Any experience with spay/neuter tattoo

[Mollkat]

My kitty got neutered two days ago and they shaved a spot in his belly to tattoo a little line to indicate that he has been fixed. The tattoo seems to be really bothering him, I have to leave the e collar on just to stop him from chewing on it, he leaves the surgery site itself alone.
I would really like to be able to take the e collar off since he can't eat or drink by himself and keeps falling and banging in to stuff cuz he can't see.
It looks like they put some surgical glue or something over the tattoo, which I suspect is what's really bothering him, so does anyone have any experience with this or know if that stupid glue has to stay there? Would it be ok if i used some Vaseline to try to gently remove it?
Or any other advice to ease his discomfort with the tattoo?

 

[IndyJones]

One of my cats has a tattoo in his ear it was there when I adopted him though so I don't really know if they used surgical glue or not. I would assume not since it was a rescue organization and 10 years ago.

It doesn't bother him though and hasn't for the 10 years I've had him.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Do you have a photo of the tattoo and the surgical site , so we can see?

I've never heard of surgical glue being put on a tattoo site! (Maybe others have & they can chip in with a comment? but I haven't.)

My cat has ear tats, too IndyJones , from her rescue organization.

 

[IndyJones]

Usually a tattoo on an animal is applied with tattoo pliers or a tattoo gun. Unlike cosmetic tattoos people get, the ones animals get are not as deep in the skin. It's more like a stamp than needles.

It only hurts for a second, like getting your ears pierced.

You can apply a bit of unscented moisturizer cream if it's itchy. But don't desturb any scab in the area or you could cause more harm.

 

[mentat]

You hit the nail on the head. All of my shelter and foster kitties had a fresh line tattoo near their abdominal midline incision, with tissue adhesive over it. From a slew of different spay/neuter clinics, mobile and brick/mortar, they all did this. One did a smiley face instead of a line.

Don't remove the adhesive, it's protecting the tattoo from moisture.

Other methods to make him comfy: any pain management sent home with you? If not, ask your primary care vet for some. There are veterinary medicated topical sprays with dexamethasone or hydrocortisone to help with itchiness. Careful not to get some in his open neuter site in front of his scrotum, most sprays are in an alcohol carrier base, ouch to open skin.

Distract with food puzzles, including kibble spread around in ice cube tray, a tipped over coffee mug, or in toilet paper roll tube.
Cold pack site. If you don't have a cold pack, frozen pea pack wrapped in a thin cotton cloth. Compress applied for 5-7 minutes multiple times daily as he'll tolerate/allow.

 

[Jemima Lucca]

Yeah Lucca has a tattoo on his stomach. I didn’t even know he was neutered the day before I adopted him until I read the paperwork in his folder. He showed absolutely no signs that he was neutered! Then it was like “my bad” . Anyway, they all react differently. My guess is your little guy just wants the cone of shame off!

 

[fionasmom]

Back in the old days before microchipping, all my dogs were tattooed on their inner thigh with information that would help me find them if they were ever lost. It was a lot of tattooing, done with a tattoo type gun. One dog did bleed once, but the other basically had no trouble. Personally, I think it is a great idea to do that to a cat and I also guess that your cat wants to lose the cone, or that there is some irritation to the site, in which case if it does not resolve, I would talk to the vet.

 

[Willowy]

I've never seen a fresh spay/neuter tattoo---the only one of my pets who has one is the Humane Society dog, and it was healed when I got her.

Does anyone know how they do the spay/neuter tattoos? I doubt they do it the usual way because they'd have to get a fresh needle and/or disinfect the stamper thing every time, and spay/neuter clinics don't really have the time and money for that. I heard they just make a small cut (with the same scalpel used for the big cut) and rub tattoo ink in it, so I suppose the glue is to seal that small cut. It probably itches or feels like a paper cut. Should subside in a day or two.

 

[BlackCatOp]

Does anyone know how they do the spay/neuter tattoos? I doubt they do it the usual way because they'd have to get a fresh needle and/or disinfect the stamper thing every time, and spay/neuter clinics don't really have the time and money for that. I heard they just make a small cut (with the same scalpel used for the big cut) and rub tattoo ink in it, so I suppose the glue is to seal that small cut. It probably itches or feels like a paper cut. Should subside in a day or two.

Yes, a scalpel is used to make a superficial scratch in the skin and then tattoo ink is smeared in. I have heard of surgical glue used when the tattoo got a little too deep in the skin. No fancy tools used. It’s purpose is solely for identifying fixed and un-fixed animals. That’s why it’s put on the lower abdomen where one shaves for a spay - preventing the cat from getting spayed again.

 

[Caspers Human]

Surgical glue is basically the same thing as Super Glue, only in purified form, especially formulated for use by doctors.

