Cat just spayed and pulled out one stitch!!

[6kittensTN]

Hi, I just got my cat spayed on 4/28/22. She came home with an e collar but would not keep it on, we tried making her one of those recovery onesies from a baby onesie but she would NOT let us put it on her. She’s still semi feral. She wasn’t bothering her stitches so I just let her be. But today I noticed one of her three was missing! It doesn’t look infected I don’t think, and she is acting normally, but I can’t call the vet until tomorrow.

This was her incision yesterday:

and this is it just now, a stitch is missing!

Is this an emergency? Can I spray the incision with saline wound wash so it doesn’t get infected? ugfhh I know I probably shouldn’t have left the collar off, I’ve had cats get spayed before without having the e collar and had no issues, it seemed to be going fine. Lessons learned.
Thank you!!!

 

[hybriseris]

Hi! I'm not a vet but work in healthcare, for what it's worth.

It definitely doesn't look infected, pretty healthy for wound tissue actually. If it were me I'd leave it alone and not spray anything on it. If she's not messing with it, I'd hesitate to draw her attention to it with a spray or cream of any sort.

I would definitely call your vet in the morning, but this doesn't seem to be an emergency right now by any means. I would keep her quiet if you can, and keep checking it to make sure that area isn't opening, but overall it looks pretty good for now.

I'd call your vet and inform them in the morning unless you notice the wound opening before then.

 

[6kittensTN]

ugghhhh it looks like she pulled out another stitch overnight!!! Currently on hold with the vet, but I’m also worried about the added stress of wrangling her into a carrier and driving 45 minutes to the vet and how that will affect her wound. It looks redder than yesterday, more bleeding or opening? Maybe infected?

It’s hard to keep her quiet because I am having to isolate her in a separate room from her 8.5week old kittens (weaned), who still want to comfort nurse on her and they are constantly meowing at eachother through the door So she’s stressed being apart from them, but if they’re together unsupervised then they will paw all over her incision, and most of the times they’re just super rowdy trying to roughhouse with mom.

Thank you for the response!!

 

[hybriseris]

Still doesn't look infected, thankfully! Just looks more like general irritation from whatever she/the kittens are doing to cause the stitches to come out!

Definitely a bit of bleeding but I don't see any gapping like the wound is coming undone.

I would ask if there is an email you can send those images to for your vet to evaluate whether or not she needs to come in to be seen because I hear you about the stress factor. They may see it and be fine with the healing!

 

[6kittensTN]

So I called the vet and sent over the pictures and they said it should be okay as long as the incision stays closed. She loosened the last stitch so I ended up getting a bitter bandage to wrap around her abdomen to keep her from messing with it further. This also allows her kittens to nurse on the free nipples without pawing the incision site. So far she hasn’t ripped it off. I was wondering if this is okay to do or can be harmful for her at all wrapping her abdomen and closing off the incision like this?

 

[stephanietx]

She is just helping you avoid having to take her back for her stitch removal appointment! Glad she's okay, the incision looks great, and I'm glad she's not going to have any more babies. Good job!

 

[cat nap]

So I called the vet and sent over the pictures and they said it should be okay as long as the incision stays closed. She loosened the last stitch so I ended up getting a bitter bandage to wrap around her abdomen to keep her from messing with it further. This also allows her kittens to nurse on the free nipples without pawing the incision site. So far she hasn’t ripped it off. I was wondering if this is okay to do or can be harmful for her at all wrapping her abdomen and closing off the incision like this?

Like the other members have mentioned, I think her incision site looks really good.
Your Vet did an amazing job.

The spay incision site, is usually closed with 2-3 layers of sutures.
The abdominal wall layer. The subcutaneous fat layer. Then the final skin layer, which some Vets only use surgical glue for.

Did your Vet mention using 'absorbable sutures/stitches'?
(I cannot remember what colour my female kitten's sutures were, but they were the absorbable, dissolving kind,...yet she still managed to pull a few out, except the last one, which I just snipped close to the surface.)

In your case, like stephanietx mentioned, your beautiful cat did it for you.
The stitches must have been 'extra itchy'...and so your cat decided to get rid of them.

I don't think you actually need a bandage wrap, because the incision site looks really good.
Also, the incision site might heal faster, when exposed to air.
But you know way more about kittens than I do, ..so it's your call if you think it would protect the site from little paws.

Could you posts some photos of the kittens?
Would love to see how they look.

And good on you, for getting her spayed.
Spay and neutering is the way to go.

 

[hybriseris]

If you feel more comfortable wrapping it to prevent kitten paws from pressing on it, that's okay, but in general I'd leave it unwrapped! If you wrap it just make sure you take a look at it twice a day to check for any signs of infection (red streaks radiating from the wound, pus, bad smell).

Glad it's a good update!