Thoughts on my girl's post-spay scar?

Hi everyone!

Let’s just say it’s helpful to get an opinion when my vet isn’t available. I’m a massive worrier though, so it’s not that I don’t trust my vet, it’s more that I just need lots of opinions to feel reassured! ^^

Thank you all so much for your replies, your patience and your kindness :) I really value your advice, otherwise I wouldn’t keep coming back :)

And yes, she’s a proper little monkey, but she’s so cute that you can never bring yourself to tell her off!

Have a lovely day!

We aren't actually experts on this site; we are simply trying to help people as best we can using our knowledge and experience... and sometimes our professional backgrounds, in my case as a nurse. However, I do have to wonder about your last question – why come here looking for answers if, at the end of the day, you only trust what your vet tells you? Good evening 😔

Yeah, it’s already softer than it was on Monday, so I think it’s gradually clearing up. And like you said, it’ll take as long as it takes! Thanks for your replies :)

As you can see, she’s full of beans!

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

The vet could still feel them, so they were definitely still there on Monday at least. He said they only start to dissolve after 3 weeks, that it’s a slow process and depends on the cat.

We’ll keep an eye on her and I’ll ask my regular vet; he knows better than anyone what kind of stitches he used and when they’re supposed to go ^^

Here’s a photo of the culprit, caught red-handed licking! Honestly, look at that face! hahaha!

Xia

The hardness around the scar isn't necessarily down to the internal stitches... if the vet mentioned they’d dissolve within three weeks, then they’ve already been absorbed. When a wound is stitched, the two edges are pulled together and they can overlap slightly... that’s what causes the thickness and that rigid feel. It’ll settle down eventually, but it takes time... I’d say it’ll be a good few months before the scar feels soft and supple again.

Quick update!

She was very tired after her vomiting episode, and it took her all night and the whole morning to recover, but everything’s been fine since then.

16 days post-op, we decided to take her cone off. It was such a relief for her! We had a lovely quiet week until this Monday, when we had a bit of a nasty surprise coming home in the evening: a big red patch around her scar.

Without a second thought, we put her cone back on and went to see a vet (not our usual one as it was out-of-hours!). In the meantime, the redness had already started to fade because she wasn’t licking it anymore.

The vet reassured us—it was nothing more than a bit of redness, with no risk of the wound reopening like you all said. It’s a "lovely scar" according to her :)

She told us that internal muscle stitches had been done using those dissolvable sutures and that she could feel them under the skin. These stitches usually dissolve around the 3-week mark, and being 24 days post-op, we’re right in the thick of it. So, it was making her itchy and she was licking at it.

My question is this: do you know when these stitches will actually disappear? Because there’s still a bit of a hard lump under the skin at the incision site.

Thanks in advance.

Xia.

Thanks.

We’re a bit worried at the moment as she’s thrown up her last meal of wet food and then had diarrhoea straight after. We’re going to keep a close eye on her tonight and keep her off food for a few hours.