Hernia questions.

Hello, we brought in a stray recently, his name is Dakoda, but we call him Koda or KoKo for short. Anyway, tomorrow he is getting neutered and is getting his hernia repaired. I have never had a cat with a hernia in my life, so I don't know what to expect. The vet said it wasn't big at all, and there's no way of knowing if it would close up on its own or progressively get worse, so best to suture it up when he gets neutered. I agreed, of course.
If anyone has any experience with hernias, do let me know what to expect or what I should do to make him comfortable after his surgery, if anything. Thank you!

I forgot to put this in the title, but I also have a question about UTIs in cats.
I don't know if he has one, but whenever he urinates he basically lays all the way down and it takes him awhile to urinate. He does go a lot when he does go, but he doesn't go very often. Maybe once or twice a day. He isn't constantly grooming down there and he doesn't cry or anything as he's going. Could this just be a weird way he likes to urinate? Lying down instead of squatting? Or should I be concerned?

A hernia is pretty simple, it's just like a tear in the underside of the skin and a stitch or 2 will fix it.

Nothing specific post surgery, neuters are simple also, just try to keep the activity on the low end for a day or so, feed canned until the anesthesia is worn off.

Expect him to clean the surgery areas, this is fine, he wants the foreign smells gone, but any excessive cleaning or chewing and thereaten him with a cone of shame!

He will do fine.

It sounds like just his way of peeing, just be sure he drinks plenty.

Another great reason to feed canned is the water content, 78-80% water, and cats can never have too much.

Also aids in keeping him from crystal buildup.

He got neutered and his hernia fixed today. Does it look okay right now?

Yes it looks just great!

catwoman707 said:

Yes it looks just great!

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Okay, awesome. Thank you. Poor dear keeps trying to lay in his little hammock thing on the cat tree and he can't curl up Hopefully he will start feeling better soon!

Is it normal to have swelling in two spots around the top and the bottom of the incision? It's been four days now. It isn't red and the stitches have not come apart or anything. He leaves it alone for the most part, just minimally grooms it every once in awhile. I will try to take a photo later of it. I just want to know if I should worry about the two lumps as of right now or not.
The first picture I posted, you can see the two lumps there too. They look just how they did there, basically.

Normal or no?

It's actually a bit bloody today Should we take him to the vet tomorrow?
He sleeps curled up in a tight little ball, so maybe that's why the incision is puckering? Because as he lays it basically folds the incision in half and he stays in the position for hours usually. He has been grooming it but not excessively or aggressively, just licking it. I don't know what to do, I've never dealt with a hernia surgery before.

I think I would show the vet those photos and maybe bring him in. Poor lil guy!

talkingpeanut said:

I think I would show the vet those photos and maybe bring him in. Poor lil guy!

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I took away his cat tree from my room so he can't curl up in his little hammock thingy and hopefully now he will lay out more than he has been. I'll see if we can email the vet the photos and see what they have to say. I have a feeling they might just say to use a warm compress or something for the swelling. It doesn't look infected and he's acting fine and is active, so we will see. Thanks for the input!

The lump towards the bottom of the incision is very hard. I don't know what that means.
I'm going to have my boyfriend take him in tomorrow. Hopefully all is well

It does not appear infected, and the top/bottom lumps are prob scar tissue and will even out fine as he heals.

The slight blood/pus look should not be there, but again, it doesn't look infected but I'd ask about using a topical antibiotic ointment on it to keep it from possibly becoming an issue too.

After 4 days it should be on it's way to healing together, but tummy skin is a bit thicker than the neuter surgery, making it a bit slower to heal.

The location on his tummy is not ideal either, and is constantly being swiped, rubbed, folded, etc. which is likely why the blood now.

When I got my little Ella, they said when she got spayed, they fixed her hernia. I was like what? I've never heard of it either. She's almost 3 & totally normal. She does NOT like her belly touched, I think it's from her kitten days. I mean she won't let anyone near there, I can pretty much grab all my kitties, like everywhere, but Ella has an issue with her stomach.

Anyway when she was a kitten her little belly stuck out a little but now that's she's grown, she looks totally normal

Very late update, but I have a question. We took him to the vet six days after his surgery. The vet said it was more swollen than he'd like it to be, but to wait a few more weeks to see what it looks like then. It did go down, the swelling, I mean, but now it looks funny around the incision. I'm not sure if it is ink from a tattoo to mark where it is, or maybe weird bruising, but it only showed up a few days ago.


Any ideas?

Have you shown this photo to your vet??

cat-tech said:

Have you shown this photo to your vet??

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No. I haven't had the time to go in. I work two jobs, unfortunately. He seems perfectly fine, though. He lets us touch his belly with no problems. I'll call tomorrow and inquire about it.
Any other opinions are still welcome!

Looks like bruising, you know if you call the vet's office just ask for the email address and let them know you will be sending the vet a photo so be on the lookout for it, it's a great way to show him updates so he can see without having to take him in unless the vet feels a concern and wants to see him.

I'd def show him this strange bruising.

Not ink.

catwoman707 said:

Looks like bruising, you know if you call the vet's office just ask for the email address and let them know you will be sending the vet a photo so be on the lookout for it, it's a great way to show him updates so he can see without having to take him in unless the vet feels a concern and wants to see him.

I'd def show him this strange bruising.
Not ink.

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It only started showing up as his fur started coming in. Very weird. But okay, I'll call sometime and see what their email is. It's a very small vet with only two locations where I live, so I'm not sure if they even use email or anything. I'll give it a shot though.

Coniferously said:

It only started showing up as his fur started coming in. Very weird. But okay, I'll call sometime and see what their email is. It's a very small vet with only two locations where I live, so I'm not sure if they even use email or anything. I'll give it a shot though.

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Bruising that took so long to surface is strange. A bruise being what it is, like a hematoma inside that comes to the surface showing trauma that occurred.

It may be perfectly fine for the vet, he knows what and how deep he had to go to repair the hernia, which may be the reason for this kind of bruising.

Def best to make sure he sees it though

Let us know!

catwoman707 said:

Bruising that took so long to surface is strange. A bruise being what it is, like a hematoma inside that comes to the surface showing trauma that occurred.
It may be perfectly fine for the vet, he knows what and how deep he had to go to repair the hernia, which may be the reason for this kind of bruising.
Def best to make sure he sees it though
Let us know!

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It is very weird. That's why I was so confused. His progress was going so well and then this weird bruising showed up. He hasn't stopped playing or eating or being his usual self at all. If it wasn't visual I wouldn't think anything was wrong at all.
I will for sure let you guys know though!