My cat's leg stitches opened. Should I take her back to the vet?

Without seeing a picture of Dory's incision, I cannot tell you for sure if it needs to be stitched again or not. I strongly advise you do not try to stitch it yourself! This will be very painful to her, stitching the incision requires sedatives that can only be administer by a vet. If she had the stitches on the 15th of this month, then the incision likely isn't healed as it takes at least 10-14 days for it to heal fully. I would take her back into her vet to have the incision examined and stitched closed again. Best of luck.

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. The wound is open, so please take Charlie back to your vets. They will likely put 2-3 stitches or close the wound with surgical glue. Wounds like this, particularity after orthopaedic surgery should be closed promptly, as leaving it for open healing carries risk of infection.

Poor Lilly! If she was missing all day, she could have done something to cause the wound to open up more. When a cat has a wound and is on medication, it's best to keep her confined to allow her to heal correctly. I see she has stitches, and cats with stitches need to be kept quiet so the area can heal properly. I would keep her indoors while this wound is healing to prevent her from opening it up more, as well as disappearing and potentially missing times when she needs to take her medications. Set up a litter box inside for her along with food and water. Once the wound is fully healed and her stitches are removed, she can start going back outside. I hope this helps!

Hi there. Often, losing a single suture a few days after surgery isn't a huge deal, especially if the incision still appears to be closed and there is no bleeding or drainage. But it's hard to say if this is a problem or not without being able to see it. If you want to, you can post a photo of the incision for us to look at - we may be able to give you a better idea of whether it needs any treatment.

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Neptune. Poor kitty! That does look open and irritated, and think he needs to see a vet now to have this restitched. Please take him into an ER vet clinic; if there isn't one in your area, there will be a vet on call for emergencies. The information to reach that vet is found on a clinic's answering machine or website. Best of luck.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Gita. Six days is quite early to have her sutures removed. However, maybe it was suspected that she was having a reaction to the suture material or that they were contributing to the infection. It is possible for her wound to heal, but it will be more difficult without the sutures. She must be kept from licking the surgical site and her movements need to limited. No running, jumping or playing. I hope this information helps!

That could be quite a common situation, especially with certain kind of tumors (mast cell tumors). Depending on what the wound looks like(a picture would help to define it more specifically), a revision surgery may be needed. Tissue glue or metal staples could be valid options as well. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.