Swollen mammary glands after spay

lillygirl

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Hello all,

I was wondering if anyone had any idea as to what this could be...the vet, in her language said "this is very weird" and that they have never seen anything like this before.

I had my 2 yr old cat spayed on April 8/11. On Apr. 28 I noticed a bunch of lumps on the chest of my cat Lily and freaked out and took her to the vet the next day. The vet looked at her and determined that all of her mammary glands were swollen...which is weird because that's not suppose to happen after a spay right? She took Lilly into the next room because apparently its so weird and odd and then came back and told me "well, it could be cancer"...This freaked me out even more but Lily seems healthy...she eats and drinks and does her business fine. She plays and she doesnt seem to be in pain when you stroke her belly. In fact she even rolls over and lets you rub them. Her personality has not changed... i'm wondering...could this be a botched spay? I'm pretty upset that the vet has no idea what she's talking about and just randomly suggests cancer and doesnt even say well we can test for this and that. So i'm doing my own research and am finding that it could be a botched spay procedure. This vet has a good reputation and it's a nice clean building. I'm just confused and upset.

Lily is the sweetest cat in the world...it would be so unfair for her to have cancer. Would anyone know why a cat's mammary glands (all of them) would swell up a few weeks after being spayed?
 

Willowy

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My first guess would be an infection. Second guess would be some kind of hormone surge. . .was she in heat when she was spayed? An infection would of course need antibiotics, a hormone surge would probably go down on its own eventually.

If your vet isn't being very helpful, a second opinion would be a good idea.
 

taryn

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Attitude ended up with mastitis not long after her spay. The vet asked who spayed her because he thought she might be pregnant(she had been spayed a few weeks prior, if she were pregnant it would have been about time for her to start showing and honestly she did look pregnant.) After I told him they did he decided it was mastitis and gave her antibiotics.

Attitude was in heat when she was spayed but she was also FeLV+ so I woldn't doubt her lowered immunity helped with her gettin an infection, she spend most of her life on antibiotics for one infection or another.

Get a second opinion, it could just be mastitis.

Taryn
 

ducman69

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I have to agree, something like that isn't common enough to really diagnose on the internet. I haven't ever heard of an infection that wasn't also tender to the touch though, so the endocrine imbalance would seem to make more sense. Definitely need another vet's second opinion on this, preferably a feline specialist.
 
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lillygirl

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Actually Lily is an indoor cat, she's never been outside...the most "outside" she's been is in the apartment hallway. There is no way she was pregnant and she wasn't in heat when she had the surgery. She has been in heat before though many times...but we didn't want to do it when she was in heat so we waited until she finished.

Thanks for the input. I'm thinking of seeing a different vet to get their opinion.
 

taryn

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Originally Posted by Ducman69

I haven't ever heard of an infection that wasn't also tender to the touch though, so the endocrine imbalance would seem to make more sense.
Attitude didn't mind you pressing on her which is why the first question of the vet was if she was spayed and the second was who spayed her. Antibiotic cleared her up but as I said I was dealing with a known immunocompromised (indoor only)cat who had a history at that point of never ending eye infections.

I only had her spayed while in heat due to the fact that I had her intact brother inside and I found out she was in heat by discovering him on top of her. The vet got her in the next day, when I scheduled Nuts he Had to wait 2 weeks for space.(Something about my FeLV+ female is in heat and I just found her brother on top of her makes them quickly find a way to work the cat into their surgery schedule.) She was 5 months old I didn't know she could go into heat that early, thought I had an extra month(didn't hurt that the vet told me she was 'definitely male' at her first vet appointment.)

Taryn
 

scubachic911

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You probably have the answer to this by now, but I'm going thru the exact same thing...it's Ovarian Remnant Syndrome. It's a bummer. :(
 

mellyj

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OUR ELLA IS EXPERIENCING THE VERY SAME SYMPTOMS YOU HAVE SUGGESTED.  WE WERE  GIVEN SIMILAR INFORMATION, AND ARE GIVING HER ANTIBIOTICS NOW (STARTING LAST SAT) AND SHE WILL BE RECHECKED THIS COMING FRIDAY.  THE VET ASPIRATED HER GLANDS IN SEVERAL AREAS, NO CANCER CELLS WERE FOUND.  THE VET HIGHLY SUSPECTS IT'S DUE TO HORMONE FLUCTUATIONS.  WE ADOPTED HER FROM THE DUMB FRIENDS LEAGUE IN DENVER, SHE IS BETWEEN 2 AND 3 YEARS OLD, SPAYED APR 1, 2013 AND THE SYMPTOMS BECAME APPARENT MAY 29TH.  SOUNDS IDENTICAL TO YOUR SITUATION.  READING YOUR COMMENTS AND VIEWING OTHER WEB SITES, I NOW FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE WITH THE DIAGNOSES GIVEN AND PRAY FOR BOTH "KITTIES" TO BE SPARED THE UNTHINKABLE, HAVING JUST FOUND THEIR FOREVER HOME.
 
