Bibbity came to me as I sat in my lawn chair on Cape Cod back in 2003. She leapt onto my semi-reclining self and nudged my right hand to be petted. She left but kept returning seeming to want to be adopted.
I had two other cats and so was reluctant at first, but she was soooo cute that before long she was a member of our household. I took her to the vet to be checked out and to get her shots. "How do you know if she's been fixed," I remember asking. The vet said unless you can see a scar you really can't tell. You just have to wait and see if she has kittens.
There were a few months when I feared Bibs might be pregnant but nothing came of that. She's been through a lot. She got lost twice for two weeks at a time, but found her way back home, tired but okay. Now she has glaucoma and is blind in her left eye.
Yesterday I took Bibs and Emily to the local vets for their rabies shots. This vet gave each cat a very thorough exam. Then she said, "Bibbity is a boy."
WHAT!!!
Yes, her/his testicles have not descended, but she is a he.
So, is this the first vet that ever really checked??? Of course, I didnt really check. I just assumed. Usually I can tell boys at a glance you know.
Now I have to get used to calling her him. How confused he must have been for so many years when I called him her. Or would a cat pick up on that?
17 comments:
He probably didn't care what you called him as long as you called him for supper. All I know for sure is that he is a lucky cat to have found you.
Oh what a hoot. No other Vet had picked that up? Especially when you asked how to know if it was spayed?? Sure gives you a lot of faith in that Vet...doesnt it? Bibbity probably didnt care what it was called as long as you kept feeding and loving him.
OMG suki! is it sexual identity confusion? or transgender adjustment? or gender neutral who cares? :)
so cute. i wonder if YOU will find yourself making some adjustment with bibbity cat. my guess would be she, er, he won't be making any changes.... :)
love to you this weekend, suki,
i hope it's a good one
kj
Suki, I find this so astounding that none of your Vets discovered this!
As for Bibbity - well, you can just continue to call him Bibs!
As long as you love him - he does not care! He loved you before you ever named him! And, if I might say so, what a HANDSOME fella he is!
Love,
♥ Robin ♥
roflol what a fun post, i am sure that bibbity couldn't care less, he just looks sublimely happy. didn't know that cats could also get glaucoma.
That's the last thing I expected to read, but is so funny! Good thing his name is Bibbity and not "Lucy" or something...
This is so funny! He looks like a boy to me. He probably thought "stupid human" everytime you called him a her, but he loves you anyway :-).
Oh such an identity crisis! Perhaps he/she now needs therapy. Years of it I suppose to overcome such a shock. But HE knew all along, and just humored you I am sure! But I hope you just call him Bib and not that frilly Bibbity any more! I mean, give a guy a break! LOL
Guaranteed he's a neutered male whose testicles have been long gone. Since males penis' aren't outside the body, this is a very common assumption made by lots of people :)
I've never heard of a male cat retaining his testicles (as in not dropping.) Quite common in dogs though. And besides that Bibs would have a strong tom cat urine smell and be aching to go out 24/7 to make lots of baby Bibs.
Curious to get Teri's opinion too!
I can't tell you how many times this 'identity crisis' has occurred! I love the shock of it every time :)
Too funny Suki, especially after 7 years! Lucky Bibs and you found one another though.
i've actually come back to read this several times because it cracks me up. now you know what bibbity was REALLY doing when he went missing ;-)i can't believe a vet never checked though i did once have a kitten we all thought was a boy who ended up being a girl--but she was still very little and well, so was everything else ;-)
thanks for the smile ;-)
Lolo, I thought the vet said the testicles didnt drop however her husband, a non-vet but he works there referred to Bibs as being "neutered" so I dont know which it is. You are prob right and i just heard the vet wrong.
Mary, the first time bibs was missing it ended up she'd been locked in the landlord's basement for TWO WEEKS without food!! They found her there just in time, poor thing.
this is truly funny. I had a dog once who was a hermaphrodite but this is funnier.
Bibs does look like a Tom to me. Have you ever noticed that boy cats seem to have larger heads? Sort of square heads? Maybe I am just imagining that. I like what Lisa said. Funny.
What a hoot!!!!
Poor Bib did no one really look under his tail close for 7 years?????
Boy or girl I bet he has been happy, he picked to live with you, I always find that so flattering when cats pick you!
He knows who (or what) he is Suki, regardless of what any one else says! He looks a happy and contented cat and sensed you were a cat person all those years ago.
Have you heard the expression (and the title of a book) 'Somewhere a Cat is Waiting' ? Meaning the cat chooses us, not the other way around :)
LOL that was to funny! I guess it doesn't matter if your male or female as long as your loved.
(chuckle) My Mom had a male cat with lovely white long fur. He was very pretty... so she named him Tootsie. "Bibbity" sounds gender neutral to me. As for him/he he/she I don't think it matters.
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