Mochi’s Spay [update]

[Mochicat]

I got mochi spayed on the 11th of this month and she’s been pretty active (no matter how much I try to stop her she continues to play around with anything she finds, she’s around 7 months so shes still young) is it normal for her stitches to be dry? I think they put some sort of ointment around the area before her surgery because it’s a lot darker, and if not is it a bruise? Her hair has slowly been growing back as well, I had read a post about someone saying that their cats hair never grew back after their surgery so I hope Mochi continues to make progress on that as well. The vet told me to keep on her cone for 10-14 days to wait until it heals up. I’ve also noticed a small bump underneath her incision? However i’m not sure if thats the stitches that are underneath her skin that are causing that small bump. It isn't really red nor is it hot, oozing or inflammed largely. I got her spayed at the Humane Society so i’d need to get her checked out by another vet if needed which can be tough because i’m a teenager with no job i’ll insert a photo of mochi’s scar as of today! I’ll also attach pictures of her scar when she first came home (last photo)

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Could be from the ointment, although the rare cat will have a bit of bruising. But the incision does look clean to me. There is no reall swelling, redness, or oozing, which is exactly what you want. You can try cleaning it very VERY gently with a cotton ball dipped in warm water, if you want to. I wouldn't really worry about it, though. Once the cone comes off, she'll clean it herself very nicely. And that little bump is perfectly normal after a surgery. It's just a bit of scar tissue. I have several of those on my head, actually. They don't hurt or bother me in the least, and her's won't bother her, either!

 

[Willowy]

Looks great! I think the crustiness is the surgical glue flaking off. The lump underneath is the internal stitches.

You can take the cone off after 7 days. There's almost no chance of her having any trouble at that point. They often remove stitches after 7 days for humans to minimize scarring.

Usually if a cat's fur doesn't grow back after surgery, that means they have some kind of endocrine disorder. Cushings, hypothyroid, etc. A young healthy cat shouldn't have any trouble in that regard. I had a kitty spayed on Dec 15 and you can hardly see where she was shaved now, barely a month later.

 

[Mochicat]

Hello, thank you to those who have replied. Mochi’s bump seems to have grown today ):

 

[Mochicat]

Hello, thank you to those who have replied. Mochi’s bump seems to have grown today ):

Please help! She has an appointment tomorrow hopefully. Her bump grew and is now a little red...

 

[Brian007]

If you think it's a little redder than it should be, gently wash the area with clean cotton wool soaked in luke warm water with a smidge of salt in it to make it into a saline solution.

Try not to panic. As the others have said, it looks ok, and the lump is likely to be scar tissue that will naturally change colour as part of the healing process. Try to think if you've ever had a cut before that has left a raised (keloid) scar, and think about how it changed from one colour to another. Varying shades of red, purple, and white are common.

Whenever open surgery is done on human or animals, iodine is painted on the skin before the incision is made to keep the area sterile. Iodine stains brownish orange. Also, they often mark the site to be cut with permanent marker pen.

 

[Mochicat]

If you think it's a little redder than it should be, gently wash the area with clean cotton wool soaked in luke warm water with a smidge of salt in it to make it into a saline solution.

Try not to panic. As the others have said, it looks ok, and the lump is likely to be scar tissue that will naturally change colour as part of the healing process. Try to think if you've ever had a cut before that has left a raised (keloid) scar, and think about how it changed from one colour to another. Varying shades of red, purple, and white are common.

Whenever open surgery is done on human or animals, iodine is painted on the skin before the incision is made to keep the area sterile. Iodine stains brownish orange. Also, they often mark the site to be cut with permanent marker pen.

Thank you for your feedback! Turns out Mochi has a hernia ):

 

[Mamanyt1953]

That's no fun, for either of you, but not catastropic, either! It is fixable, and she can be a perfectly normal little girl.

 

[Brian007]

Oh dear, but as Mamanyt1953 says, it is fixable. A hernia at an operation site sounds scary but it's better than one inside the body, where it's difficult to put right. At least your vigilance got Mochi seen to straight away.

