Need Advice on PU Surgery Wound

[MoMoMeow]

(Heads up for anyone squeamish, the photos attached are pretty graphic.)

Hello!

Almost 6 weeks ago from now, my cat had PU surgery performed for repeated blockages. The recovery process has been going okay so far, despite a minor setback of him getting his cone off when I wasn't watching and licking the site - I took him back to the vet after that, and he did get a stitch or two loose, but for the most part was alright. No infections at all have happened so far.

That was over three weeks ago, and I'm getting concerned about the lack of healing his wound is showing. The lower portion in the picture, where the small dark dot is (that's a leftover stitch) has healed almost completely, meanwhile the gash that is above looks no different than when two weeks ago when he got most of his stitches out.

That last appointment the vet did comment that he still looked pretty raw after they cleaned him, but that he should scar? in that area and the leftover stitches should fall out on their own (it's been a while, my memory isn't too good). They also said he'd be okay to groom himself a bit under supervision, but I'm haven't let him due to how tender it still appears.

He had a scab over the area the first half of the week he came back from the appointment, but due to him raising his leg in attempts to get at the site he ripped it off. It hasn't scabbed back over since, and just looks very raw and puffy all the time. The skin around it isn't hot to the touch, and nothing oozes or bleeds, so I'm not sure if he could be infected.

I haven't experienced this type of surgery and recovery with any other cat I've had, so I have no frame of reference to how long the healing process takes or what's normal or not. I'm pretty concerned. Does it look infected? Should I take him back to the vet?

Could anybody give their opinion on how his wound looks? Or share any similar experiences possibly? Any advice would help greatly.

(I labeled a photo since it's pretty difficult to tell what's what, he squirms quite a bit so it's hard to take a good one, and he's damp from me rinsing the area to keep him mostly clean.)

 

[heatherwillard0614]

How often are you rinsing the area?
I think that might be slowing down the healing process. I know nothing about PU surgery but for the most part you need to surgery sites clean and dry.
I would contact the vet and see what they say about how it is looking.

 

[MoMoMeow]

How often are you rinsing the area?
I think that might be slowing down the healing process. I know nothing about PU surgery but for the most part you need to surgery sites clean and dry.
I would contact the vet and see what they say about how it is looking.

I only rinse it with some saline spray every three days, or more if he stays relatively clean. He has EPI and IBD, and frequently fluctuates from solid stool to very messy if something upsets his stomach, and he's peed in a odd position ever since he was a baby and now it causes run off after the surgery. He gets pretty icky very quick.

I will be contacting his vet, but unfortunately they're closed for the next two days. I'm just trying to gather some more advice and information until then. I have no clue what's normal and finding anything similar is practically null when I try to look it up.

 

[heatherwillard0614]

I'm sorry I don't have any information that can help. I'm hoping that some of the information in these articles will help. Also I did a generic search for PU surgeries. That search has a bunch of articles you can look through. Please keep us posted

Search Results for Query: PU surgery

PU Surgery -48 hours after bleeding

Hello all, My 4yo cat Cubby had the PU surgery on Friday Nov. 11. He stayed at the vet overnight and they discharged him saying he was peeing well and all looked good, and I could continue the after-care at home. I’ve had his e-collar on and he’s been eating his prescription wet food quite well...

thecatsite.com

I Have More Trust Issues Than This Feral..

My cat that was on Prozac, had blocked and had pu surgery before going on Prozac. Urinary retention is a little unknown side effect of most of the kitty calming prescription meds. He had been on it for about 3 months, when his pee clumps turned absolutely huge. He was only urinating once...

thecatsite.com

My Cat Max After Pu Surgery

As most you that have had experience with blocked male cats that need the PU surgery, you know the toll it takes emotionally and financially. Max was blocked a couple times and mutliple vet visits by a few different vets because we didnt care for how they diagnosed amd to treated him. We found a...

thecatsite.com

shadowsrescue I had done a search on PU surgeries and I had seen where your cat had had the surgery a few years back. I was wondering if you have any information that would be beneficial to OP? Thank you.

Also rubingie had a cat go through the surgery hasn't been on for a couple months though so maybe this wi hit their email and they will be able to respond..

