Cat Spaying Nightmare

[giacometti]

Hello,


Last Fall I found a pregnant cat in my backyard. I feed two street cats and had them neuttered. She came along, and I was not sure if she was lost or not. I realized she was pregnant and tried to find the owners, but couldn't. I gave 4 of the kitties (at 3 months, and by pairs to 2 owners) and kept two for me. I also found the father, which I nourrish and will try to get him inside. I'm pretty sure he's the father. The two cats know each other, and the male cat is grey and 2 kitties looked exactly like him.


Now was time to spay the mother. I went to a "hospital" vet because my old vet said she had a heart problem. So the spaying, examination and all cost 450 dollars (including blood tests).


The problems start here: This is the first time I deal with a female cat, but they gave me a collar for her to wear so she doesn't lick her belly. This is a nightmare in itself. She cries and take it off at times, and when I watch her I take it off, because she is not licking her belly at all (only her legs). But though the wound itself seems clean and untouched, it is bulging like a balloon a little. It looks like an hernia to me.

I call the vet for a rendez-vous tomorrow, but it's 20 dollars the technician
+ another 40 if the vet comes to examine her. This upsets me. I would assume that post-op examinations should be a curtesy. Is it just me?
I also find that slicing the belly right in the middle like they did calls up for hernia. Is it just me? What part of post-operative complications would be the responsability of the vet? An hernia sounds like a vet responsability.

Also, aren't they other methods to protect a wound than to leave it
free and use a collar? I have bought Skin Closure Strips and wonder if I should just put it there myself. It is not impossible that the cat have licked because she is able to take her collar after a while, and the time I put it back I have no idea where she has been. What is a clear indication of infection? The skin is not red, the wound seems dry. It just that a "pouch" has formed on the belly.


Have I just started a slow painful process of killing my cat by having her spayed? Ok...I'm panicking. I just mean that I never knew what I embarked on by spaying a female. Wow!


Giacometti

 

[kscatlady]

How is ig bulging? Like a bump? Sometimes they get a little bubble of fluid under the incision, which you should keep an eye on, but it's usually absorbed back into the body in a few weeks. I think I have a picture of my Cammy's.


I bet you could leave the collar off and just keep an eye on her. If it was infected it would be red, angry and swollen looking.

 

[ldg]

OK, it might be disturbing for some, but can you post a pic? I don't know how much it's puffing when you say "bulging."

Our kitties never needed collars when spayed. We trap and spay/neuter ferals. They get dissolving stitches, spend 24 - 48 hours before being released, and that's it.

As to our pet kitties, we've been fortunate never to have a problem with any of them excessively licking. A little "cleaning" of the spay site here and there isn't a problem.

Given that it is not red or wet, it does not sound infected. All of our girls had little bulging-looking things inbetween the stitches - but just little. So perhaps there's an infection brewing in there? It's so hard to know just from the description.

I sincerely doubt you've started a "slow painful process of killing" your kitty by having her spayed. Really, the most dangerous part is the anesthesia, and she made it through that just fine.

I don't know what's up with your vet - that whole process is definitely a lot more expensive than it is around here (NW NJ in the US).

But if you're worried about hernia/infection.... I'd take her - and discuss the charges with them while you're there. If you have to pay it, you have to pay it. It's just not worth the risk.

Laurie

 

[giacometti]

Wow, the incision looks very small. Mine has an incision at least 3 times that long, and the bubble is like an oval around it. It looks like a liquid sac indeed.

My cat doesn't seem bothered or in pain.

Giacometti

 

[giacometti]

Thanks LDG, I don't have a digital photo setup right now.

I'll tell tomorrow what the Vet thinks.
It's expensive because we went to a special
hospital (not a standard vet) because the cat
has a heart problem. I just hope they know
what they are doing, that's my concern.

Ok, right now she's crying to go outside.
Ever since the babies are grown, she wants
to go outside again. I want her to be an inner
cat. What kind of weird person owned that cat before?
It's a beautiful cat, like siamese but longer hairs. You
never see a street cat like this. My mother thinks she
must have escaped from a breeder.


Anyways, if you own a beautiful unspayed female cat,
look what can happen. That cat almost had 6 kitties
off the street. And in winter. Now I have 3 indoor and 3
outdoor cats (one I'm trying to turn in an inner), and
I won't be able to take that much more. Please spay
your cats!


Giacometti

 

[GoldyCat]

I had three of my cats spayed at the same time and two of them developed huge lumps under the incisions. I was sure it was a hernia or some horrible infection. It didn't seem to bother Miss Patchwillow at all, but Shareena was moving very slowly, not eating, and not sleeping. I took her back to the vet (and, no he did not charge for the visit) and he told me it was a reaction to the suture material. She didn't have a fever and there was no redness at the site, but because of the way she was acting he thought she might be developing an infection. He gave me antibiotics for both cats. Within 24 hours Shareena was tearing around the house the same as always. I'm not sure Miss Patchwillow actually needed the antibiotic because nothing changed with her, but I figured it wouldn't hurt her. The lumps did eventually go down with no apparent problems.

If your kitty is not licking the incision excessively, I would leave the collar off. The added stress won't help her recovery any.

 

[arlyn]

The incision is probably bigger due to her fairly recent kittens.
My stray girl had a long slice too.
Due to the uterus being enlarged and out of shape from pregnacy.

The bulging a bit is normal, leave the collar off and just keep an eye on it.
Watch for redness, seeping of anything green, yellow or white, and heat. An infected wound will have a fever in it.

 

[snickerdoodle]

My girl had a "welt" looking thing (Like in provided picture a couple posts back) at her incision site after her spay (She also had a embilical hernia that was fixed same time), and it stuck around for about a week or two, maybe longer, I can't remember, but I was told by Vet it was a normal reaction to the sutures, which were the inside sutures that self dissolve. My girl did not have a collar or cone put on after her surgery, and she licked around her inner thighs and near it, but never really on it. Like previous poster said, keep an eye on it for discharge or fever at the site. Having a post-surgery kitty can be so nerve racking!

 

[giacometti]

Allright,

so I'm back from the Vet.

They didn't charge me anything. They said
the front desk girl made a mistake and post-operation
examinations are free, only operation cost depending
on what (infections are not their responsability because
they don't control what the cat does and if the collar
is off).



But my cat is perfectly healthy. No infections, no
fever, no pain. They say it's just a fluid sac (not blood,
just fat) that will go after a while (but it can take long).
The wound is beautifully healing, and I don't have to worry.

So you were all on the spot.
It's just that mine is rather big.
They squeezed it and all and the cat
had no reaction. They're seeing her again
next week anyway to take off those tiny
wires.


Thanks for the help,

Giaco

 

[mews2much]

I am glad your cat is ok.

 

[ldg]

So glad kitty is OK, and just as glad they didn't charge you for the follow-up!

Laurie

 

[kscatlady]

Good news!

 

[merindah]

Good news!

 

[giacometti]

My cat looks just like the one in your signature merindah, but the hairs are a bit longer. The vet tagged her a mix siamese-himalayan. I'm not sure what she is but she was not a street cat. As I said she was a few weeks in my backyard before I put her in, because I was sure she would go back to her owner. I never expected a second that she was unspayed. This was my mistake, but oh well all the kitties are in good care now.


Giacometti