Cat Spay Incision - Help!

[ermatt02]

Okay guys, so I took in my precious fur baby a week ago to get spayed. She is doing very well, no signs of depression, loss of appetite, exhaustion, she is her normal, very playful self. She also has not been bothering her incision by licking or picking at it, but I’m concerned with the way it is looking.

My boyfriend and I have been keeping a close eye on it, but can’t tell if it’s a serious issue - if it’s infected or not. She’s not showing any signs of pain or discomfort, like I said, she’s her playful kitten self. We aren’t sure if the funk built up around it is left over glue they applied to the incision, or if it’s dried up puss or drainage.

We want to make sure she is okay, but don’t want to spend the money to take her in for examination if the incision is fine. Please help!!

 

[catwoman707]

It doesn't look as 'clean' as most do but I don't see any infection from the pics. What you will see if an infection starts is very pink/red skin around the incision area that is hot and seems a bit swollen. Drainage from the incision site.
There is none of that so assume it's healing fine

 

[ermatt02]

It doesn't look as 'clean' as most do but I don't see any infection from the pics. What you will see if an infection starts is very pink/red skin around the incision area that is hot and seems a bit swollen. Drainage from the incision site.
There is none of that so assume it's healing fine

Okay, thank you so much!! I’m just going to keep a very close eye on it.

 

[nese]

It looks fine to me, but continue to keep an eye on it. Around 7 days as it heals incision site becomes itchy, she may want to lick or bit it. One of our cats started to lick her incision a week after the surgery. We immediately put cone on her.
Incision completely healed in about 14 days.

Also pay attention to the smell. If there is a bad smell on the incision site, it is an indicator of infection.

 

[di and bob]

It is dry and that is good, any new thick drainage should be reported to the vet. You could also show that picture to the vet, or E-mail it. A lump is normal, from swelling on the inside. It looks normal to me. The main indicator of infection is her acting different, not eating, hiding, etc. As long as she is acting well she should be OK.

 

[rifati]

My cat's incision was same, i wash it with NaCl once a day. It helped

 

[catlover73]

That does not look infected to me. Years ago one of my cats got an infection in her spay incision after the stitches were removed. The incision line was puffy and was bright red to the point it almost looked like blood. It did not smell bad yet. Your picture looks nothing like what I experienced. I took her to the vet and they had to drain the infection. She was put on antibiotics and pain meds. You could always call your vet and ask if you can e-mail the picture to them to take a look at. It is always better to error on the side of caution though and contact your vet with questions. I do not think your baby needs an actual vet visit but I would let the vet decide just to be safe.

 

[duckpond]

It almost looks like its separating to me?

If you are in question i highly recommend having the vet check her. Normally spays will not have a problem, but when they do it need addressed as soon as possible.

I suggest calling your vet. Anytime i have had a cat spayed and i call the vet he will let me just run her in for a quick check. He never even charges me for this, unless there is a problem and he needs to do something or prescribe antibiotics.

It is in my opinion better to be safe than sorry, and to have it checked before it becomes a worse problem.

Keep us updated. Hopefully she is not having an issue.

 

[ermatt02]

Update: I talked to my best friends mom who is good with animals, and everyone is giving me the reply that her incision is healing nicely however, today i took a new photo and it looks pretty different from yesterday’s photo. It’s much more red today and the dry built up stuff is gone. I may end up taking her in, just to be safe. But again, she’s not acting any different or like it’s bothering her in any way.

 

[Lalka]

Everyone is gonna hate me but it doesnt look good. It doesn't look infected but it shouldn't be that red and open like this.

Take her to the vet >< your mom's best friend...really...Cats dont act different when they are in pain...they even sometime purr more.

 

[ermatt02]

Everyone is gonna hate me but it doesnt look good. It doesn't look infected but it shouldn't be that red and open like this.

Take her to the vet >< your mom's best friend...really...Cats dont act different when they are in pain...they even sometime purr more.

They do tho...they become less active, loss of appetite, some have issues going to the bathroom, messing with the infected site, there’s a lot of symptoms. She’s not showcasing any of them. She’s is her normal self. In fact, she’s currently being more playful than she has been since she was a little kitten.

I do still plan on taking her in to get it looked at.

 

[nese]

Update: I talked to my best friends mom who is good with animals, and everyone is giving me the reply that her incision is healing nicely however, today i took a new photo and it looks pretty different from yesterday’s photo. It’s much more red today and the dry built up stuff is gone. I may end up taking her in, just to be safe. But again, she’s not acting any different or like it’s bothering her in any way.

Sorry but it does not look good today It started to open. She either licked it or there is an infection. You should take her to the vet.

 

[catlover73]

I do agree that there is more redness in the 2nd picture. Is the area swollen too. Remember cats can hide pain well my Starbuck was a kitten when her spay incision got infected and she was acting completely normal too. I would call and send both pictures to your vet for them to look at the difference if this were my baby.

 

[duckpond]

It does not look good. It should not be opening like that. I really suggest a vet visit.

They do not act different, at least not until the point that that there is a massive infection. My little white cat had all kinds of problems with hers. Infection and a reaction to the suture material. She had to have more surgery, antibiotics, and eventually a 2 week hospital stay. Hers was an exceptionally bad case, not saying yours will be that bad. My point is she never acted like she was sick, during any of it. She ate, drank, used her litter box like normal. And still played and ran around like any other kitten. You cannot always tell by their behavior. If i had made my decision on vet visits by her actions, not by the look of the incision, she would not have lived through it.