Let us know how she comes along.

 

[Mochicat]

Oh dear, but as Mamanyt1953 says, it is fixable. A hernia at an operation site sounds scary but it's better than one inside the body, where it's difficult to put right. At least your vigilance got Mochi seen to straight away.

Let us know how she comes along.

Do you know if this is normal?

 

[Brian007]

It's hard to tell what's going on from a photo. What did the vet say? How long has it been since her operation?

A hernia simply means part of an organ (in this case I'd probably say that organ is the under layers of the skin) that has moved and pushes through the cavity wall containing it (cavity wall in this case being the scar tissue). Possibly? I'm no expert but I don't think there is cause for alarm, especially since you saw the vet very recently and they inspected her scar.

Did they give you any ointment/oil to put on?

I guess that Mochi may be left with a permanent raised scar. But it should reduce considerably and not be too noticeable to the touch. Of course, when her hair grows back it won't be visible at all. Hopefully though, her scar will settle down completely and be as if nothing happened.

 

[duckpond]

Do you know if this is normal?

Maybe infected? hard to tell. I am a little paranoid about this because one of my females had so much trouble. I would have the vet check her.

 

[Mochicat]

It's hard to tell what's going on from a photo. What did the vet say? How long has it been since her operation?

A hernia simply means part of an organ (in this case I'd probably say that organ is the under layers of the skin) that has moved and pushes through the cavity wall containing it (cavity wall in this case being the scar tissue). Possibly? I'm no expert but I don't think there is cause for alarm, especially since you saw the vet very recently and they inspected her scar.

Did they give you any ointment/oil to put on?

I guess that Mochi may be left with a permanent raised scar. But it should reduce considerably and not be too noticeable to the touch. Of course, when her hair grows back it won't be visible at all. Hopefully though, her scar will settle down completely and be as if nothing happened.

Thank you for your feedback! I greatly appreciate it )-: The vet didn’t give me anything, I take her to the humane society since I don’t have that much money to spend for her medical bills. Last time for her surgery they gave me medicine to give her but this time around they didn’t. I set up an appointment for tomorrow at 2:00 PM to have her checked out. The vet only said that the scar would be larger than the pervious key hole surgery done for her spay bc she had a hernia. The scar is already risen and beginning to dry, her redness has gone away from yesterday aswell but it’s beginning to swell. I’m scared she’ll need surgery again... i’ll update you tomorrow.

 

[Mochicat]

Maybe infected? hard to tell. I am a little paranoid about this because one of my females had so much trouble. I would have the vet check her.

Hopefully it’s not infected and just swollen ): she hasnt gotten out or licked herself, climbed or jumped excessively, played or exhausted herself either. What did your cat go through? If you don’t mind me asking.

 

[Brian007]

How is Mochi today? Did your vet say which bit was herniated?

 

[Mochicat]

How is Mochi today? Did your vet say which bit was herniated?

Hi! Mochi is doing fine, the vet said she was healing very quickly so she gave me ointment to apply on her incision to fruther progress it. She also gave her fluids to poop easier and pain medication which made her super hypee for 2 days.

 

[Brian007]

Ooh, well, a spot of pain medication is always a great relief! I'm pleased she is feeling better.

 

[Mochicat]

Ooh, well, a spot of pain medication is always a great relief! I'm pleased she is feeling better.

Thank you! Today I noticed that Mochi’s bump underneath her incision has gone down in size a little but it’s a pink color, I applied her ointment on it and noticed she could reach a part of her leg to lick. She caused friction between her cone and her stomach which moved some parts of her scab so I stopped her and she ended up falling asleep. I don’t think she’d be able to form a Hernia again since the vets probably made sure to stitch better this time. I’m hoping that the shot they gave her for pain medication didn’t result in her injuring herself again since she was very hyper (jumping, playing a lot, running) I’m going to make an appointment for her tomorrow as a check-up!! Hope everything goes well, i’ll keep this thread updated