New Kitten Spay Scar!

Hello all! I'm new here and a new mommy to a 3.5mth old female kitten named Sookie (for now)! I adopted her on Saturday from a local vet's office and she's the biggest ball of energy!

Anyways, in my prior experience with cats, I've either had males or the females I've had already had healed spay scars. This little girl got spayed on Friday (10/30). She came come with an e-collar but the technicians at the clinic said it was alright to take it off as long as she wasn't chewing on it.

So, I haven't really had the e-collar on her except for nightime and when she's in the crate I haven't seen her chewing or licking on it. I've been trying to keep her confined to the crate I have but she's absolutely miserable in it so I've been giving her playtime outside of the crate, for roughly two hours or so. I've also been checking the spay scar and it was a bit swollen when I took her but now it looks even more swollen and kind of crusty. I'm kind of confused because she hasn't been licking at it when I've had my eye on her (which is whenever she's out of the crate). So my question is, will it go away on it's own or should I take her to the vet. And if so, we have an appointment schedule on 11/13 and should I wait that long? I'm sorry if these are stupid questions but I've never had a female kitten and I want to make sure I'm doing this right. Thanks in advance! P.S. I've also provided a picture, it was extremely hard to get!

OMG I got Autumn from a shelter, she came spayed. She had been spayed 3 days before we got her. She had something that looks like what your cat has. We noticed it the next day. It was like a lump. We brought her right to the vet, and she was given Amoxicillin. We gave it to her twice a day for a little over a week. Now it's healed. She has to go back to the vet for a check up, but I think she's fine now. Autumn wasn't given stitches they used surgical glue, and it was an allergic reaction to the glue.

Bring your cat to the vet, don't wait!

You should take her back to the vet and ask about antibiotics.

Shareena had something similar, a huge lump but not crusty. The vet said it was a reaction to the suture material which was just an inflammation at that point but could become infected. He gave me amoxicillin for both Shareena and Miss Patchwillow and it took only a couple of days to see a big difference. You still want to give the full course of antibiotics even if the starts looking better right away.

The incision is infected. Get her in today. The longer you wait the worse it will get.
Most vets will see cats back in due to an infection like this for free and only charge you the cost of the antibiotic.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

The incision is infected. Get her in today. The longer you wait the worse it will get.
Most vets will see cats back in due to an infection like this for free and only charge you the cost of the antibiotic.

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The above... Now I will say that my cat had a surgery and he reacted to the stitches and it looked similar... vet had me use a antibiotic ointment on it

Yes, please take her in ASAP, it looks infected...

Yes take her in right away, and I would also keep the e-collar on her. My cat Harley had the same thing when she was spayed, her incision was infected and she had to keep the e-collar on and go on antibiotics.

The pics say it all - they even make me a little angry - she's not even my cat and my blood pressure went up just looking at it.

I'll try to settle down - I hope you have a good vet but, I am wondering why this would happen.

Hope you've been to the vet and getting help that she needs.

Sorry about the reaction - just seems that this infection is so unnecessary - I'll try to calm down now.

Originally Posted by GloriaJH

Sorry about the reaction - just seems that this infection is so unnecessary - I'll try to calm down now.

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It happens. I'd roughly guess as much as 50% of the time. Even with the e-collar on, our cats go lay on the floor, dig around in the litter box, and there's bacteria already on the skin.

For human surgeries we're pretreated with antibiotics because infection is always a possibility. (actually they run them through the IV during and for a short while after surgery)

It could also be in part to a reaction to the sutures. There's no way to predict this.


Now, as to why incisions suddenly get bad a few days later. Whenever a cat is spay they're given an antibiotic injection. It should be longer lasting but if there's going to be infection it usually pops up 3-5 days after the spay as the injection wears off. There's no helping this other than pretreating with more antibiotics - and half the time that's unnecessarily and even has some health risks of it's own.

No one is to blame here, not the vet and not the OP. It happens. What matters is that prompt treatment is given if an infection does occur.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

It happens. I'd roughly guess as much as 50% of the time. Even with the e-collar on, our cats go lay on the floor, dig around in the litter box, and there's bacteria already on the skin.

For human surgeries we're pretreated with antibiotics because infection is always a possibility. (actually they run them through the IV during and for a short while after surgery)

It could also be in part to a reaction to the sutures. There's no way to predict this.


Now, as to why incisions suddenly get bad a few days later. Whenever a cat is spay they're given an antibiotic injection. It should be longer lasting but if there's going to be infection it usually pops up 3-5 days after the spay as the injection wears off. There's no helping this other than pretreating with more antibiotics - and half the time that's unnecessarily and even has some health risks of it's own.

No one is to blame here, not the vet and not the OP. It happens. What matters is that prompt treatment is given if an infection does occur.

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Wow, that % sure is a high percentage.

I guess I've been very fortunate.

I know my vet does practice giving the antibiotics before surgery.

I took the stray and ferals to the clinic (free surgery for ferals) for altering - I don't know if they were given antibiotics prior to the surgery - maybe so, because the ferals get immediate release in most cases. ??

I kept my ferals confined for a day and a half before releasing them - still - it was outside, and there was no ill effect from the surgery.

I didn't realize that my experience was in the top 50%.

Thanks for the info.
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It may not be that high, but it's common. I've had four females done in the last few years and two of them had to go back for antibiotics - mind you I didn't let their incisions get beyond slightly red and showing the first signs of infection because I'm paranoid. Chances are Blasa's body would have fought off the infection because her's wasn't that bad. I imagine that happens in many spay ferals, too, as it's not like we can check their bellies daily.

They do get an antibiotic shot - these shots (in cat size) don't cost very much. But stress, environment, and reacting to sutures can cause complications.

Thanks everyone for the advice! I'll schedule an appointment with the vet for tomorrow!

Originally Posted by filamgirl618

Thanks everyone for the advice! I'll schedule an appointment with the vet for tomorrow!

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..Today would be preferable due to the amount of swelling (it will be somewhat painful) and chance of fever. Could they not squeeze you in for a 15 minute appointment before closing?

So I just wanted to give you guys an update...

I went to the vet this afternoon (though she was still hyper as ever) and after a two-minute observation, the vet said she was ok...

She basically said that the lump under the skin is normal (something about how they sew the muscles and such back together) and that the crusty stuff is just a scab forming from where the glue used to be.

So I guess she's alright. She definitely doesn't act like there's anything wrong with her that's for sure.

Weird, it shouldn't be that prominent, though. Keep an eye on it anyways just in case your vet wasn't taking it too seriously...

so, I guess the vet did take her temp ? that would sure help indicate if there was an infection.

Nora's incision after her spay looked almost identical to that, and she had quite a large lump also, and the vet said it was normal and it wasn't infected. She didn't seem bothered by it at all (our vet told us to allow her normal activity and there was no need to crate her or anything), and it healed normally. There is no lump there anymore.

Harley's looked similar and it was infected, but then again she had also pulled a few of the stitches...