Exploratory respay incision

[Annabelle_]

Hi, I'm new here so apologies if I'm not posting correctly, but I have a question about my female tabby's incision.
Long story short, this isn't her first rodeo so to speak, our old vet spayed her in January and unfortunately she was showing signs of heat, they claimed she was fine, but as a worried pet parent I got a second opinion. Fast forward to our new current vet, they found out she had ORS (overian remnant syndrome) and was able to successfully remove the remnant. That was around 4 days ago now (2nd June). Im a huge worrier by nature, and was hoping anyone would lessen my worries before I bug our vet.

I worry her incision is slightly infected, to be clear she had dissolvable stitches and surgery adhesive put on top for cosmetic reasons. She did jump into the window her second day post op and we quickly changed her recovery area to prevent anything like that further. She is wearing an e-collar because when her first spay was done, she did lick the wound a lot!

Any advice is appreciated!

 

[silent meowlook]

I would send a picture to your vet. You’re not bothering them, that’s why they are there. It is hard to tell from the picture, but was that purple bump already there?

 

[Antonio65]

Can't tell if the incision is infected, it looks fine to me.
I would like to know how your vet found out that your cat had ORS. Was it through an US scan? Or an X-ray? Or a blood test?

My cat was spayed in August 2021, but every now and then she showed some signs of heat. We ran a blood test to measure her level of LH, and it tested positive, indicating an ovarian remnant, though another similar test a few months later came back negative.
An US scan said that her uterus was inflammed, with a slight possibility of developing a pyometra, but another US scan a few wekks later showed nothing.
The clinic agreed to spay her again at the clinic's expenses, but when they postponed the surgery by a week, I took it as a sign not to have my kitty under their hands again.
Thanks and fingers crossed for your kitty.

 

[verna davies]

Its a little difficult to be sure because the picture is on the dark side but I can't see any obvious signs of infection. Watch for swelling, redness or seeping. Can you post a clearer photo. As mentioned above, you could send the photo to your vet for his opinion and put your mind at rest.

 

[Annabelle_]

Can't tell if the incision is infected, it looks fine to me.
I would like to know how your vet found out that your cat had ORS. Was it through an US scan? Or an X-ray? Or a blood test?

My cat was spayed in August 2021, but every now and then she showed some signs of heat. We ran a blood test to measure her level of LH, and it tested positive, indicating an ovarian remnant, though another similar test a few months later came back negative.
An US scan said that her uterus was inflammed, with a slight possibility of developing a pyometra, but another US scan a few wekks later showed nothing.
The clinic agreed to spay her again at the clinic's expenses, but when they postponed the surgery by a week, I took it as a sign not to have my kitty under their hands again.
Thanks and fingers crossed for your kitty.

My vet found out through a blood panel but he did the full panel, when my previous vet did not and it came back inconclusive. They did her test when she was in heat, and did her exploratory surgery also while she was in heat to catch the left over tissue while it was "inflamed" to see it better. I would 100% get a second opinion, you and your kitty deserve that piece of mind! I hope everything works out for you

 

[Annabelle_]

I would send a picture to your vet. You’re not bothering them, that’s why they are there. It is hard to tell from the picture, but was that purple bump already there?

Sent an email to my vet I'm not sure if they're open today, yes the purple is normal, my vet said it's slight bruising, that has gone down actually.

 

[Annabelle_]

Its a little difficult to be sure because the picture is on the dark side but I can't see any obvious signs of infection. Watch for swelling, redness or seeping. Can you post a clearer photo. As mentioned above, you could send the photo to your vet for his opinion and put your mind at rest.

I can try to upload a better photo soon, my apologies!

 

[Annabelle_]

update, I called my vet as soon as I woke up this morning and my vet looked at the email photos,he said it looks good! Just to keep an eye out for infection, etc Thank you all again for the advice, it means alot

 

[verna davies]

That's great news, so pleased for you. Thanks for the update.

 

[Annabelle_]

I can try to upload a better photo soon, my apologies!

Here's an updated photo I think it looks better this morning as well

 

[verna davies]

That looks good, no redness, swelling or weeping, a nice clean wound.

 

[Antonio65]

My vet found out through a blood panel but he did the full panel, when my previous vet did not and it came back inconclusive. They did her test when she was in heat, and did her exploratory surgery also while she was in heat to catch the left over tissue while it was "inflamed" to see it better. I would 100% get a second opinion, you and your kitty deserve that piece of mind! I hope everything works out for you

My cat doesn't show clear and typical signs of heat, but shows some different behaviors every now and then, sometimes cyclically. After all, she never showed any typical signs of heat even before she was spayed.
She has been seen by different doctors at the same clinic, and they had different opinions depending on the moment or the results of the tests done.
Eventually, a year ago, they mostly agreed that it was a neurological issue and put her on phenobarbital. They think they have fixed the issue this way, in my mind, though, she shouldn't need this drug at all.

 

[Annabelle_]

My cat doesn't show clear and typical signs of heat, but shows some different behaviors every now and then, sometimes cyclically. After all, she never showed any typical signs of heat even before she was spayed.
She has been seen by different doctors at the same clinic, and they had different opinions depending on the moment or the results of the tests done.
Eventually, a year ago, they mostly agreed that it was a neurological issue and put her on phenobarbital. They think they have fixed the issue this way, in my mind, though, she shouldn't need this drug at all.

Although I'm not a professional and I can't offer much, I would try to push more for the double blood panel and when she's showing those slight signs take her in. It's expensive, for me it cost around 600$(old vet charged me 270$) but they also ran other blood tests to see if she had any other medical issues that would cause it. She was healthy, but her hormone test came back high.

My old vet basically said the same, that she was behavioral and they couldn't do more, (when I asked for a copy of her records- for results, it took them weeks to even respond but by then I went to my new vet.) recommended anxiety medication, it didn't help. I have a 4 cat household, so I thought maybe it was behavioral for that moment.

Her symptoms though were yowling and marking. The thing that made me second guess my first vet was that she only marked/sprayed when she showed heat symptoms, never after and she would "low ride" like intact females will do when looking for a male.

It's tricky when it comes to neurological issues as I'm not familiar with that area so I can't say for sure... What I do know is if you feel something is off, then to trust your gut. You know your cat best and you're doing the best for your cat. This was my first time ever experiencing this, my other 2 females never had this issue and my male was neutered already when I got him. I wish I could offer more advice

 

[Antonio65]

Since my cat Freya has been on phenobarbital, her behavior has slightly changed. She's a little less active, and she went through several weeks of adjustment to the drug, with side effects that weren't even mentioned in the leaflet in the package, side effects that my vets didn't know anything about and that I found on the web.
Now, after 6 months, she's fully (I think) adjusted to the med, and she's never showed any weird behavior, so it's hard to tell when it is the time to take her in for a full blood panel.
I'm planning on having it done after the summer, it will be six months since the other cat's last check, and about 9 months since Freya's last check, so I will have both checked at the same time.
For Freya I will ask for another LH test.
In this part of the world (Italy), blood tests and vet bills are much cheaper than in the US, a full and complete blood panel is around €80 (eighty), and the LH test alone is just as much, so I think I will have both cats fully checked for around €250.
Thanks for your support and advice.