Open/infected incision after spaying

[Milka]

My cat was spayed a week ago. The vet glued the incision, and told us that it should be fine without putting on a collar. I was concerned that the cat would lick the incision and cause an infection, and that's what happened. We went to the vet again today, and he put on a collar now. He said the incision should heal within a week, and we should be cleaning incision twice a day. I am still a bit concerned though, so I wanted to share photos of the incision and ask for a second opinion, or any further advice. Thanks!

 

[Mr. Meow]

*I am not a vet*
You need to get kitty to a vet asap. That incision is wide open and that could cause some serious issues if not treated immediately. You may even want to consider an animal ER.
Do not wait.

 

[verna davies]

I agree, the sooner it is looked at and treated the better

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Vet. ASAP. That area is open. I'm sorry, wish I had better news. The good news is, it does not currently look infected, but that can and probably will change quickly if it isn't properly attended to! Let us know how your kitten is, please. We will worry about her.

 

[ILoveRatsAndAllAnimals]

I agree with the other commenters, get her to vet ASAP and worry about the costs later, you can always set up a GoFundMe or similar if you need help with payments please tell us how your Kitty is!!!

 

[Milka]

Thanks all, we are taking her to the vet again today. I don't understand why he didn't close the wound yesterday when he saw her (after the surgery the wound was closed with glue, but the cat licked it off because she didn't have a collar initially). I'm not a doctor and I assumed there was a reason for not closing the wound yesterday, the vet just told us to clean it twice a day. It's possible that the vet is very new and perhaps not as experienced, hence I keep worrying and asking on the internet. Hopefully he'll close the wound today, and that in combination with the collar will solve the problem.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Keep us updated. Please. It's so scary when someone posts about something like this, then we never know if the cat is ok.

 

[Milka]

Sure - we went to the vet yesterday. I asked him why not close the incision and glue it, because dirt goes there all the time. He said that it wouldn't close properly this way because the skin has already kinda healed on the sides, and to close the incision he would have to put her under anaesthesia again and make small slits and then stitch it. He also said there was a small inflammation, so he advised against closing the incision. He said we should keep it clean, and that it should start closing itself from the inside. He said the tissue underneath has been healing well.
Apart from all that, the cat has been behaving normally - she's playing, climbing, eating like before the surgery. With the collar on, she has stopped licking the incision, which is a big improvement and I'm resentful she didn't have the collar from the start. We'll try cleaning the incision as the vet recommended, and I'll post again an update in a few days hopefully with good news.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

So far, so good, then. Do keep us updated. Bless her little heart, at least she's feeling sassy!

 

[Milka]

Update: we went to the vet again yesterday to check how the incision was healing. Although the incision is still open, he said it was healing well from the inside, and he also removed the threads from the surgery. Now we're going to keep cleaning the incision, and wait one more week for it to close properly, before removing the collar. I'll post an update once that happens.
Thanks all for the good advices, and for caring so much!

 

[verna davies]

Thanks for updating us, glad she is on the mend.

 

[Milka]

Happy to report that the incision has been completely closed for the past week or so There is still a scar, but hopefully it'll be gone soon as well. Thanks again so much for the help everyone!

 

[verna davies]

That looks good. The fur will soon grow back and cover the site. Thanks for updating us.