Help! cat spay complication...

I just offered her some yoghurt, she refused it. However, about an hour ago she ate a few bits of bread! She's always liked bread.

I also force-fed her about 8 ml of water.

I've noticed that when I approach her without food, she doesn't lick her lips; but when she's refusing food from my hand, she often licks her lips. I guess that means that the presence of food is still making her nauseous. But I don't think she's been vommitting, thank goodness.

I've noticed that there is a patch of skin near her incision, about the size of a penny or a grape, that is brownish-reddish. Her skin is shaved there, and the surrounding (normal) color there is cream/beige. The patch is not noticable when I run my finger across it; it is only a different color. Here are three photos -

http://s5.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2S...V1AYILS0E68POQ

http://s5.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0Q...42EEMP1KJL8KDL

http://s5.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2D...G03FNECK5Z1CPI

I would be very grateful to anyone who could tell me what it is.

In those photos you can also see the stitches, which the vet here will remove one week after the operation. Does it look like a normal spay? These photos were taken a few minutes ago, three and a half days after the operation.

By the way, she has been moving around slowly. She wants to jump up onto tables but I don't let her, to conserve her energy. She does not appear to be in pain.

Originally Posted by Dan H.

By the way, she has been moving around slowly. She wants to jump up onto tables but I don't let her, to conserve her energy. She does not appear to be in pain.

Click to expand...

One idea is to confine her to a area like a bathroom with toys, litter tray, water and food if you are worried about her doing those things. I had a look at the pictures - It's hard to tell for sure, but it looks like a bruise from surgery. Is the wound warm when you hold your hand just over it? Is there any discharge coming from the stitches?

I'm sure you have considered this yourself, do you think she has been not wanting to eat because of the traumatic time at the vets?... I don't think it would be a good idea to go back there. Can you find another place to take the stitches out? Have you had any experience with wounds and stitches, would you feel comfortable doing it yourself?

Hope she continues to improve!!
Kim

The wound is not particularly warm. There's no discharge from the incision.

I hadn't thought about your idea of trauma causing loss of appetite, but now it seems plausible to me: in general she's a very timid cat; she starts crying the moment I take her outside (in a cat carrier), and the trip to the vet is about 45 minutes each way, usually on an extremely crowded bus. And the worst part about it is that the vet's office is small and has about 7 hyperactive dogs barking very loudly, with a huge dog odor everywhere. And the operation must have been hell for her. Poor Mimi, when she's there she just sits and quivers.

I've been reading the forum, and often the advice for sick cats is "take her to the vet", but in my case, given the questionable abilities of my vet and the trauma of taking her there, I must think twice about that advice. I am SO thankful to you "online" folks who have been helping Mimi and me these days.

I heard a neighbor of mine mention a person who knows how to remove stitches; I'll see if I can set up a housecall.

I just weighed Mimi, suprisingly she hasn't lost much weight. Before the operation, she was about 2.5 kg, now she's about 2.4 kg. Right after the operation, the vet commented that she was very fat, with an "abnormally thick" layer of fat around her tummy.

I think she's unriating about three times a day now.

Urinating that much is very good! A little poop is good too. I think keep hand feeding with the syringe until she fights you not to do it. If you only have one syringe, they can get stuck. put a little oil on the rubber plunger to unstick it. She sounds like she is getting better, but my program won't let me see the pics. Good luck!

Hi,

I've been reading the progress of you kitty and I'm so glad that things are improving! When my kitten was sick and wasn't eating all that well on her own I hand fed her wet food from my finger. She wouldn't eat from a bowl or plate but would eat little bits licked off my fingers. When you don't have to force feed her anymore this may be a way to get a bit more food into her. Good luck and I'll be thinking of you.

It's great that she is urinating and has passed some feces.

As for the vet's comments about her being fat - cats with a smaller builds certainly can weigh much less than larger kitties (like Main Coons) although at 2.4-2.5 kg she sounds like one of the daintier cats. If you do a search at the top of this forum you should hit all sorts of threads about fat cats and thin cats, signs to look for on your kitties body, etc

TCS also has this link about overweight kitties!
http://www.thecatsite.com/Cats/Cat_Health/Fat_Cats.html

Dax is a little over 3kg and she has a little tummy fat although she is a fairly small cat too. Remember your baby is still growing and cats are usually quite good at regulating their own intake.

I'm so glad that she's doing better. You're doing a phenomenal job

This morning, after some coaxing, Mimi ate a handful of dry cat food by herself! Pretty quickly, too. I hope this means she'll be ok.

Thanks to everyone for all the encouragement!

And just now, another handful. This morning she's eaten about her normal-sized breakfast, on her own. I'll feed her again twelve hours later. She hasn't drank any water this morning. Urinated in the middle of the night.

Sounds like she's going to be okay!!!!

Looks like she's on the road to recovery!

Sounds great. I was really worried about this baby. Hope she continues to get better.

She's finally drank some water on her own. I had to coax her to get her started.

I noticed that she doesn't "nibble" my toes anymore when I'm in bed, which used to be one of her favorite hobbies. Not sure if that's because she's still weak, or if that's a permanent change due to spaying.

She will probably soon regain all her old habits - mine all did. So glad she is on the mend.

Poor baby! I can't even imagine the kind of care they have for cats in China. I am glad she seems to be on the road to recovery.

Great to hear she is continuing to improve!

Give her some time and plenty of love and she should start to be more herself again

Kim

She's behaving pretty much normally now: eating, drinking, playing, etc. Wonderful!

I've arranged for a medical student friend to come over 7 days after the spay operation to remove her stitches. A while back, he removed the stitches from my neighbor's bunny when he was neutered, and it only took a few minutes and went very smoothly. So I think Mimi should be ok.

But just to be sure, is there anything special I should be aware of regarding removing stitches? Do you think the technique for humans is the same for cats?

Also, I've read on the forum that the recommended time for removing stitches is 8-12 days after the operation, but my vet recommended 7 days, and he said that if I wait too long the removal gets more difficult. What do you think, is 7 days ok?

By the way, the reason I don't want the vet to remove them is explained by my earlier post where I described the trauma of taking her to the vet.

Thanks again for your help! I love this forum.