Cat spay?

Hey guys! My five month old Freya was spayed today. I'm probably being super paranoid, because not only have I never had cats, this is the first female I have had spayed, I've either only had male animals or was very young when the dog was spayed and don't really remember the experience. Anyway, I've had her home for about six hours now. She has spent most of the time confined either to the bathroom or crate. I tried to let her out for a little whole, but she kept trying to jump on her cat tree and chair and window sill. I've been checking her incision site fairly frequently, and have noticed that there is some blood around the incision site. It's not dried or anything, it seems like it's fresh, but it's not a deep red like she's actively bleeding, it's kind of a light pinkish orange. Should that be something I am worried about? I'm also having fits because on one of the occasions when I let her out for a little bit, she tried to go through the rails of the adder on her cat tree


I don't know if you can really see it but next to the chair is the little ladder I was talking about. She went to go between the two lowest rungs and got a little hung up because her hind end is still a little week. I immediately went and helped her and noticed some blood on the rung. I then checked her incision, and nothing appeared torn but the site was still bloody. She seems to have recovered from the anesthesia and pain medicine now, and she's actually being pretty playful, which is part of the reason that I have her confined. Anyway, should I just keep an eye on the site until tomorrow and see how it does? Like I said, it doesn't seem like anything has pulled apart.

Cats are very good at self-limiting their behavior based on their pain level.  I would let her be and not be overly paranoid. Keep an eye on her incision and as long as there's no gaping in the incision or excessive blood, she should be okay.  If she doesn't protest too much, keep her in the bathroom, but I'd let her go wherever she wants and monitor her.

Sometimes it can ozz a little after initial surgery, and the more she moves around the worse it will get. If it looks like a lot or you feel concerned by all means contact your vet. Your best bet is to kkep her in the bathroom with her favorite bed, some water, and before you go to bed feed her 1/4 of what she would normally eat and to leave her alone. Also giver her a litterbox with either pellet litter (yesterday's news) or shred some newspaper so if she decides to lay in her litterbox it doesn't get litter in her incision. Does she have an e-collar? I would put that on her as well incase of any licking. Inspect the incision every day to make sure there is no redness, swelling, discharge (a little clear-ish red is serum, which means it's healing, but if it looks dark, greenish, thick/purdelent, or is a lot then I would definently be concerned), missing sutures, pulled appart sutures, or smell. Any of the above, contact your vet. Also make sure she's eating, sometimes they won't eat the night of though. Watch her for vomiting, not drinking/urinating in the litterbox, and lethargy (of course it's normal for her to be a little lethargic a day or two after). You can also clean it a little if need be with a cotton ball and a little soap and water, gently, no hard scrubbing! But you shouldn't need to do that. Try and keep her quiet/ confined until sutures come out.

Thanks for the quick answers guys! I got some bitter apple to put next to the incision, and she hasn't been messing with it yet. She also ate and drank really well this evening and did not vomit it back up. She actually acted like she wanted more food, but the vet told me to limit her food tonight. The most difficult part will be keeping her quiet and confined. Zelda, my seven week old kitten, is really missing her buddy, and Freya is missing her too. Another reason she's been confined is because she keeps trying to initiate play.

Don't put the Bitter Apple ON her. It's not really great for them.  You can spray things with it, but don't apply it to your kitty.  If she's licking it, it's normal.  She's trying to get her "not me scent" off of her.  She is just trying to get herself to smell like her.  I would think she could eat small meals several hours apart.  Again, she'll stop eating if she's full or not feeling well.  It's one of the ways cats let you know they're not feeling well.  The only time I've kept mine confined was when I brought them home late in the day and they were still very groggy.  The next morning, they were out and about like normal.  I just had one spayed in January.  For the day after her spay, she stayed on the counch most of the time.  The next day, she split her time between the couch and on the middle level of the cat tree.  She slept a lot the day after her spay.

Are you sure about the bitter apple? It was given to me by the veterinarian who did the spay, she said it was fine as long as it wasn't applied directly to her incision. Like I said, I'm sure I'm being over cautious and paranoid, but this is the first spay I've ever dealt with. A neutered male is much simpler.

How is she doing today?  The thing I don't like about Bitter Apple is that if they ingest it, they can possibly start foaming at the mouth, which is scary for everyone.  It's not fatal, but I used it ONCE and that was enough to make me not want to use it again.

She's doing great today! I checked the incision area this morning and there was no blood or anything around it. I've set up the recliner in a way that she doesn't have to actually do a lot of jumping to get to her window sill. The main thing for the next few days I think will be keeping her and Zelda separated. One of their favorite things to do when they play is grab each other and kind of bunny kick, which I think can be pretty dangerous for her incision site. She's pretty much back to herself today.

You should be able to leave them together.  Freya will let her know when she's reached her tolerance level.

Okay, so I'm not sure if the incision site is healing properly. I got her spayed on Monday, and it still doesn't seen like it's closing up. When I look at it it seems like it's actually kind of pulled apart so I can see the sutures underneath, but she isn't acting like she's in pain and there's no leaking or odd smell. Is that normal? I've been keeping her separated from the other animals for now.

Do you have a pic?

This is the best I could get. If I could get a little closer you would see that the flap is a little open and you can see what are probably her inner sutures. If this were day two or so I wouldn't be as concerned but it's been nearly a week and they still look basically the same as they did when I picked her up from the clinic. The second pic, where it looks a little more bloody, is actually from yesterday.

I think you have cause to be concerned.  I would get her to the vet on Monday and have it checked out.  She could've popped an internal stitch or something.

I was able to get a better picture while she lounged by me this evening.


I'm calling the office first thing in the morning. Not only do I feel this is not how it should look a whole week after surgery, it seems to be getting worse despite minimization of her activity.

(I feel like I should add that she has not been licking/biting at the incision site, either)

Update: I took her to the clinic today. They confirmed that she has a small infection. They added an external suture that will be removed in ten days. She will also be in antibiotics during that same time period. And she has been put in the cone of shame.

Poor baby!  Good for you for getting her in and taking good care of her.  In lieu of the cone of shame, you can try a baby onesie, or if she's small enough, even the top of an old tube sock.

I mentioned the tube sock thing, but the vet was concerned about it possibly getting caught on the external stitch. The cone freaked her out a bit at first but she's adjusting to it pretty quickly.

Although I never considered a baby onesie, I might look in to that.

You can also cut down the cone a bit to help her eat and maneuver around.

It's funny you mention that. The first cone they put on her was actually a bit bigger and bulkier, but it was too big around the neck so she could fit her paw through the neck hole. This one is much shorter and doesn't extend very far past her nose. The vet is actually concerned that she may be able to maneuver around it and instructed us to come back for the larger one if she could work past this one.

In regards to a onesie, how could I adjust it where she can still go to the bathroom at will? Just cut a hole in the bottom?