Lily's wound/surgery site

My cat, Lily Savage (her name was just Lily...but after we discovered her personality it had to be changed!) is roughly a year old - we don't know the exact age because she was a rescue kitty. Around 2 weeks ago, we got her spayed. The vet told us the surgery was difficult because she had a lot of fat surrounding her uterus (which neither of us understood, because she is a skinny cat!!! we had to work to feed her up infact, as she was underweight when we got her) and we had to give her antibiotics and pain relievers for 3 days after the surgery. 4 days later the vet asked to see her for a free check up. She was doing fine, etc. The wound looks like it has been healing really well, the scab has fallen off and there is just a thin white scar left from the surgery. However, over this weekend a lump around half a ping pong ball has developed just to the left of the scar- it is more visible when she is in some positions than others. I keep trying to touch it to see if it is hot, tender etc but she won't let me touch it and bites me if i try (i should tell you it is normal for her to bite me if i try to touch her belly - she only trusts people touching her head...she is a extremely nervous cat as she was kept in a small cage by owners who treated her VERY badly before..we just don't know the extent of what she has been though ) I have touched it briefly before i got my arm attacked, and it feels slightly firm to the touch but if you press a little firmer it is actually quite jellylike on the inside of it. I rang my vets and it was this trainnee nurse person who was, frankly, useless and didn't even try to give me any answers. she just said, after i explained, "well..do you want an appointment?" i said "do you think she needs one?" and she said "do you think so?" i mean what?! she is meant to tell me! and so i have made one, because i am very worried about her, she is everything to me. The problem is that my mum has gone away for a month, i am on my school holidays and i only have 40 pounds - what can i do if there is surgery needed or anything do you think the vets will wait for payment until my mum is back but still do the surgery?! what is wrong with her i am sorry for this massive post but i am VERY worried she isn't herself.

Also, she keeps trying to eat plastic bags?! and also she always takes all the caps (bottle caps, deoderant caps, shampoo, anything that comes with a cap that pops off!) off of anything she possibly can, and carries them around in her mouth. she hides them in weird places which are very hard to find and she also loves dropping them at my feet. however, if i try to pick them up or touch them she goes crazy and gets really distressed if i try to take them away from her, they are like her babies and go everywhere with her. She has a lot of weird habits. I make sure they aren't swallowable size, and i hide all plastic bags. she just LOVES plastic.

First keep the vet appt, then deal with the results.

If there needs to be more surgery, ask the vet if you can work out a payment plan until your mother gets back.
Can you put it on a credit card? Borrow from friends?

We have to keep all of our plastic bags and other small plastic items from the cats and dogs. Our Golden Retriever has already had 2 emergency surgeries for eating things that caused an obstruction - the second due to guests who didn't follow our rules....

I feel that keeping the Vet appt is a good one.

Since you don't know what she's been through....why not work with her as far as her stress when you take her 'possessions' away. She seems to find comfort in taking the bottle caps, etc.....If she drops them, just leave them. It is going to take a while for her to trust you...she's had a hard beginning. Try to get her some toys and slowly replace the bottle caps for the toys...she'll get the hint in time.

As far as trying to eat plastic bags..well, that's just plain bad...good idea to get those out of her sight. Lots of cats like to lick plastic bags. I certainly had a cat who did that. It isn't dangerous, and the experts don't really know why they do it....you're wise to not let her eat them!!!!

My cats have always 'chosen' something very non-cat like to enjoy. One liked a small plastic scoop...he carried it up and down the stairs and all around....another liked to take a small hand towel that I had hanging on a post near the washer..she'd grab it and take it up and down the stairs eventually dropping it somewhere. They have their own thoughts and comforts...don't stress yourself about what she likes..as long as it's not dangerous to her. Give her lots of love and patience and in no time I bet you'll be able to gently rub her tummy...

I hope she's feeling better soon.

It was a hematoma (blood blistery like thing i think?! well thats what i gathered anyway) and her wound was a lil bit infected but thats OK now. The vet poked it with needles and popped it, drained it, drained it more, put saline in it, drained it, and put more saline in it. He then injected her (antibiotics?) and then gave me tablets to put in her food for 4 days. Looks like Lily was being too active after her surgery! I tried to keep her in one room after her spay but that musn't have been enough...she must have got up somewhere or climbed the curtains (she does that...) without me knowing! anyway, i go to the BEST vets in the world and he did all that for free, and threw in some catfood! I love him!