 

[MoMoMeow]

I'm sorry I don't have any information that can help. I'm hoping that some of the information in these articles will help. Also I did a generic search for PU surgeries. That search has a bunch of articles you can look through. Please keep us posted

Search Results for Query: PU surgery

PU Surgery -48 hours after bleeding

Hello all, My 4yo cat Cubby had the PU surgery on Friday Nov. 11. He stayed at the vet overnight and they discharged him saying he was peeing well and all looked good, and I could continue the after-care at home. I’ve had his e-collar on and he’s been eating his prescription wet food quite well...

thecatsite.com

I Have More Trust Issues Than This Feral..

My cat that was on Prozac, had blocked and had pu surgery before going on Prozac. Urinary retention is a little unknown side effect of most of the kitty calming prescription meds. He had been on it for about 3 months, when his pee clumps turned absolutely huge. He was only urinating once...

thecatsite.com

My Cat Max After Pu Surgery

As most you that have had experience with blocked male cats that need the PU surgery, you know the toll it takes emotionally and financially. Max was blocked a couple times and mutliple vet visits by a few different vets because we didnt care for how they diagnosed amd to treated him. We found a...

thecatsite.com

shadowsrescue I had done a search on PU surgeries and I had seen where your cat had had the surgery a few years back. I was wondering if you have any information that would be beneficial to OP? Thank you.

It's alright, any help is appreciated. I have done some binging on these threads before I went through with his surgery just to get a feel of what I was going into, but it's been a lot more than I imagined. I found the information given by Stargirl0623 very helpful, but unfortunately it doesn't look like they've been active for a while.

 

[shadowsrescue]

Is he wearing a cone? Are you seeing him licking the area? My boy wore a cone 24/7 for 3 weeks and then supervised time without the cone for another 10 days. Also I had to used non clumping litter so that nothing stuck to any of the incision area. I would definitely call the vet first thing Tuesday morning.

The recovery can be slow. The first 3 weeks were so hard for my boy and myself.

 

[MoMoMeow]

Is he wearing a cone? Are you seeing him licking the area? My boy wore a cone 24/7 for 3 weeks and then supervised time without the cone for another 10 days. Also I had to used non clumping litter so that nothing stuck to any of the incision area. I would definitely call the vet first thing Tuesday morning.

The recovery can be slow. The first 3 weeks were so hard for my boy and myself.

He's been wearing a cone this entire time, I only take it off to let him groom the rest of his body under supervision because I definitely don't trust him not to make the area worse - he's meticulous about his cleanliness. I used non clump paper pellet litter for him even since before the surgery, as well. Basically a different brand of the Yesterday's news the vet sent home, same type.

I mean he's definitely healed a portion of the wound, so it's not like he isn't at all. Maybe he is healing in increments and I'm just not noticing or panicking? I don't expect him to be completely scarred up after only six ish weeks but it's hard to see a difference I guess.

I'm definitely going to give them a call, now.

 

[heatherwillard0614]

I would start documenting his healing by taking pictures this way you would see the difference. I would probably do twice a week. The days I would probably just do Monday and Thursday. It doesn't have to be those days but doing them one day then 3 days later then 4 days later this way it is splitting the week in half for 2 pictures.

I did this when my kitty got spayed because she had complications during the healing process. This helped me keep track of the progress even if I couldn't really tell a difference I could in the pictures.

 

[Seymour]

My boy Mr. Peabody had the same surgery about two years ago after a lifetime of urinary blockages. We had spent a fortune at the emergency vet dealing with these life and death issues and finally gave in to the inevitable and went for the surgery. Like shadowsrescue above said, it's a long healing process. We walled Peabody off in a section of space where he couldn't jump on anything and put him there with his letterbox (also filled with alternate litter) and food. I would have to help him eat because he wore a cone for weeks. He was pretty miserable, but he healed well and didn't have an open gaping wound like that. I do think you should get him to the vet and have it checked. Peabody healed faster than your kitty seems to be healing, but it could be the difference in their genetic makeups. Not all humans heal at the same rate, either.

But I would definitely get him to your vet and keep that cone on. Also don't let him jump.

The surgery was a success for my kitty and he hasn't had an issue since. But he loves to lick his lower tummy and does it constantly—a habit he developed after the surgery. We think it may have to do with scar tissue, but it doesn't seem to bother him in any way.

Good luck. I hope the surgery helps your kitty as much as it did mine.

 

[shadowsrescue]

Taking daily pictures is what I too was going to suggest. I did that with my boy as it was hard to see if he was healing. The vet who did the surgery wanted pictures emailed to her every few days.

