Those who spend their lives in the world of felines have heard tell of hermaphrodite cats with both male and female sex organs. Instances of hermaphrodite cats are rare, though, occurring an estimated once in ten thousand cats. But Hope the cat’s story is different as this sweet anomaly has neither male nor female sex organs.
Volunteers and staff at the UK’s Cats Protection have never experienced a cat like Hope before. And searches of feline literature related to a total lack of sex organs revealed little to no information about Hope’s make. In fact, a Cats Protection veterinarian explained there’s not even really a term for Hope’s lack of sex organs.
A Rarity Unlikely To Be Seen Again
When Hope first entered care at Cats Protection’s Warrington Adoption Centre, a first glimpse by rescue staff and volunteers identified the piebald tabby as female. But a closer look revealed Hope had no external sex organs. An exploratory procedure to look for internal sex organs found nothing either. This sweet anomaly was neither female nor male.
“We carried out a procedure to look for sex organs but there’s nothing apparent inside or out,” explained Cats Protection’s Senior Field Veterinary Officer Fiona Brockbank. “There’s an outside possibility of some ectopic ovarian tissue hiding away internally but we think this is extremely unlikely.”
“This is so rare that there isn’t really a commonly used term for this condition, but it is effectively ‘sexual organ agenesis’ – where agenesis is the lack or failure of development in relation to body organs.”
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Hope’s Got Plenty of Love & Playful Spunk
Before Hope could be cleared for adoption, Cats Protection had to spend some time with them to be sure the “playful kitten” was growing properly, with Dr. Brockbank explaining, “This is not something we’ve come across before at Cats Protection.”
“While this means we don’t have any previous cases to base our knowledge of how this will affect Hope in the future, we spent time monitoring this cat to ensure they can urinate and defecate appropriately before they were considered ready for rehoming.”
And in that time with the rescue, Hope won all the hearts while proving they would be just fine, sharing on Cats Protection Tyneside Adoption Centre’s Facebook page, “I am a super playful kitten who also loves a good fuss.”
And Hope’s sexless status doesn’t affect their daily life, with Hope assuring, “I can still use the litter tray, play, give you lots of love and live my life to the full.”
“Discovering Hope’s special status has been an exciting time as none of us have seen this before or are likely to again,” shared Tyneside Manager Beni Benstead.
“Hope has been a delight to care for, and it is fantastic that they are now ready to be adopted,” Beni said. “We know they will bring someone many years of fun and companionship.”
And Hope will now have that chance.
Home For Hope
Now four months old, Hope has found their someone to give lots of love and settled into their forever home with cat parent Jessie and kitty sib Mobius. In addition to earning a family, Hope got a new name.
“Hope, who now goes by the name ‘Beans’, was adopted from Cats Protection Tyneside Adoption Centre, who has hit the incredible milestone of rehoming 500 cats this year!”
Congrats to this special kitty and all the others who’ve found their forever through Cats Protection. Want to know more wild stuff about cats? Check out these 39 Amazing Facts About Cats!
Featured Images: Cats Protection/Facebook
