Should I worry if I picked up my cat wrong after abdominal surgery?

Thank you for submitting regarding Leo. If he is healing well and has not had an surgical complications, it should be fine to lift him. You can place one hand around his chest and the other behind his hind end. This will avoid placing pressure directly on his incision site and should be more comfortable for him. I hope this information helps!

From what I can tell it seems to be healing well. If she is showing any signs of sickness or the incisions don't continue to improve, get her in to see your vet for a recheck. Put the cone back on if she starts paying too much attention to her incisions and overgrooming. It is likely to still be itchy for some time as it heals.

I think there's enough going on here that it would be worthwhile to take her for a recheck by your vet. It's not terrible looking, but there is some swelling along the incision margins and a small defect in the top of the incision. I would expect her incision to look better than this after a week. For now, I don't recommend you do any sort of treatment at home, because this may make things worse. As long as you get her to the vet in the next day or two, she should be fine to wait. I hope that helps and your kitty gets better soon.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Zoro. If he seems comfortable, it is fine to pick him up and carry him. He will let you know. Do your best to limit his activities such as stairs and jumping. This can be difficult though as cats can be quite independent. Just monitor his incision site for any swelling. I hope this information helps!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Tom. I recommend contacting his veterinarian today with your concerns. Most cats are back to normal within 12-24 hours after surgery. If he is not eating, he could be painful. Do not give any over-the-counter pain medications though as these can be toxic to cats. The sunken abdomen is not an expected side effect. It may not be a problem, but is worth discussing with his veterinarian. I hope this information helps!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sometimes it can take some time for cats to recover from anesthesia and administration of these medications together so that could be a reason why it has been taking him longer than expected to recover. If he is eating and otherwise doing well, it may be ok to monitor him for a bit longer. However, if he worsens or by tomorrow he has not improved, he should be evaluated by his veterinarian for reevaluation. Good luck and have a great day!

Hello. This is a difficult question since it can be hard to quantitate pain in animals, especially cats. We do know that scar tissue can cause some discomfort in us, but IBD can definitely cause pain in cats. If, for the most part, Trixie has been doing very well for the past 11 years, then I doubt a little scar tissue on the ovaries was at issue. I am concerned that your vet found the tearing & bleeding during the exploratory, that generally signals an acute traumatic event. Time will now tell if she is indeed more comfortable. I hope she is. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.