In the end the surgery is worth it. My boy did end up blocking again 2 years later. He had started on Prozac to help with some of his anxiety and aggressive behavior towards my other cats. The Prozac did not help and he ended up with urinary retention that led to a blockage. It was very rare for this to happen after PU surgery, but the circumstance with the Prozac created the perfect storm. He was in the ER vet hospital for 5 days. He recovered and I have since had him on a cocktail of supplements. Also the best advice I can give is water water water. I feed only wet and raw food now. I add extra water to every meal.

As long as he is wearing the cone and being supervised and using non clumping litter he should be healing. As mentioned above be mindful of him jumping as that can pull on the incision.

Keep us posted.

 

[MoMoMeow]

I would start documenting his healing by taking pictures this way you would see the difference. I would probably do twice a week. The days I would probably just do Monday and Thursday. It doesn't have to be those days but doing them one day then 3 days later then 4 days later this way it is splitting the week in half for 2 pictures.

I did this when my kitty got spayed because she had complications during the healing process. This helped me keep track of the progress even if I couldn't really tell a difference I could in the pictures.

That's a pretty good idea, I'll try it. I do have some pictures of him a few days Post-op, and after he got the cone off and licked the one time to send to his vet. Compared to those he does seem to have healed a great deal, at least.

 

[MoMoMeow]

My boy Mr. Peabody had the same surgery about two years ago after a lifetime of urinary blockages. We had spent a fortune at the emergency vet dealing with these life and death issues and finally gave in to the inevitable and went for the surgery. Like shadowsrescue above said, it's a long healing process. We walled Peabody off in a section of space where he couldn't jump on anything and put him there with his letterbox (also filled with alternate litter) and food. I would have to help him eat because he wore a cone for weeks. He was pretty miserable, but he healed well and didn't have an open gaping wound like that. I do think you should get him to the vet and have it checked. Peabody healed faster than your kitty seems to be healing, but it could be the difference in their genetic makeups. Not all humans heal at the same rate, either.

But I would definitely get him to your vet and keep that cone on. Also don't let him jump.

The surgery was a success for my kitty and he hasn't had an issue since. But he loves to lick his lower tummy and does it constantly—a habit he developed after the surgery. We think it may have to do with scar tissue, but it doesn't seem to bother him in any way.

Good luck. I hope the surgery helps your kitty as much as it did mine.

I feel you completely. His blockages started about a year or almost two years past now. He was fine for a while after the first one, but these past five months he flared up badly (FIC, Crystals, and random debris in the bladder, he had enormous mucus chunks trying to block him) and it's been hell for us both. So many times I thought I was going to lose him, especially with how much everything started adding up from going to the Emergency vet. Surgery was my last attempt at keeping him with me, because he was completely miserable. He was living off of a high dose of gabapentin and buprenorphine and was still on a thin edge.

Luckily (knock on wood) it seems to have helped so far. He's almost off his meds, and his urine output and flow is consistent and normal.

That's why I'm so worried about the wound. We've been through so much, I just want to see him healed and happy again. He was in a kennel until the stitches came out, because the first day home from surgery he managed to rip them and had to be catheterized for three days so the swelling would go down. He's pretty calm, so jumping isn't really an issue as much as running/sprinting in a burst of energy is. His vet said that should be okay for him to do last time I asked, but I try to keep him relaxed.

 

[MoMoMeow]

Taking daily pictures is what I too was going to suggest. I did that with my boy as it was hard to see if he was healing. The vet who did the surgery wanted pictures emailed to her every few days.

In the end the surgery is worth it. My boy did end up blocking again 2 years later. He had started on Prozac to help with some of his anxiety and aggressive behavior towards my other cats. The Prozac did not help and he ended up with urinary retention that led to a blockage. It was very rare for this to happen after PU surgery, but the circumstance with the Prozac created the perfect storm. He was in the ER vet hospital for 5 days. He recovered and I have since had him on a cocktail of supplements. Also the best advice I can give is water water water. I feed only wet and raw food now. I add extra water to every meal.

As long as he is wearing the cone and being supervised and using non clumping litter he should be healing. As mentioned above be mindful of him jumping as that can pull on the incision.

Keep us posted.

