Kitten umbilical hernia and missing/lost chip

[Mv00]

Hi Everyone! I just had my youngest, Pantou, fixed on 11/1. She's about 6 months old. When she was spayed last week, they supposedly repaired her umbilical hernia, but it's still a bump. I have a vet appointment Thursday morning so they can look her over because her recovery has been unusual from every other cat I've had spayed or neutered. There's a pic from the 6th, and one from the 2nd (incisions look more swollen). Does her hernia repair look normal? When they told me what they do, I was picturing it to be completely smooth. I've tried searching online and well, not much luck.

Also, when I had her spayed, they told me they couldn't find her chip, so it either fell out or is somewhere else in her body. The vet told me they're going to scan for it, but they may need to x-ray to find it. Has anyone else had that problem? And have you had any issues if the chip was found elsewhere? They did rechip her and the chip is called Home Again.

 

[IndyJones]

Microchip migration is actualy pretty common. Our old golden had his in his rump. Apperently when they grow it has a greater risk of migrating.

Im not famillier with hernias but it looks ok to me, check with the vet though.

 

[fionasmom]

Microchips can definitely migrate. I have my own scanner and have found them in various places; however, migration is usually in older pets, not very young ones. Not saying that hers could not be elsewhere though. Biggest problem with migration is that if an animal is lost, the person who scans at the vet or shelter may not scan the entire body, but only the shoulder area and thereby miss identification for that animal. Not that this helps, but I just checked my cats and no one seems to have a migrating chip.

Years ago, I had a puppy with an umbilical hernia and it was repaired, but there was a tiny bump. However, definitely let the vet have the final say on whether or not things are okay.

 

[Mv00]

Microchip migration is actualy pretty common. Our old golden had his in his rump. Apperently when they grow it has a greater risk of migrating.

Im not famillier with hernias but it looks ok to me, check with the vet though.

Oh really? That's crazy. How did they find it there (ultrasound, x-ray, scanner, etc)? And did they remove it?

 

[Mv00]

Microchips can definitely migrate. I have my own scanner and have found them in various places; however, migration is usually in older pets, not very young ones. Not saying that hers could not be elsewhere though. Biggest problem with migration is that if an animal is lost, the person who scans at the vet or shelter may not scan the entire body, but only the shoulder area and thereby miss identification for that animal. Not that this helps, but I just checked my cats and no one seems to have a migrating chip.

Years ago, I had a puppy with an umbilical hernia and it was repaired, but there was a tiny bump. However, definitely let the vet have the final say on whether or not things are okay.

Okay, thanks. With your puppy, did the bump eventually go away after the repair or did it remain a bump?

 

[IndyJones]

Oh really? That's crazy. How did they find it there (ultrasound, x-ray, scanner, etc)? And did they remove it?

They left it where it was. They found it by swiping the scanner all over his body, most vets have a scanner at the clinic. Apperntly migration isn't as big an issue now as it was in the early 2000's. Many chips have a coating to help them stay put

Various microchips with "anti migration" mechinisms, right and center mechanical, left coated


When the dog was chipped these mechanisms did not exist or at least wern't common. It was just a glass container with the chip and coil inside. Glass on its own is slippery so it can slide around in the tissues, if you've ever cut raw chicken you can see how slippery muscle is.

 

[fionasmom]

It remained a very small bump, but it was extremely smooth and healed looking and never gave her any further problems.

 

[Mv00]

It remained a very small bump, but it was extremely smooth and healed looking and never gave her any further problems.

Okay, thanks. I'm definitely gonna ask the vet if that's how it will remain or if it will eventually get smaller.

 

[Mv00]

Hi Everyone! I just had my youngest, Pantou, fixed on 11/1. She's about 6 months old. When she was spayed last week, they supposedly repaired her umbilical hernia, but it's still a bump. I have a vet appointment Thursday morning so they can look her over because her recovery has been unusual from every other cat I've had spayed or neutered. There's a pic from the 6th, and one from the 2nd (incisions look more swollen). Does her hernia repair look normal? When they told me what they do, I was picturing it to be completely smooth. I've tried searching online and well, not much luck.

Also, when I had her spayed, they told me they couldn't find her chip, so it either fell out or is somewhere else in her body. The vet told me they're going to scan for it, but they may need to x-ray to find it. Has anyone else had that problem? And have you had any issues if the chip was found elsewhere? They did rechip her and the chip is called Home Again.

I have an update about Pantou. When I took her to the vet Thursday morning, they looked her over thoroughly and tried to look for the old chip. The old one wasn't registering at all, but the new one had a very good signal and was in the proper place. She told me she's found a lot of multiple chips over the years in x-rays and that if it did go somewhere else, it likely would be the front legs and wouldn't pose any issues. The vet put Pantou on betacillin antibiotic twice a day for a week as well as an anti-inflammatory called onsior, once a day for 3 days. She suspected Pantou to have an infection with the spay internally since it did drain with watery blood a little late Saturday night and was still very warm (but she doesn't have a fever). She suspects Pantou has a possible UTI given her increase in water intake, and smaller more frequent pees. She didn't have an explanation for the crooked surgical incision since she didn't operate. She has her on strict rest (like she's been since surgery) and the cone for another few days, but said her actual incision is healing nicely like it should and is closed up. She questioned me about her hernia repair and the type and I told her it was umbilical. So she asked if I was sure and I told her yes, that was what the shelter told me. She said the umbilical hernia repair is done through the same spay incision since that's where it's located. Apparently that second incision below is for intestinal hernias and she said the scientific name, but I don't recall. The shelter has been extremely slow in responding and I'm currently playing phone tag with them. I'm very annoyed and concerned to say the least that the shelter vet decided to do a surgery I did not authorize nor did they inform me about.
Pantou is improving greatly with each day since the meds, and I'm hoping she continues on the upward path. Her swelling is pretty much gone and her energy is almost back to where she was prior to the spay. The vet tech saw the photos I posted and she said it's a good thing I brought her I'm because she agreed they didn't look right. If anyone has any suggestions as to how to deal with this shelter and this major issues, I'm all ears. If anyone's had a similar situation happen to them, I'd like to know what was the result and what actions they took. I found the office the vet works out of so I was contemplating calling them directly to try to get a hold of the actual vet and find out why she did what she did.