testosterone replacement for neutered male cat

Question

Monkey riding on dads  

Monkey sleeping hiding   Hi, I hope you can help me and Monkey, my one year old cat who was neutered at about 12 weeks old when he was neutered. He was getting very aggressive and crazy when interacting with our older cat and everyone else prior to being neutered, but he was also very playful and intelligent, and brave.  He loved to play and made up his own games and taught me how to play them, and kept coming up with new games when he got bored with the old ones.  He loved playing with children also and was never afraid even if they played roughly with him, and I was afraid that he would run up a tree chasing a squirrel and fall while jumping from branch to branch like a squirrel, and kill himself, he was a great climber and loved to chase things and never stopped to think anything may be dangerous.  He also didn't seem to feel pain,as he would play so hard that on many occasions he had bumped his head on the tile floor and would just shake it off and keep playing.  This was all prior to being neutered though, since then his personality has changed completely and he is a nervous wreck and afraid of everything.  He has become completely afraid of other cats that he meets after being neutered, and is afraid of children.  He is even afraid of most of his toys now, because they tap him while playing, hes even afraid of DA-bird because sometimes the feathers would hit him slightly while it was moving, not enough to hurt him, or scare any other cat. He won't eat when there is other cats or children in out house no matter how long they stay, I had to force water into him last time we had company for 4 days. He taught me to play catch with a rawhide cat bone but now wont play it anymore because the bone once hit him once while sliding on the tile floor.  I have searched everywhere on line but cannot find anything about hormone replacement therapy for cats, or if testosterone replacement would be safe and the dosage for a cat.  I also cannot find a veterinary endocrinologist in my area, in fact the only one I could find at all was in Manhattan NY, and I wrote them a letter but got no response.  Tonight he got under my feet and I accidentally stepped on him, not enough to really hurt him, but now he wont come near me, and I'm his mom, I hope it doesn't last too long, but am afraid it will, he never forgets anything.  I don't know how he will make it being scared of me.  I hope you can help my poor Monkey to enjoy his life again and stop being so scared.

Answer
Jeannine,

I am not a veterinarian, but I have heard of cats being changed by the surgery. So, it is not clear if he is reacting to low testosterone or had an abreaction to the anesthetic.

If I lived where you do, I would be tempted to talk to the veterinary college at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Usually vet schools have much more specialized. It may be worth the trip to stay in Ithaca a few days and have them run some tests. You should also contact your vet and see what anesthetic protocol was used to put Monkey under for the neutering procedure.

I have heard much controversy on testosterone therapy in male humans, so I would approach such a therapy for Monkey very, very cautiously.

It may also be that Monkey just needs more time.  I have seen some post neutering/spaying behaviors last a few months.

I am sorry I cannot be of more help.

Best regards... Norm.