h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

We took our Oliver to the vets for his inoculations and microchipping, only to be told that Oliver is a girl. So we now call her 'Ollie' (my wife doesn't like the name 'Olivia').

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I'm sure that's not the first time the vet has had to clear up that issue.

We played host to a hedgehog one winter in Germany, and then reintroduced 'him' to freedom in a British diplomat's garden.

Later reports were that Spike had babies.

Oddly, the vet didn't correct us that time...which might have been due to the difficulty of examining hedgehogs...

Was Ollie already 'gender neutral' (as it were...) when you got hir, or is it just difficult to tell with very young kittens?

No such confusion on BBC Countryfile last week - the vet castrated a reindeer, shown in every detail.

The breeder and previous owner both believed Ollie to be male – the vet did say that there was misleading colouring that could be seen to give an impression that something was there that wasn't. We were just after a that didn't look like Alfie so weren't fussed about whether it was male or female. The biggest difference for us is that neutering is more expensive, intensive and invasive.

Fortunately I missed that Countryfile

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I was amazed at how much less invasive the neutering is these days. They did a quick laser version for Molly. She was sleepy for a few hours, then back to her mischievous self. A tiny amount of shaving was required, and some dissolving sutures.


Neutering a reindeer sounds interesting...

I knew a vet in Philadelphia who neutered his pet mouse. Said it made them smell less. I was very glad to let him neuter my pets, which were much bigger.