02 March 2012

What If She'd Been His Child?

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that I love cats about as much as anyone can.


Still, when I heard the story about a tortoiseshell named "Rosie", all I could think was, "What would have happened if she were human?"


You see, Rosie is a hermaphrodite.  Her owner assumed she was a female cat until he took her to the vet's office, where a veterinary nurse noticed a complete set of male genitals along side her female parts.  However, Rosie doesn't have internal female reproductive organs.


Rosie's owner had always seen her as female.  That's understandable, given her appearance and the fact that tortoiseshell cats are almost always female.  That probably led to the decision to castrate, rather than to spay, her.  


What if she'd been a human child?  How would she have been treated?