Worried about spay incision site! help!

I feel like this question has been asked a million times (I know because I've Googled it and read them all), but it's still so different each time so I thought I'd try asking about my sweet Marnie. I just got her about a week and a half ago from the county shelter and two days ago got her spayed at a local low-cost vet clinic. I didn't even see the vet when I picked her up after her surgery and nobody there told me what to expect, save for one sheet of paper with a few not-so-thorough post-op care instructions (no one even told me how long to leave her E-collar on and it doesn't say on the sheet...I'm going to go with a week I think???). The information I've gathered on my own has been a bit confusing. Some people say that the incision site should be at its worst the day of surgery and improve from there. Others say the first few days some of the things they tell you to "watch out for" are even normal (i.e. a little bleeding, drainage, etc.). So basically what I'm saying is I have no idea if Marnie's incision site is healing up properly. It looks kind of like it could be infected to me, with some crusty looking drainage or possible opening of the suture (I honestly can't tell where the incision is supposed to start and end) but I could also just be overly paranoid because she's my first pet that's 100% mine and my responsibility.

I should mention that the first 24 hours were rough for us...She came home still groggy (as to be expected...or so I gathered from Google...), but the more she snapped out of that, the more aggressive she got and man oh man she HATED the E collar. She was flailing about so much I thought she'd hurt herself more trying to get out of it than she would without it altogether so I took it off after an hour of her frantic attempts at freedom. I tried crating her to confine her a little bit, but she rolled around and scratched and tried gnawing her way out of that thing for another hour so finally I gave in. I tried to make her a little pen in my walk-in closet and on-suite bathroom area but she was still trying to jump at all my clothes and the toilet and the bathroom counters...I eventually got the collar back on her and she is actually very comfortable with it now, but I'm nervous she licked it the wound and rough-housed too much when I wasn't watching her and the damage has already been done. Ok sorry for that long-winded and unnecessary explanation. I'm attaching a picture to get some opinions. I might give it another day or so and then take her to the vet if it gets worse but I'm interested to see what others have to say. Thank you!!!

MarniesMom said:

 

Click to expand...

It looks pretty good to me.  If its not leaking, bleeding or separating, or getting red or puffy then its just healing.

It looks great!  I don't see any angry redness, weeping, or anything.  I think that little "tuck" is common and will go away once the incision is completely healed. She should be let out of the cage/crate and allowed to resume normal activities.  She'll limit herself if she's not feeling well.

Looks good to me too (not that I'm an expert!) I'd second what Stephan said.
If she's so unhappy in the cage, then it's better that she's out even if she is moving around so much. As long as you can keep the collar on for a few more days, she should be OK.

I agree with everyone else.  I have also gone through an infection in an incision after my cat was spayed.  Her incision did not ooze when it got infected but it was bright red and puffy.  It is a very noticeable change in appearance if it does get infected.  Her incision actually got infected after the stitches were removed.  I just took her back to the vet and they drained the infection and gave her pain meds and an antibiotic.  The treatment worked and all signs of the infection were gone in a couple of days.  That incision like everyone else said looks like it is healing.  If you do suddenly notice any redness/puffiness then just get her back into the vet.  This is a very treatable issue if anything should happen.

Also I agree about not keeping her confined in a cage if she is unhappy.  When I went through this issue back in 2006 Starbuck was a kitten.  She was pretty good about limiting her movement based on how she felt.  The only thing I would worry about in terms of possibly keeping her confined is if you have stairs in your house.  I kept Starbuck confined to my bedroom for a few days when I was not home because the vet did not want her going up and down the stairs.  The funny thing was my other cats insisted on being confined with her. When I was home I did let her have free reign of the entire house because when she was a kitten she shoulder surf on us to get up and down the stairs. She is a munchkin so she really needed help with the stairs when she was a baby. The stairs were too big for her to navigate.  I had to have multiple feeding stations and litter boxes on each level so she had easy access.

Thank you everyone!! I felt silly asking if this was the case, but I thought I'd better be safe than sorry.