Spay incision (WITH PHOTOS)

[midnightivy]

Hello. I am hoping someone can help! I got my 9 month old kitten spayed yesterday morning (7/11/23 at 9am). It's been about 36 hours and I'm wondering if her incision looks normal. I'll post a few photos to show what it looked like at first, and now. I'm trying to keep her locked up in the bathroom to keep her from being active (running, jumping etc) but she still jumps on the counters. I'm so afraid she's going to tear her incision open. I did notice it was a bit redder this evening so I bought her a cone and put it on her, but now she can't reach the food or water bowl. To me her incision looks a tad red and inflamed. She doesn't get bothered by me touching it, and she it doesn't feel hot to the touch. I am so worried. If someone can help me and guide me in the right direction. I'd appreciate it. Thank you.

 

[GoldyCat]

It look normal to me.

 

[heatherwillard0614]

M midnightivy It looks good to me in the picture. Just keep an eye on the healing process and look for any signs of infection.
These include
Being hot to the touch
Red
Swelling
Discharge
Foul odor
Fever
Etc
And remember if you have any doubts you can always get in contact with the vet who did her spay.
But yes it does look good.

 

[midnightivy]

It look normal to me.

Thank you! I've always had neutered cats so I've never really had issues like this before. She is just so playful too so I'm afraid it'll harm the incision.

 

[midnightivy]

M midnightivy It looks good to me in the picture. Just keep an eye on the healing process and look for any signs of infection.
These include
Being hot to the touch
Red
Swelling
Discharge
Foul odor
Fever
Etc
And remember if you have any doubts you can always get in contact with the vet who did her spay.
But yes it does look good.

Thanks so much! I'll definitely keep an eye out for those signs

 

[heatherwillard0614]

M midnightivy you are more than welcome. Oh another thing don't put any topical ointments or anything on her incision site without consulting your vet and make sure to keep the spay incision site dry.

 

[midnightivy]

M midnightivy you are more than welcome. Oh another thing don't put any topical ointments or anything on her incision site without consulting your vet and make sure to keep the spay incision site dry.

I haven't put anything on it. We tried a cone but she couldn't eat or drink anything. So I'm going to let her be for the night and check on her in the morning. I may have to make her a DIY recovery shirt thing. Lol.

 

[heatherwillard0614]

What kind of food and water dishes does she have? Are they separate or connected and are they raised or low to the floor?
I recently got my girl spayed (last month) she has separate raised ceramic bowls that she could reach with her cone on.
We didn't know if she was going to be able to so we put put some other kinds of dishes and low to the ground ones she couldn't reach. Also her cone was large enough to go around her bowl.
So when she was at her food or water bowl it looked funny the cone was around it and almost touching the floor haha.
Just thinking maybe if you try experimenting with different types of bowls you might have one that works better for her.

 

[midnightivy]

What kind of food and water dishes does she have? Are they separate or connected and are they raised or low to the floor?
I recently got my girl spayed (last month) she has separate raised ceramic bowls that she could reach with her cone on.
We didn't know if she was going to be able to so we put put some other kinds of dishes and low to the ground ones she couldn't reach. Also her cone was large enough to go around her bowl.
So when she was at her food or water bowl it looked funny the cone was around it and almost touching the floor haha.
Just thinking maybe if you try experimenting with different types of bowls you might have one that works better for her.

We just had the small dual sided bowl that's low to the ground. I do have a ceramic water dish but it's huge. Lol. I'm going to leave her be for the night and see how her incision is in the morning, and go from there. If it looks weird I will go and buy her some elevated bowls, and put the cone of doom back on her. I wish I knew about recovery suits before the spay, I would have ordered one since is it easier than the cone. I have seen some different DIY suits but I don't have the right sized shirt. Lol. The one good thing is, I haven't seen her lick or chew on the incision, but I was just afraid it looked red which is why I put the cone on her.

 

[heatherwillard0614]

It honestly looks good in the picture. If you aren't noticing her licking or chewing at it you might not need the cone.. but sometimes they will do it out of sight. I ordered a surgical suit on amazon and she liked that better than the cone but with her I had to do both... the onesie kept her calm and the cone to keep her from chewing through the onesie. She was relentless with trying to lick and chew her incision site.. they being said tho my girl is kind of ocd about licking in general
So yea if she isnt going for her incision site and you want to leave the cone off while you are watching her. Then put it on if you have to leave that might work for you and your baby girl.

 

[midnightivy]

It honestly looks good in the picture. If you aren't noticing her licking or chewing at it you might not need the cone.. but sometimes they will do it out of sight. I ordered a surgical suit on amazon and she liked that better than the cone but with her I had to do both... the onesie kept her calm and the cone to keep her from chewing through the onesie. She was relentless with trying to lick and chew her incision site.. they being said tho my girl is kind of ocd about licking in general
So yea if she isnt going for her incision site and you want to leave the cone off while you are watching her. Then put it on if you have to leave that might work for you and your baby girl.

I haven't seen her chew or lick it but like you said, she may be doing it when I'm not looking. Lol. I'm hoping it'll be the same tomorrow. Thank you for all the advice.

 

[heatherwillard0614]

Of course, no problem at all. Yea if you want to keep the cone off of her when u are able to be around to watch her I think she will be fine. It is just my opinion to not let her be unsupervised without a cone on just in case she does get itchy and starts licking/chewing. I would recommend everyone keep a cone on their cat unsupervised because you just never know.. especially here in a few days with it healing she may get extra itchy... Anyway, have a great morning and please add some updates as she continues her healing process.

 

[jmichaelp]

I ran off to the emergency vet when my cat looked like this. They said it was the technique used & she was fine.