I'm so glad to hear that Lily is feeling better. A hematoma is a bruise....that can develop into a sac of blood.....so perhaps there was a bit of bleeding after the surgery and it all collected in one spot. Now that it has been drained and she's on antibiotics..she should feel alot better. It is so hard to keep a cat 'quiet'......don't know how they expect us to do that...

I'm glad your Vet fixed up the problem without a fee.....that was very good of him, although it really was as a result of surgery he performed. Sounds like he is a very compassionate Vet.

Here's hoping Lily is back to her normal self in no time!!!

Excellent news.

When the vets tell you to keep them quiet, they really mean keep them quiet. I have an XL dog crate that I use for keeping them quiet, it works well for the dogs and cats. I've even loaned it out to friends and family.

I so glad you got Lily sorted out. I know when Blossom was spayed she wouldn't keep quiet. She still ran around & climbed everywhere. I had to lay her scratching post on the floor & keep her in her crate as much as I could. She had pulled out one stitch & had to have a staple. It had a small swelling on one side but the vet thought it looked ok. I was so glad to get the stitches out.
Blossom likes to play with small items that have been dropped such as twist ties, large paper clips, pegs & soft drink bottle caps. All the cats I've had have been the same. Thankfully they never tried to swallow them only bat at them all over the floor.

IT'S FILLED UP AGAIN!!! but it's much harder than it was before i took her to have it drained. earlier it was kinda squashy in the middle now it's hard. it's almost as big as it was when i took her to have it drained!

is this supposed to happen?? please help, i dont want to seem annoying and stupid to the vet for bothering him about something i should know. i feel bad because i would normally ask my mum but she is away for ages.

Am i worrying myself sleepless over something normal and routine??

No, this is not supposed to happen - your cat needs to go to the Vet immediately. Don't hesitate, don't doubt yourself, do trust your "gut" feeling (which I think is telling you this is NOT right).

Something isn't right with all this, IMO.

It sounds like it is a cyst. It is a balloon-like structure that fills up with fluid. Unfortunately, you have to remove all of the cyst covering (balloon) or it will continue to come back. Don't panic.

No, you are not being stupid at all - the vet would want to know about these post-surgical events and should work with you to make sure Lily Savage (great name!) makes a full recovery. I'd bet it's nothing all that serious, but the vet should attend to it (and, I think, it should again be included in the original surgical fee -and I bet it will be).

You're a good mom - as mentioned, trust your instincts - and a good vet will never laugh at a pet parent....you know how many people frantically bring their female cats in totally worried about neurological events, etc., when the poor cat is only in heat?

Good luck to you and Lily.

I did take her back.

She is now in the operating theatre right now

I'll let you know how she gets on.

Here is a picture of my lovely:

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...DSC02102-1.jpg

Oh, she is just beautiful - what a great pose! I hope you get good news very soon - please let us know.

She got home from the vet last night. turned out, she was allergic to her stitches and they caused a fibrous lump that was growing and growing. So he had to remove it and loads of the surrounding muscles of her legs/hip/tummy area. she is a little wobbly and trembly still but thats to be expected! she has a little tube thing coming out of the wound for it to drip out bloody watery stuff and she has to stay in a cage for 12 days which she already isn't happy about she is CLIMBING the walls of it! just hours after surgery! she is also standing on her hind legs etc so she must be feeling better about it all!

There are two things worrying me though:

1. she has an elizabethan collar. she is having trouble eating/drinking with it on. any tips? i have tried spoon feeding her but she won't take it...

2. she lay in her cat litter in the cage and now it's stuck all over her tube and the wound where the tube goes in. this will be okay wont it? it wont cause infection? she is having the tube out on tuesday. i tried to get it off, and i got some off, but she is SO not letting my hands anyway NEAR her belly!!! i got a good kicking and scratching and i dont wanna stress her out whilst she is post op.

I was also going to suggest taking off the collar to let her eat....and watch her...if she tries to attack her wound site, then put the collar back on...so she gets the message that taking it off means she's supposed to eat. Poor kitty. If she only knew that it was for her own good.

I don't think the litter on the tube will affect anything. You could phone the Vet and ask...

I hope she's feeling better fast.

Instead of regular litter, you should be using shredded newspaper. Clay litter can get up in the tube and cause blockage or contaminate the area. I'm very surprised that the vet didn't mention it as a standard postop procedure.

Oh!!! No nobody told me about using shredded newspaper at all! I'll definitely use that from now on until she has the tube out. I didn't know!! I hope it hasn't done anything but I looked at it a minute ago and most of the litter has moved away from the tube with the flow of serous (i think thats the name of the blood/watery stuff thats dripping out) from the tube which is good.