Has my kitten's spay incision opened?

[rocky-cat]

I just adopted a 6 month old kitten on 2/7/2021. She was spayed on 2/4/2021 but she was not given a cone or anything like that. She has been licking the spay incision which makes me worried. We have been playing with her but we just realized that she really should be less active so as to heal well.

I am worried that the incision may have opened up since you can see something that looks like a hole in the 2nd picture. There was a teeny bit of liquid before but it seems to have gone away. Does this look normal? And if not, is it okay to schedule a vet appt in 2-3 weeks time (that's all that's available) or should I take her to urgent care?

Pictures here (and attached):

 

[Talien]

It's hard to tell from that angle, but it's possible. Contact your vet tomorrow as soon as they open and send pictures of the incision site, they'll be able to tell you better whether you should bring her in right away or not.

 

[Jcatbird]

Yes. I agree. I would not wait. Contact the vet. It is always hard for us to tell since we are not a vet but it’s better to be safe and it does look slightly open. Check for any funny smell as well to report to the vet. Sometimes it more a reaction to the stitches but the vet can address that too. Please do let us know what you find out.
Precious kitty! Such a beautiful little one!

 

[Beholder]

I agree with the everyone else. Send the picture into your vet's office for a closer look. When I adopted my kitten Goose I noticed his incision was open a bit as well. I called the vets office I take my other boys to (even though they had yet to see Goose before) and they were more than happy to take a look and told me to email a picture. His incision was indeed a bit open, but they told me to keep an eye on it and as long as he didn't lick it a lot or open anymore he would be fine.

 

[rocky-cat]

I agree with the everyone else. Send the picture into your vet's office for a closer look. When I adopted my kitten Goose I noticed his incision was open a bit as well. I called the vets office I take my other boys to (even though they had yet to see Goose before) and they were more than happy to take a look and told me to email a picture. His incision was indeed a bit open, but they told me to keep an eye on it and as long as he didn't lick it a lot or open anymore he would be fine.

She is our first cat and we just got her a couple days ago so we don't have a regular vet yet. Do you think we should just take her to urgent care then? Or would most vet offices respond to an email with pictures?

 

[Beholder]

She is our first cat and we just got her a couple days ago so we don't have a regular vet yet. Do you think we should just take her to urgent care then? Or would most vet offices respond to an email with pictures?

I think you would need to call to find out. If there is liquid coming out I would be really considered because this could mean a possible infection, but I don't want to say whether or not you should take her in to urgent care because 1) I'm not a vet so idk how serious this may be and 2) It can be expensive. If you're thinking of an urgent care/emergency vet I would give them a call and ask if you can send them a picture to confirm. If one says no, maybe call around a bit and see if you can find one that will. If you can't find one that will you might want to just pay the urgent care bill. For my area it's about 100 dollars, but I also live in a pretty expensive area. For the time being do everything you can to prevent her from licking the incision though, because that will only make it worse.

Also, depending where you got her from, many shelters will pay for the first vet visit and/or any vet care that the kitten needs so long as it was something preexisting.

 

[rocky-cat]

I think you would need to call to find out. If there is liquid coming out I would be really considered because this could mean a possible infection, but I don't want to say whether or not you should take her in to urgent care because 1) I'm not a vet so idk how serious this may be and 2) It can be expensive. If you're thinking of an urgent care/emergency vet I would give them a call and ask if you can send them a picture to confirm. If one says no, maybe call around a bit and see if you can find one that will. If you can't find one that will you might want to just pay the urgent care bill. For my area it's about 100 dollars, but I also live in a pretty expensive area. For the time being do everything you can to prevent her from licking the incision though, because that will only make it worse.

Also, depending where you got her from, many shelters will pay for the first vet visit and/or any vet care that the kitten needs so long as it was something preexisting.

Thank you so much for the tips. We will call the shelter and take her to urgent care tomorrow.

 

[Beholder]

Thank you so much for the tips. We will call the shelter and take her to urgent care tomorrow.

No problem. I hope everything ends up being okay!

 

[Talien]

Thank you so much for the tips. We will call the shelter and take her to urgent care tomorrow.

I would call a couple regular vet offices in the area before going to an emergency vet as those are usually very expensive. Of course, it all depends on what the shelter says.

 

[Willowy]

It doesn't look open to me but it does look like an infection is brewing, so either way the vet is necessary. Let us know what the vet says!

 

[rocky-cat]

Update: We took her to the vet who did her spay surgery. They put a couple of staples in her incision, gave her a cone, and prescribed her a course of antibiotics. She's taking it like a trooper, although it's been difficult to syringe feed her the meds!

 

[Beholder]

Update: We took her to the vet who did her spay surgery. They put a couple of staples in her incision, gave her a cone, and prescribed her a course of antibiotics. She's taking it like a trooper, although it's been difficult to syringe feed her the meds!

I'm glad to hear they were able to help! Did they charge you at all? I think a cone is probably best for her considering how much she was licking it.

And I feel your pain with the syringe. On another thread daftcat75 gave me the idea of crunching up a treat (I used chicken flavored Temptations) and mixing it with the liquid meds. My cat is super picky about his meds, but after crunching up about ten treats into a fine powder and mixing it he just about licked the plate clean.

 

[rocky-cat]

I'm glad to hear they were able to help! Did they charge you at all? I think a cone is probably best for her considering how much she was licking it.

And I feel your pain with the syringe. On another thread daftcat75 gave me the idea of crunching up a treat (I used chicken flavored Temptations) and mixing it with the liquid meds. My cat is super picky about his meds, but after crunching up about ten treats into a fine powder and mixing it he just about licked the plate clean.

Yup the shelter took care of it! We had sewed a little tube top for her to prevent licking before but the cone seems to be better Nice idea about the treats, thanks!