Hernia from spay?

We adopted another kitten from the Humane Society yesterday (Friday), an 8 week old DMH calico who my kids have decided to name Midget. Midget was spayed on Thursday (the day before we adopted her). The HS volunteer instructed us to try to keep her quiet a few days until her incision is better healed, but that is kind of a joke - this kitty is a ball of feisty energy!

This morning I noticed her incision was bleeding a tiny bit - just enough to blot once with a tissue. The skin incision does not appear to have pulled open. It did not bleed any more after this, has not had any other discharge, and does not look red or inflamed at all. However, since then she's had a slight bulge in her tummy around the area of her incision. I am wondering if it might be a hernia from her spay incision, but it does not protrude like I've seen with umbilical hernias - this bulge is wider but only slightly perceptible where protrusion is concerned. It has not grown in size at all; if anything it's gotten smaller. Could this be a hernia? Is it more likely some type of fluid or blood accumulated under the skin? Should I worry about infection? She does not seem the slightest bit bothered by this and it has not slowed her down at all, although I'm trying to encourage as much calm as possible!

I hate to bring her to the emergency vet if I'm just overreacting. But I also don't want to put off until Monday something that might be serious. What do you all think?

I don't think your kitten has a hernia. Sometimes swelling may occur at the incision after spay surgery. You're right to be concerned about infection, so do keep an eye on it, but since it appears to be getting smaller, that's certainly a good sign. If in another day or two it doesn't continue to get smaller or there is continued bleeding, definitely call the vet and discuss it with him or her.

By the way, congratulations on your new kitten - you did a wonderful thing adopting her from the Humane Society!

It doesn't sound too serious to me, but I am not a vet. Just to be sure, I would call the regular vet you use & get an appt. Monday. One can never be too careful with your babies!

Thanks for the advice! She still seems to be doing fine otherwise. I will be bringing her in to the vet tomorrow.

Too keep her calm you need to put her in a small room like the bathroom, laundry room, breezeway or into a crate so she doesn't get too active and rip it open. As for the lump, it is totally normal for there to be a small little lump there, bigger then marble sized but smaller then gold ball sized.

My pup Jada had swelling around her spay incesion. It lookd like a hernia too. But the vet said it pretty normal. Especially in puppies or kittens that are spayed fairly young. Because the muscles havnt developed enough sometimes to hold stuff in but it heals up pretty quick. Jada took like a week and half.