I'll be doing the pictures two days a week like mentioned. Your vet sounds pretty good to want to be updated like that, and I kind of wish mine was too as it would greatly ease my worries knowing they're so thorough. It's been really hard for me to find a good vet, but this one he's been seeing for a few years now, and they're alright.

Originally after his first blockage, he was prescribed Prozac as well. It turned him into a non responsive statue, which worried me greatly. When I noticed he hadn't used the bathroom in like two days, I stopped giving it to him. I hadn't known about urinary retention at the time, but luckily I had inadvertently avoided him being blocked again it seems.

Before his pain needed to be managed with drugs full time, I had some success with CBD oil in keeping him from getting FIC flareups.

I've had him on supplements since the start of this, and D-Mannose has been a lifesaver for him. It helped him pass urine when he was about to block multiple times until I could get him to a vet. Corn silk is also very beneficial. I give him extra water with every meal as well, it makes his food into a little soup but luckily he doesn't mind it. He's on a prescription diet for his crystals currently, but his last ultrasound showed his bladder was clear.

It's odd. When he stands up, you can't even tell that he has a wound. It's like, the skin there tucks inwards and it just looks like a dark line, as if he actually is healed. Maybe the lack of being able to air out is hindering the process? Although I'm not sure what I can do about it.

I'll definitely be updating as I go, because I'd love it if anything I write can help someone else in the future with issues like this.

 

[Zemomo]

Hello! My baby recently got the PU surgery as well and we are approaching the 8th week of recovery. He is having a pretty smooth recovery and no complications so far but l have also been worrying every step of the way so hopefully our experience will be somewhat helpful to you. He had dissolvable sutures but we had the recheck at week 2 and the office suggested an additional week with the cone since he was pretty red and irritated because they removed his scabs to check for remaining sutures. I read that dissolvable sutures can take a while to fully dissolve and seeing how red the incision was, I didn’t feel ready for him to touch it without the cone so we kept the cone on longer than the additional week. I started giving him supervised grooming time starting week 5, when the new scabs had fallen off and the area around the incision didn't look so wet and red. I let him groom the area for a couple licks but it started bleeding. I consulted with the surgeon and they recommended that we take him back for another re-check so we did. Surgeon stated that the bleeding was strange since it had been almost 6 weeks but other than that, the site looks good and there were no strictures. At this time, the incision still looks pretty red but the area around it looks closer to his skin. The surgeon mentioned that it will always look red so that is normal and he did give an explanation but I don’t recall his words exactly. I had the cone on with supervised grooming to make sure he doesn’t touch the incision until a little over week 7. He has been grooming the area directly but we haven’t had bleeding. He does groom quite a bit since he hasn’t had access to the area so I try to distract him with a toy, which doesn’t always work since he is a lazy cat. I also have treat puzzles to distract him and it works well to keep him occupied(he lives for food) when he is fixated on the area. Hopefully he doesn’t do any damage to the area but so far so good. I also have him on corn silk and D mannose. I give him plenty of water with his prescription food as well as a good amount of water mixed with some Churu once a day since he does not drink any on his own to keep him hydrated. Here are some pictures of his progress for reference. I can’t see the incision either unless he is opening his legs wide like this to groom. Sorry if the pics are a bit gross! I haven’t cleaned it with anything since the surgeon said to leave the site alone but I did start using wipes occasionally after week 4-5. It's also reassuring to send pics to your surgeon when you are having doubts! I’ve been bothering them almost every week. I just sent the last picture to them to provide an update and to ensure everything looks like it should. They are closed today probably get a response in a couple days due to the holiday.

Week 3

Week 5

Now

 

[MoMoMeow]

