Possible seroma under my kitten’s spay incision area, not sure what to expect

[k8flan04]

Hello, so both of my kittens have recently been fixed (I have a male and female from the same litter who are both 6 months old). I’m currently having some complications with Tobi (female) after her spay about a week ago. She’s started to form a pocket of apparent fluid under her incision site. I noticed it this morning and was super scared. I took pics and called the vet. They said it was probably a seroma since it wasn’t hot to the touch and wasn’t causing her any pain. She’s also using the bathroom normally and eating/ drinking normally. The line of stitches is not inflamed and appears to be healing/ scabbing normally. The reason I’m concerned still is because I don’t trust this vet clinic 100%- the reason being that they sent Tobi home with me with no e-collar. This confused me since my male cat had just been fixed and they (a different vet clinic) were very adamant that any licking is very bad and will cause infection. So when I asked the vet why no e-collar, she just replied to stop Tobi if I saw her licking. Confused and left a little distraught, I took her home. I had my bathroom set up with all the essentials so she had somewhere to recover. I still had to go to school for he next two days so I could not monitor her licking during the day. Two days later, I noticed her incision area was red and there was what appeared to be a gap in the line of stitches which had opened. I called the vet and emailed them pictures and they said to bring her in. They then proceeded to examine her for a few minutes and give her a collar. The part that really got me was when they said “they should’ve sent her home with one”. So basically all this worry and extra trip (vet is 45 mins away from home) was due to a vet not doing what should’ve been done. I was a little upset that they didn’t give her one initially, but I was more relieved that she was fine and got what she needed.
Now it has been 6 days since her surgery and this “seroma” has begun to form. I put seroma in quotations because I’m not too sure if it could be a false diagnosis and that it might be something worse like built up tissue or a hernia. Especially since they told me over the phone and didn’t look at any pictures although I offered. Please if anyone has any advice or experience with this, help me out. I just want Tobi to be healthy and able to return to her normal activities again. Thank you

 

[Willowy]

Looks good to me. The internal stitches do cause some swelling when they start to dissolve, and I'm pretty sure that's what's going on, because it doesn't look excessive.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

OK...the good news...this does look like a seroma, which is just a collection of normal fluid at the site. I see no signs of redness or puss, which would indicate an infection. Generally, hernias look more..."lumpy," or "bulgy." They actually look like intestines bulging out under the skin, not like this flattish, almost neat and gentle swelling.

The bad news is that I am not a vet, and even if I were one, I would not diagnose like this with any certainty at all. If you are really concerned, or if it continues to grow, take your baby back in!

And please, let us know how she is doing!

 

[k8flan04]

Thank you guys for the replies! These are pictures from today. The area feels a bit more compact as though the fluid has compressed but it hasn’t enlarged a significant amount. She’s still behaving normally and showing no signs of pain. Trying to keep her from being active is a challenge though.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I'll bet! Keep track of it. If it begins to enlarge, get her in. I'm betting this won't be a "screaming emergency," even if it is a hernia. Most of them are not. Just, Monday, if it grows. Of course, if she quits eating or drinking, becomes lethargic, can't use her box properly, has mobility issues, it becomes a "screaming emergency" and warrants an emergency clinic visit.

 

[Maurey]

Tbh, I’d take her in as soon as reasonably possible, in your position, especially if the site is warm to touch.
This looks excessive. Also looks like the wound was glued, rather than sutured, so I’d really want those gaps in the spay site looked at.

 

[Sajast]

Looks like they did buried sutures with surgical glue. For the life of me I don’t understand why some vets want surgical glue applied to a CAT’S easily accessible incision - it’s just asking them to fuss at it if only because they’re annoyed something is on their skin. Most vets I’ve worked with were anti-glue for cats. The less attention you draw to the site the better your odds they’ll leave it alone. Sorry. Random rant/pet peeve. If it was an open hernia the bulge would disappear if she’s flat on her back. The general rule of thumb regarding post op care is if they’re eating, drinking, acting normally, have pink gums, and using the litter box normally then there’s no emergency.