PU surgery 2 months post op

[Jack and Rose’s mom]

Hi everyone, this is my first time posting. I’m going to be looking for a vet experienced with pu but I’ve seen two, the emergency vet who performed the surgery and my regular vet. Neither seem to know much about the possible post op complications and we weren’t sent home with any sort of instructions post op just to leave his cone on for 14 days and then have the stitches removed.. needless to say the experience was traumatizing not just for little Jack but also for my fiancé and I who worked full time jobs and had no clue what exactly this surgery meant and no matter how much research you do nothing prepares you for the surgical site when they first come home.

anyways, I’m just looking for some advice if anyone else has experienced this with their little one after pu surgery. For the most part Jack’s recovery has been standard, after not sleeping for two weeks to make sure his surgical site healed properly we had the stitches removed by our regular vet not the er vet (who I actually know very well due to my mom working with him for 25 years. So I was warned that they met have missed a stitch since there were so many) and life mostly returned to normal one additional stitch ended up working it’s way out a few weeks later but other than that nothing crazy has happened. We’re about two and a half months out now and I had to take him to my vet last Tuesday due to his surgical site being extremely red and inflamed. When I took him in the doctor called techs, other doctors and me to come look because the area was so swollen he couldn’t see a hole for Jack to pee out of. He gave him a shot of steroids and antibiotics but warned me that if the inflammation didn’t go down and he didn’t pee by the end of the day he would either need reconstructive surgery or we would have to consider putting him down. Fast forward to today, we decided to take Jack’s cone off because things appeared to be healing very well and my fiancé held him up in the light so I could get a good look at the area to determine if we could keep the cone off and I noticed that the pee hole is much lower than the doctor thought and the area that had actually been inflamed was at the top of the surgical site where stitches had been.
My questions is, has anyone seen this? If so was it related to a stitch that was missed when they removed the others? Was it a UTI? Did you cat just lick the surgical site raw? Or something completely different?
I appreciate any help at all while I look for a vet for a second opinion.

 

[Furballsmom]

I appreciate any help at all while I look for a vet for a second opinion

Oh my goodness!!

I don't have direct experience with this, but other members should see your post soon.

If you aren't familiar with this it might help in your search;

Find a Veterinarian and Practice | The Cat Community

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I have read quite a few threads on this site regarding this surgery, and don't recall reading anything quite like your story. It could be from a stitch that got missed, or excessive licking, or something else, although I doubt if it was a UTI if that's not where his new (?) urethra is located. But has the swelling and redness completely subsided? If so, I'm thinking it's not a missed stitch or it would still be happening unless it worked it's way out too. But I must say I'm complete flabbergasted that no one at the Vet practice noticed that his actual "pee hole" as you call it wasn't even in that area. No wonder they were concerned and talking euthanasia. He's urinating fine though, correct?
Perhaps your Vet isn't familiar with this surgery and that's also why they said they might miss some of the stitches ?

I just hope your boy is doing fine now and that his future will be bright.

 

[Jack and Rose’s mom]

Furballsmom, the swelling and redness has mostly subsided at this point but there’s still some slight irritation. He’s urinating just fine, he urinated right after we left the vet last week with no problem and I was shocked because the vet had said he probably wouldn’t be able to pass urine. This whole time I was very confused and concerned.
I’m assuming my vet isn’t familiar with PU surgery and we’re in the process of getting a second opinion. I was also flabbergasted when I discovered his new urethra was much lower than the vet had said!

 

[silent meowlook]

I think you need to recheck with the vet that did the surgery.

 

[Furballsmom]

He’s urinating just fine,

I'm so glad to hear this, and that he's nearly healed up too