Post spay recovery - dissolvable stitches

Jessiep25

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Hiya,

I just wondered if anyone had any experience with external dissolvable stitches and recovery time?

The vet closed Sky's external spay incision with glue and two dissolvable stitches. He said its his preference with younger cats as its an extra layer of protection if the kitten gets a bit over excited before they've healed properly.

My question is really how long do I have to prevent her from cleaning the area?

We're day 8 post spay now and the incision looks really good, but she's utterly miserable in her surgery recovery onesie! She looks adorable but hates hates hates moving around in it and I think she is generally just a bit depressed and bored so the sooner I can let her be free the better!

I know the stitches won't really dissolve from the outside but may take weeks/months to fully absorb/dissolve from the internal side and I feel like keeping her that long in the onsie when she's so miserable would just be cruel!

Any stories/advice will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
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(here she is looking a bit grumpy because I just put the suit back on her after letting her have a bit of a grooming session😂)
 

Maurey

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We're day 8 post spay now and the incision looks really good, but she's utterly miserable in her surgery recovery onesie! She looks adorable but hates hates hates moving around in it and I think she is generally just a bit depressed and bored so the sooner I can let her be free the better!
FWIW, protocol where I live is a week in the surgical onesie post-spay. Jumanji had no issues when we removed it on the morning of the 8th day, though she was spayed at 8 months, so not quite as kitten crazy as your girl might be. If you're unsure, you could always call up your vet, and ask for some advice :>
 
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Jessiep25

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FWIW, protocol where I live is a week in the surgical onesie post-spay. Jumanji had no issues when we removed it on the morning of the 8th day, though she was spayed at 8 months, so not quite as kitten crazy as your girl might be. If you're unsure, you could always call up your vet, and ask for some advice :>
That's good to know!
I know I have a long day at work tomorrow and so I'll probably leave it on for the next 24h just so I don't stress to much about her during my shifts!

She's been kept on strict no jumping/playing since the op and whilst she's definitely recovered she isn't quite like herself!

I just worry about her chewing on the stitches since they'll be hanging around for a bit!
 

Maurey

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That's good to know!
I know I have a long day at work tomorrow and so I'll probably leave it on for the next 24h just so I don't stress to much about her during my shifts!

She's been kept on strict no jumping/playing since the op and whilst she's definitely recovered she isn't quite like herself!

I just worry about her chewing on the stitches since they'll be hanging around for a bit!
Are her stitches significantly 'out'? Seems odd to me, but I guess different vets do it their own way. If memory serves, Jum's were mostly hidden away, with none really visible by the time her onesie came off. If her wound isn't mostly healed (no redness, swelling, or tenderness), might be worth waiting, just to make sure that any potential chewing on her sutures doesn't cause too much damage.
 
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Jessiep25

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Are her stitches significantly 'out'? Seems odd to me, but I guess different vets do it their own way. If memory serves, Jum's were mostly hidden away, with none really visible by the time her onesie came off. If her wound isn't mostly healed (no redness, swelling, or tenderness), might be worth waiting, just to make sure that any potential chewing on her sutures doesn't cause too much damage.
Yeah there are 2 stitches that are just external and go over the glue (knot on the outside)! I just took off her onesie to give her an opportunity to groom and I literally looked away for 2 seconds to answer my phone and she'd chewed on one of the stiches and undone one of the knots 🙈

The wound itself looks very good - seems to be healing up just as it should!

I think to be safe I'll l just keep the onesie on for now! I'll reassess at the end of the week and I guess it's better to keep it on a little longer than necessary than risk her doing more damage!
 

Maurey

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Yeah there are 2 stitches that are just external and go over the glue (knot on the outside)! I just took off her onesie to give her an opportunity to groom and I literally looked away for 2 seconds to answer my phone and she'd chewed on one of the stiches and undone one of the knots 🙈

The wound itself looks very good - seems to be healing up just as it should!

I think to be safe I'll l just keep the onesie on for now! I'll reassess at the end of the week and I guess it's better to keep it on a little longer than necessary than risk her doing more damage!
For sure! That said, since the site was glued, I imagine her chewing off the sutures at a stage where she's mostly healed won't do any damage. I'd wait another 3 days or so, and see how the site looks at that point. if the scar looks solid, could be a good time to get the onesie off. If not, maybe wait a full two weeks. My girl had internal stitches, rather than glue + external, but I can't imagine the healing time would be all that much longer. Could just be that external sutures take a longer time to naturally dissolve :>
 
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