Following surgery, your veterinarian will most likely advise you to restrict your pet's movement for some time (usually a week). Sudden jumping or stretching can cause the incision to reopen and disrupt the healing process.
Please reduce your cat's activity for 10-14 days after surgery. Excessive running, jumping, and aggressive play should also not be allowed. Keep her strictly indoors during this time. If your pet is too active after surgery, this may complicate healing.
Keep your cat in a crate or small room to sleep, and make sure he is comfortable and secure. On the day of surgery, the incision site on your cat might look minorly red and swollen. Check it once per day if your cat allows, and be on the lookout for any excessive redness, swelling, and discharge.
After fixing a cat, owners should observe the surgery site at least once a day. Make sure it's not red, swollen, weeping, bleeding, or appears licked at. Any of these findings is cause for a vet visit! Your veterinarian may recommend a recovery collar to keep your cat from being able to get to the incision site.
The edges of the wound will not be healed together and a slight gap between the edges is acceptable and to be expected. Signs of trouble include excessive drainage, such as dripping when your cat is standing, bleeding from the wound, or missing sutures. A wide gap, usually over ¼ inch, can indicate trouble.
Recovery usually takes about a week. Cats may rebound faster, but it's important to let them take it easy, especially for females who have been spayed. Males may recover a bit faster, but on average, expect about a week for the incision to heal.
This is a very common response to physiologic stress after surgery, injury, or any other health procedure. The amount of shaking or trembling may be dramatic, but it does not imply severe pain, cold, or distress. It may involve the entire body, or just the area of surgery.
CLINICAL SIGNS
If this occurs late in wound healing, the only sign may be the absence of sutures or staples. However, earlier in wound healing signs include: An open wound. Appearance of fat, organs or bones if the open wound is large enough.
Absolutely no licking of the incision area is allowed! If your pet is going to lick or begins to lick their incision, they need to wear an E-Collar (plastic cone) for 7-10 days after surgery. A pet can pull out stitches easily which can lead much more damage. 2.
For instance, around 80 percent of all cats in the U.S. are spayed or neutered, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association, and when your pet is recovering from this surgery, your veterinarian will likely recommend they wear a cone.
Following surgery, your veterinarian will most likely advise you to restrict your pet's movement for some time (usually a week). Sudden jumping or stretching can cause the incision to reopen and disrupt the healing process.
Getting your dog spayed or neutered is a big decision, which is why you may be worried about any complications that could arise from it. Thankfully, the risk of any complications is very low.
Contact the postoperative care line if a cat is not regularly urinating or defecating, or is straining to urinate or defecate within 72 hours after spay/neuter surgery. Monitor your pet's urine for blood. A small amount may be present in female animals during the first 24 hours after surgery.
Female animals (spay) have an incision made just below the belly button into the abdomen. The reproductive tract, both ovaries, and the uterus are completely removed through this incision. Then the incision is closed with two layers of stitches under the skin that will dissolve and be absorbed by body over time.
If the incision looks dirty you can gently clean the area with a cotton ball and warm water. Do not use Hydrogen Peroxide. You must not allow your dog or cat to get wet for at least 7 days after surgery. For this reason, bathing is also prohibited for at least one week after surgery.
An infected spay incision will likely be quite red and swollen. You may also observe drainage from the area, including blood or purulent discharge. Sutures may be missing and you may even notice underlying tissue protruding from the wound.
Don't leave your cat alone during her first 12-24 hours post-surgery. This stretch of time is when your pet needs to closest monitoring for excessive bleeding or issues with urination. If, after the allotted time, your cat seems to be able to urinate without trouble, you can keep an eye on her as you go about your day.
Cat Spay Recovery Basics
Don't change her diet because effects of the change in food could mask more serious concerns from the surgery. You'll have to keep a close eye on your cat and keep her from running and jumping for about two weeks or however long your veterinarian recommends, Bierbrier says.
She adds that the first few days post-surgery are the most critical, because it's the highest risk period for having some type of internal bleeding from the surgery sites. "Fortunately, this type of complication is very rare in a routine spay.
Hindquarters wounds: Short-sleeved T-shirts put on backwards (tail through neck hole, legs through arm holes) and knotted to secure can help protect hindquarters sutures. (Note, this needs to be removed when your pet is taken out to urinate or defacate).
What should the incision look like? The incision should be clean and the edges should be touching each other. The skin should be a normal or slightly reddish-pink color. It is not unusual for the incision to be slightly redder during the first few days while healing begins.
1. The BiteNot Collar. This device does not represent the shape of a cat or dog cone at all; it most resembles a neck brace. The collar is made using flexible plastic and foam and appears like a more comfortable alternative to the hard plastic cone.