Hello! My baby recently got the PU surgery as well and we are approaching the 8th week of recovery. He is having a pretty smooth recovery and no complications so far but l have also been worrying every step of the way so hopefully our experience will be somewhat helpful to you. He had dissolvable sutures but we had the recheck at week 2 and the office suggested an additional week with the cone since he was pretty red and irritated because they removed his scabs to check for remaining sutures. I read that dissolvable sutures can take a while to fully dissolve and seeing how red the incision was, I didn’t feel ready for him to touch it without the cone so we kept the cone on longer than the additional week. I started giving him supervised grooming time starting week 5, when the new scabs had fallen off and the area around the incision didn't look so wet and red. I let him groom the area for a couple licks but it started bleeding. I consulted with the surgeon and they recommended that we take him back for another re-check so we did. Surgeon stated that the bleeding was strange since it had been almost 6 weeks but other than that, the site looks good and there were no strictures. At this time, the incision still looks pretty red but the area around it looks closer to his skin. The surgeon mentioned that it will always look red so that is normal and he did give an explanation but I don’t recall his words exactly. I had the cone on with supervised grooming to make sure he doesn’t touch the incision until a little over week 7. He has been grooming the area directly but we haven’t had bleeding. He does groom quite a bit since he hasn’t had access to the area so I try to distract him with a toy, which doesn’t always work since he is a lazy cat. I also have treat puzzles to distract him and it works well to keep him occupied(he lives for food) when he is fixated on the area. Hopefully he doesn’t do any damage to the area but so far so good. I also have him on corn silk and D mannose. I give him plenty of water with his prescription food as well as a good amount of water mixed with some Churu once a day since he does not drink any on his own to keep him hydrated. Here are some pictures of his progress for reference. I can’t see the incision either unless he is opening his legs wide like this to groom. Sorry if the pics are a bit gross! I haven’t cleaned it with anything since the surgeon said to leave the site alone but I did start using wipes occasionally after week 4-5. It's also reassuring to send pics to your surgeon when you are having doubts! I’ve been bothering them almost every week. I just sent the last picture to them to provide an update and to ensure everything looks like it should. They are closed today probably get a response in a couple days due to the holiday.

Week 3
View attachment 458734
Week 5
View attachment 458733

Now
View attachment 458732

Oh, wow, thank you for sharing! I do agree, the inner red portion of his wound looks slighty wet, sort of, even though I know it's dry. But it makes me feel better to see that based on your images, my boy sort of looks similar to the five week marker. Interesting to hear that it's supposed to look like that? I wasn't told anything of the sort, just that it would scar. Although this is one of the better vets I've found, they aren't very thorough in explanation I've noticed. I could always look for a second opinion, I suppose.

I think my pictures make the wound look worse than it is looking at it with my own eyes, it couldn't be a inch long at the most, and it isn't quite so deep as the angle suggests.

I'm going to ask his vet one more time about grooming, as they said he could only lightly clean himself under supervision last time, but at the moment I'm pretty sure he'll do more harm than good. He cleans areas of his body very thoroughly, and much like your kitty, he's very lax so its hard to take his mind off of it. Thank you for sharing some of your experience! I appreciate it!

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. It should be healed after 6 eeeks. Even if he did initially get to it. I would get him back to the vet when they open.
Where it is wet, is that urine?

 

[heatherwillard0614]

Hey S silent meowlook OP said it is from rinsing him

and he's damp from me rinsing the area to keep him mostly clean.)

 

[MoMoMeow]

Yeah, I'm worried about him still looking so raw. He acts normal though, not like he's sick or that its affecting him, although I lnow they're pretty good at hiding illness. Eating well, playing well, using the litterbox fine so farm.

I took these photos after rinsing him clean, so its just leftover saline soaking his fur before I dry him. He doesn't dribble or leak urine uncontrollably, except for maybe just a droplet or two after he gets up from peeing, or run off from his positioning in the box but that's about it.

 

[silent meowlook]

Ok. I wouldn’t rinse him until it’s healed. Is there a reason you rinse him?

 

[MoMoMeow]

Ok. I wouldn’t rinse him until it’s healed. Is there a reason you rinse him?

Yeah, I mentioned above that he has EPI and IBD, so when he gets an upset stomach his stools become very messy and unfortunately gets all over the area. As well as the position he pees in causes urine to get stuck to either sides of the wound's area, and gunks up very quickly. It becomes a very bad environment for an open wound very fast unfortunately.

I didn't used to clean him unless he got poop too near the wound, but he was so dirty the last time I took him to his appt. the vet said that I was allowed to gently soak him to keep him clean, like with a cloth, or that I could let him do some light grooming. I did tell them I rinse him, as well.

I'm too apprehensive to let him groom because I know him and he'll probably make it worse, and I didn't really want an abrasive cloth down there with it still looking so tender, so a saline wound spray is about the only other thing I can think of. I tried syringing water too but the crud sticks to his fur so well I have a very hard time getting it off. I try not to clean him too often unless he really needs it, as I don't really want to upset the area too much, but if I don't doubt he'd have an infection by now if I let him be.