Kitten Spayed, Weird Scratch?

Hi,

  Pumpkin had her spay today and I noticed this little red patch next to her incision. Is this the norm? She isn't letting us too close at the moment so I could only get a blurry pic. No one at the vets mentioned it but it does look like a blood red bruise. Other than not letting us get too close to her, she doesn't appear to be in pain or different to how she normally behaves.

I would email this photo to your vet and get their input.  A red area like that often indicates infection, although since she was just spayed today, it seems awfully fast to be this developed.  It might also be a bruise of some sort.  Either way, run it by your vet.  Your photos are very clear.

Okay I can email them but its Saturday here so they wont be open until Monday. They assured me that she got a shot of antibiotics and pain relief.

I wasn't very impressed with this vet she came back with broken plastic in her carrier that wasn't from the carrier and I didn't hear anything until 3 when I called despite being told I'd get a text and phone call.

Hmmm.  If she was given an antibiotic shot, it's unlikely that's an infection.  Now that you've mentioned the vet was a bit iffy, I'm more worried than I was before.  I don't have much experience with spayed cats since the ones I've adopted recently have already been spayed but that doesn't look right to me.  I'd definitely keep a close eye on it and if it enlarges or if your girl starts to show signs of pain, you should probably take her to an emergency vet.  Granted, she will be tender from the surgery but most spayed cats don't show a lot of pain after a couple of days so if she does, something might be wrong.

Its not impacting her in anyway though I think she has popped a stitch. I got a few pics of it while she took a nap on my bed.

My guess would be a clipper cut, like if she got a little piece of skin that was folded instead of pulled tight when the tech was shaving her, so the clippers actually took off some skin.  If that's the case, it should heal fine and should not infect.  I wouldn't put any ointment on it because she will just lick it off.  If it's a clipper cut, it will scab over and heal on its own.  If it's a skin lesion she already had, that was just revealed by being clipped, that's a different matter.  Just watch it and if it gets oozy or inflamed, then check with your vet.  If i just gets a dry scab on it, leave it alone.

What I thought was a bruise or a scratch is just a faded patch of brown today so maybe it was just the vet surgery equivalent of betadine. I dont know how intradermal stitches are meant to look but I think she may have burst one or the line was just crooked before.

It looks pretty good to me. I'd guess the red patch was razor burn, blood transfer (like it got on an instrument that touched the skin, etc.), or betadine. Entirely normal after surgery.

Now that panic is out of the way, I just have to stop her jumping around like a mad thing and licking near the catheter spot on her front leg.

Keep her in a small room, preferably with you, like your bedroom.  Then she can't run or jump much.

I just let them do what they want.  They're pretty self-limiting if they are in pain.  Also, just keep an eye on the incision and make sure it doesn't get too angry red looking or opens up.  She'll be fine.

She has been really good except for climbing a mattress standing up on its short end.

Incision looks like it did on the first day. No redness or swelling. Looks like they sewed her loose skin a little odd so there is a tiny bump but it wasn't hard or hot.

Kind of funny seeing her bald ponch sagging all over the place, how long til her fur comes back?

The little knot is scar tissue forming and is perfectly normal.  Hair will regrow in full in about 2-3 months. 

Awesome, I was really hoping I wouldn't have to take her back there. I might look into a home visit vet for her yearly vaccinations.

Glad she's doing OK. Her little naked tummy is very cute! Love her different coloured spots.

I relaxed too soon! She greeted me at the door with her tum-tum looking red. So now I have three options, 1. take her back to see if she's wrecked the stitches, 2.buy bitterant spray, or 3. buy an e-collar.

A friend with livestock said it looks healthy but when I went to buy a cone from a different vet to the desexing, she saw the pic and said it looks a bit infected. We have a check up with the desexing vet tomorrow and I'm the owner of the world's saddest lamp until she gets the all clear. 

RESULTS ARE IN: Pumpkin has opened the incision more than the vet is happy with but the vet isn't too worried. She said if it open further Pumpkin has to be pinned down and restitched.

So she's been banished to the cone for the next 5-9 days and I'm meant to apply iodine. Is betadine okay? It is the only thing I found that contains iodine.

Betadine is better because it doesn't sting, whereas iodine stings like crazy.  You can also just use hydrogen peroxide on a cotton ball.  It stings a little bit also, though.

Is there a thread with pictures of the healing progress? Within the span of yesterday it changed three times: we could see an internal stitch, it got kind of raw looking in that spot, it's scabbed over where it was open.

Pumpkin's not helping herself at all. She attacks the vets now and climbed into our chimney with the cone on.