PU Surgery -48 hours after bleeding

[Dianarose]

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 (not drinking water though) and peeing and pooping well. However, I saw a few blood droplets today after he peed both times, and then just now when he moved from his sleeping spot on my bed, I saw a blood “stamp” of his entire surgical area down there. So it seems as if the area is quite raw, but he definitely hasn’t licked it with his collar on (I’ve been monitoring him like a hawk). Is this cause to head back to the emergency vet? Or is this normal? It seems as if the blood droplets I saw weren’t in his urine, but we’re from the surgical site. I’m going to attach pictures of what it looks like, in case anyone on here has been through this and can compare their cat on day 2 after surgery. Thank you!!

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi
That's not a super large amount of blood but I'm not sure what I'm seeing at the surgery site. Does your vet have an after hours number?

 

[Dianarose]

Thank you for your reply. Yes I’m going to email the pictures to the Emergency Vet just to make sure/ I’m just really trying to avoid going back in with him right now if I don’t need to because he gets SO stressed out. Here’s a picture we just took/ it looks a little less inflamed, I think…Does it look “normal” for about 54 hours post PU surgery? When I look at images online I see so many different variations it’s hard for me to tell if this is what it should look like. Also, should I be using a baby wipe to wipe his anus after he poops? Or just let it be? I’m so nervous about impeding his healing.

 

[Furballsmom]

I'm with you, it looks a bit better, but I think that's a great idea to email the photos--i didn't think they'd allow you to do that I unfortunately don't know what it should look like so I can't help with that.

I think I'd try and gently wipe his bum, you might need to hold a warm damp cloth on it initially, it looks a bit dry and crusty (if he'll let you )

 

[Furballsmom]

Also, in case this helps, and you might look into Weruva foods at Weruva. .com;
Tips To Increase Your Cat’s Water Intake – TheCatSite Articles

 

[reba]

Gosh they kept my cat for at least 4 or 5 days in the e-clinic. That looks pretty good to me. My sympathies; I know how stressful it is.

 

[Dianarose]

Thank you/ yes only others on this and similar cat sites understand the stress… I am so sleep-deprived! Here is today’s picture. It looks better to me, but after he pees, the area does look red. Do you think the pee irritates the tender post-surgery skin to make it “raw”? I did send the pictures to the emergency vet and I’m awaiting a reply. Hopefully they will reply and not ask me to come back in because I really don’t want to bring him back now and re-stress him! His behavior is great -eating normally, purring, peeing and pooping. Just irritated with his cone of course. I am not brave enough to try and wipe his butt area, so I’m letting it be for now.

 

[reba]

I think it looks great. I would expect the urine to irritate it a bit. What litter are you using? Have you tried the crystal litter? I had a heart attack when I looked at the price, but turns out it’s no more expensive. I was terrified he was going to get litter stuck in there. Maybe they will tell you to put some cream on it, but I’d be worried about that burning to.

 

[Dianarose]

So it looks like he is healing well- I’m using the paper pellet litter but he won’t use it! So he’s been peeing and pooping on the pee pads I have set out in the bathroom. Here’s a picture from today- I can’t find many pictures online of a successful PU surgery after it’s healed. Maybe there are some on this site I will try to find just to compare.

 

[AbbysMom]

I found this and it looks like your boy is doing well!

Should my cat's PU incision look like this?

 

[di and bob]

Ask the vet if you can spray some cat wound healing spray on a cotton ball until it is soaking and dab the area. I wouldn't think it would hurt. Soak a cotton ball because the spray, especially the sound, scares cats. They are available at farm supply stores like Tractor Supply, or online. A good one is Vetericyn,

 

[catsknowme]

You could ask your vet about using marshmallow root tea and/or slippery elm bark tea both internally and/or as a soothing wash topically. It looks like your precious kitty is healing well - you have excellent nursing skills!

 

[reba]

The pee pads worked fine for me. Mine weren’t wild about the pellet litter. I recently changed to the Okocat Dust-Free Unscented Non-Clumping Paper Pellet Cat Litter and the crystal litter. I was skeptical of the non-clumping as I have 3 cats, but it seems to work very well. You just scoop out the poop from the crystals and throw the whole thing out every two weeks. You can scoop out some of the paper, it just doesn’t clump. It doesn’t turn to dust either though, just gets really dark. I’m glad I tried it as the dust free clumping is so heavy (I have a cat with asthma.).

 

[Dianarose]

I found this and it looks like your boy is doing well!

Should my cat's PU incision look like this?

Thank you for finding this! I wish vets would give us photos or diagrams after the surgery to help us understand what it should look like. It would really help owners like me from freaking out. Looking online has not been helpful at all- so many disturbing pictures of cats in surgery come up, but hardly any of a successful PU. Thanks for looking this up!