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lillygirl

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Hi everyone - I just saw some new posts on this thread and thought about giving an update. 

Lily had the swollen mammary glands after her spay and after the first vet we took her to freaked me out and was so unprofessional - we took her to another vet for a second opinion.  As thought, they did not have any answers so they decided to do some research and talk with colleagues around the area to see if anyone knew anything about this condition.  They didn’t come up with any definitive answers – they told us to just wait it out and see what happens.

So we waited and after a few weeks they started going down.  She didn’t take any medication.  They think it must have been just a hormone fluctuation and that she must have been close to going back into heat just before her surgery.  They also said that her uterus was a bit larger than normal when they took it out – but they weren’t sure if that had anything to do with it.

Lily is perfectly fine now, the swelling went down within a month and a bit.  Aside from the swollen mammary glands, she had no other symptoms.  Hope all is well with your kitties.
 

Allie Cat and Mommy

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Wow! I'm brand new to this this Cat site & I'm so happy I found it! My beautiful cat Allie was just spayed on June 23rd, but was an emergency procedure due to the fact that she had a severe uterine infection. Her uterus was the size of a silver dollar & the normal size is about half the width of a pencil! I JUST noticed tonight, that her mammary glands are swollen. Before I even looked it up, I was thinking that it could be due to hormones ... because when you think about it, having a total hysterectomy causes a medically induced early menopause, so to speak. That's what I do believe it is. But of course I'm freaking out anyway. After what I went through with her emergency surgery, it feels like it took about 10 years off of my life. I do feel better after reading some of these posts. Her vet is very reputable and I was amazed at how they diagnosed Allie. I took her in with vomiting, yet she was still eating, drinking and playing. It stopped for a bit and when it started up again, I noticed lethargy and she'd come up and lie down on my belly all stretched out with her head up under my neck. I knew even from the way she was lying on me that it was a "I don't feel good Mommy" kinda thing ... we can all pretty much tell when our beloved fur-babies are trying to tell us something. But taking no chances, I'm calling the vet first thing in the morning. I'll let y'all know what the vet says and what kind of treatment she gets. ❣❣
 

Allie Cat and Mommy

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Hi everyone - I just saw some new posts on this thread and thought about giving an update.

Lily had the swollen mammary glands after her spay and after the first vet we took her to freaked me out and was so unprofessional - we took her to another vet for a second opinion. As thought, they did not have any answers so they decided to do some research and talk with colleagues around the area to see if anyone knew anything about this condition. They didn’t come up with any definitive answers – they told us to just wait it out and see what happens.

So we waited and after a few weeks they started going down. She didn’t take any medication. They think it must have been just a hormone fluctuation and that she must have been close to going back into heat just before her surgery. They also said that her uterus was a bit larger than normal when they took it out – but they weren’t sure if that had anything to do with it.

Lily is perfectly fine now, the swelling went down within a month and a bit. Aside from the swollen mammary glands, she had no other symptoms. Hope all is well with your kitties.
I am so very happy that Lily is doing fine now!!! It sounds like my Allie Cat has the exact same signs and symptoms as Lily did. If she all she needs is antibiotics, that's great. The only thing is, it's so difficult for us to administer them to her. After her surgery, we had to give her pain meds & antibiotics, both with a syringe. After the first time, she was on to us. We tried wrapping her like a burrito with a towel, scruffiness her and just holding her. At the vets office, they made it look very easy, but that's because she's scared and stiffens up when she's there and will let the "strangers" do anything to her ... but get her home & she turns into a "wild child!" All we get is arms, legs and claws deployed! Any suggestions on how to safely administer her RX's and without too much emotional trauma? Any suggestions, would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!!
 

Allie Cat and Mommy

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I am so very happy that Lily is doing fine now!!! It sounds like my Allie Cat has the exact same signs and symptoms as Lily did. If she all she needs is antibiotics, that's great. The only thing is, it's so difficult for us to administer them to her. After her surgery, we had to give her pain meds & antibiotics, both with a syringe. After the first time, she was on to us. We tried wrapping her like a burrito with a towel, scruffiness her and just holding her. At the vets office, they made it look very easy, but that's because she's scared and stiffens up when she's there and will let the "strangers" do anything to her ... but get her home & she turns into a "wild child!" All we get is arms, legs and claws deployed! Any suggestions on how to safely administer her RX's and without too much emotional trauma? Any suggestions, would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!!
P.S. You'll find my initial post at the bottom of the page ...
 
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