of which would have been problems. He was a bit sore the next day but is recovering well.

Meanwhile my poor aunt's legs needed weeks of treatment but have gradually improved. I have to hope the owner of the cat that bit her will keep it in since I cannot find out if the vet really gave up looking for the missing testicle or offer to do it myself.

At least Puddy will now grow up no different to any other neutered pet tom cat.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.