If you've ever gotten Super Glue on your skin, you know that it can be a little bit irritating.
It won't necessarily hurt you but, yes, it can feel itchy, etc.

I believe that's what's causing your cat's irritation.
It's nothing to worry about, really... The glue will fall off in a couple-few days, just the same way as regular Super Glue does.

Don't peel the glue off! That will just hurt your cat even more.

If the surgical glue is irritating your cat to the point where the benefit of its use is outweighed, put a dab of petroleum jelly on the site and gently rub it in. That will help it fall off faster.

Just let it fall off, naturally.

 

[Uncled]

My two were tattooed when they were neutered, they did not seemed to bother with it.

 

[James&Taki]

I don't have any advice for the tattoo, but if your cat is having trouble eating & drinking, maybe switch temporarily to taller cups? Taki had trouble eating/drinking from their normal bowls with the cone, so I put out some narrower, taller cups and made sure they were always topped off with food and sufficiently full with water.

I also left their normal bowls out in case they wanted to use those instead, and they ended up alternating between them.

We free-feed, and this might not work as well with measured meals, but it might be worth it to free-feed during the recovery period; making sure they get enough food right now is a much bigger concern than weight gain.

If he's really having trouble eating, you can also hand-feed him kibbles of food. I did that a couple times for Taki; just get a small handful and feed them one by one. Taki dropped each kibble on the floor once or twice before being able to eat it, so it was a very slow process, but it was worth it to get some food in them (especially for the painkillers, since those need to be taken with food - I just put those in my hand during the hand-feeding and Taki ate them like kibble, didn't even notice).

 

[James&Taki]

If he's really having trouble eating, you can also hand-feed him kibbles of food. I did that a couple times for Taki; just get a small handful and feed them one by one. Taki dropped each kibble on the floor once or twice before being able to eat it, so it was a very slow process, but it was worth it to get some food in them (especially for the painkillers, since those need to be taken with food - I just put those in my hand during the hand-feeding and Taki ate them like kibble, didn't even notice).

I just re-read your post and saw that you said "he can't eat or drink by himself" which suggests you maybe have already been hand-feeding him, sorry for missing that!

 

[terestrife]

we got my moms cat, Elsa, spayed for free at the humane society. They just clipped her ear. we didnt know they would do that. They said that it makes it easier for people that do TNR to see visually that the cat is fixed.

My mom always felt guilty seeing a piece of her ear missing. Not sure if the tattoo or ear clipping is better/less painful?

 

[IndyJones]

Tattoos serve a different purpose I believe. Such as identification or to signify an animal is microchipped (not everyone has a scanner). I would imagine the pain from a tattoo is more like the pain from having your ear pierced.

Ear marking or clipping has been used on other large animals such as livestock for years. It is only painful when initially done and is only done on small animals under anisthetic.

I'm surprised though they would clip a pet cats ear. They usually don't do that on owned animals because it is somewhat disfiguring and can alarm owners as your family has experienced.

 

[klunick]

Gracie and Boone both got tattooed after their surgeries last Wednesday. This was the first time I had seen that on one of my cats. I knew feral cats that had gotten spayed got either a tattoo in the ear or one of their ears clipped before release. I did not know it happened to pets.

It was my first time using a low cost spay/neuter place so I figured that is why the kittens got them. Standard procedure for that type of place.

Gracie's is near her incision site and Boone's is near his pee hole. I had no idea he even had one until I saw a video about how they do it and it said males get them too. They make an small incision and put green paste just inside the incision. Then put surgical glue over it. I saw Gracie had glue but I don't think Boone did due to the placement of the tattoo so close to his hole.

Neither kitten bothered their surgical site or tattoo spot too much although Gracie was more interested in the tattoo than the other site. Probably wondering what that green line on her belly was and why she can't lick it off.

 

[klunick]

It had been about 16 years since I had cats fixed. When did the procedure become so refined (not sure that is the correct word). I was expecting Gracie's incision to be a lot longer. Her tattoo incision is longer than her spay incision. All the surgical glue is gone so I can keep a better eye on everything.

 

[Talybay]

I found this forum as my male cat got his “tattoo” with his neuter last week. His is a mess.
The idea of a simple line tattoo I shrugged off as a tattoo doesn’t hurt much or cause discomfort after it being done. Especially so small. Well… using the term tattoo I am upset about as it gives the illusion to us as the pet owner that we understand what that entails. I was terribly WRONG! The cat tattoo is done not by a tattoo gun or simple needles to make a quick line. ITS A SEPARATE INCISION they open put ink in and glue shut.
It’s bothered as it’s a cut glued up. My cat has a very bad red and irritated stomach from the “tattoo”. This would not be the case if they used an actual tattoo method as we know it to be done.
I don’t recommend dissolving the glue closing the incision. makes me upset my cat had to be cut more unnecessarily