advice, cat just been spayed need feedback

[maccat]

thanks millysmum, the vet said it may have been a result of her jumping around so early and therefore one of the stitches may not have worked.  frankie seems fine and we cannot see any lumps around her tummy but we are keeping her in for another week and taking her to another vet just to be on the safe side. xxx  the problem is as stuff is lost in translation it makes me oversensitive...

thanks all xxxx

[Millys Mum]

A hernia is a bit of the inside eg fat poking through the body wall, so if she didnt have one before she went (which they should have noticed) id guess they havent stitched her back up properly.

Seems so crazy for such routine procedure. 

Its quite common for kittens to have an umbilical hernia, you can feel them very easily as its a blobby bit on their tummy, i hate the feel of them 
In the UK they pop them back in when neutering unless they are causing a problem before that.

[Yvonne]

Just caught up with this Helen.  Sorry that I don't know much about hernias hopefully somebody will.  Glad that Frankie recovered from her spay ok   

[maccat]

well its been 11 days since her op and frankie is back from having her corset (bandages) taken off and the staple stitches out, she seems fine but the vet thinks he can feel what could be a hernia (think that was the translation) and we have to see how her wound is in 48 hours maybe even up to 2 weeks before we notice anything? ... has anyone ever seen this and any idea what I should be looking out for?

at times like this I wish I could whisk her up and bring her back to our Vet in the UK who is a god with animals!

[Angeladeedah]

Hope she's back to her normal self again soon!  Its quite a wee operation for them.

My work colleague has just discovered that the little kitten that she was told was a girl is in fact a boy - she had never thought to check as he is 12 weeks old so assumed the previous owner was correct but then the other day he was running about with his tail bolt upright and she was like 'hang on - what are they?' and had to check. Lol.

[Janeyk]

lots of healing purrs for your kitty 

[Debsymiller (Rufus' mum)]

Sounds as though we are a bit ahead of France in this area but if it is the norm over there then I am sure that this has become 'routine' for them and they know what they are doing. I hope she is feeling much better soon. My boys send healing purrs and headbutts xxx

[blackcat]

Smidgen sends head butts and hopes he/she is better soon.

[maccat]

she has proper staple like stitches, so needs the bandage to keep it together.  yes seems to be a french thing as we checked with another vet. she is on antibiotics for 10 days to go with it.

[Janeyk]

I haven't heard of bandaging either - is it a French thing?
our Penny jumped straight up onto the ironing board which alarmed me - she was our first cat.  The ferals have seemed lively and absolutely fine when released at night and come back for food either within 10 mins! or at least a few hours later.

[Desley (booktigger)]

I have never heard of bandaging a spay wound, I prefer to be able to see it and make sure it is healing nicely. The first female I had spayed got her collar off and up the 6ft wardrobe as soon as I went to bed, and she wasn't even a youngster at 5!! Have only really had one odd one and that was Kizzy irritating her skin rather than the scar, so had to wear a collar for 10 days, bless her.

[maccat]

thanks for all the advice, she was very wobbly yesterday but has slept through the site and resting on the mountain of blankets and sheepskin rugs that we have!  the vet warned us she would 'play up' to try and get us to take her bandage off which she did, she would stand up then fall over like a dog playing dead - so strange to watch and when we did nothing about the bandage she just got up and walked off and then tried again.

thanks for all the feedback, she doesnt seem to want food but whiskas kitten milk seems to have perked her up a bit

xxx

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

They bounce back so quick after a routine spay/castration. I've had many done over the years and the only problematic one was a cryporchid male.

I don't bother with special food now as they usually turn their noses up. I recall the last one I had spayed was snoozing on the sofa after returning from the vet. I left her for a while to answer the phone and when I got back she'd legged it with my pork chop dinner. 

I've never heard of bandaging a spay wound. I would worry that they'd bodged it and were trying to cover the evidence. 

[Ela]

Im a believer in a nice airy wound heals better, seems strange to bandage them just for a spay, do they do them midline? A cone would do the same job as a bandage

I am with you on this, even done midline I have never known a vet use a bandage. I think a cat is more likely to have a go at a bandage and cannot imagine how a cat would keep one on. Only last week I had a cat spayed and she was one of the very few out of the hundreds  I have taken to be spayed that needed an Elizabethan collar, She was fine with it and after 3 days I took it off and she did not bother then with the stitches. A couple of hours ago I took her stitches out. I cannot believe how quickly her fur has grown back, you just cannot see any of the scar at all, yet other cats  I have cared for over the years have taken many weeks to grow as much.

[Topsy Turvey]

My three girls were a bit wobbly when they came back from the vet but pretty much back to normal they day after.  Eating, drinking etc as normal.

All three had desolving stiches so there was no vet trip afterwards.  Luckily none of them licked them out!

Our vet always suggests trying with some chicken, fish or scrambled eggs which we did with all three but to be honest they didn't bother with them.

I'm sure she will be absolutely fine.

[Millys Mum]

Im a believer in a nice airy wound heals better, seems strange to bandage them just for a spay, do they do them midline? A cone would do the same job as a bandage 
Are France really that behind in surgical methods?

The way things are done here the kittens dont notice anything different and bounce around/eat like normal.

Its easy to make a mistake sexing little ones, i keep an eye on things as they grow just incase, only been wrong the once tho  at least frankie can keep her name 

[Dawn F]

if she is taking antibiotics I should think it would be ok, I wish they bandaged here it would save little madams picking at stitches!

bit of a mix up over the sex though!

[maccat]

Hi,

Those of you who had read my posts before will know I am out here in France, well this morning we hd a very strange experience.  Frankie our little boy kitten (just over 6 months) was actually a little girl - which explains the tom cats we have had at our door!  the vet checked at 3 weeks said it was a boy and to be honest we just never checked again until today!

So instead of being neutered today, she was spayed and I was just not expecting it.  As we are in France she has proper stitches and a bandage all around her tummy.  We have antibiotics to give her from tomorrow morning and night for 12 days and then back to the vet to take the stitches out.

Now I really would appreciate some care tips... we have made her a nice bed in a dark area (which is where she wants to be) with all her favorite blankets.  We know she wont be into any food today and may be sick, she has water close by.  But what can i expect over the next few days and are there any signs of the wound being infected (as i wont be able to see her tummy as its heavily bandaged and has to stay on).

Any feedback on this would be great, thanks in advance all

Helen x