My cat pulled out a stitch after surgery. Is this an emergency?

Thank you for the picture, it really helps with my answer. The incision still looks like it's together, so you don't need to rush Ella into a vet immediately. Just keep her quiet, and monitor it daily. If the incision comes apart, there is excessive bleeding, it appears infected, or that stitch falls out, have her seen by a vet. I hope this helps.

The photo didn't come through. A small amount of spotting can be normal and generally the incisions on cats heal quickly even if they open up a little. As long as he's eating and acting normal I'm not overly concerned about this. Keeping the cone on will prevent his licking the area and it will heal more quickly. Should the incision look very red or have a bad odor then I would take him back to have it checked. I expect though that it will improve every day. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Lucas.

A little bit of blood/tinged fluid is not uncommon but I would schedule a post surgery recheck with the operating vet as soon as possible just to be sure, especially as one end of the wound has loosened a little. An emergency visit would be recommended if any swelling develops behind the wound, it starts to gape open more than 0.5cm or if it is persistently dropping blood.

Unfortunately, at least 10 days with stitches on are required for complete healing. I recommend to bring your cat to the vet to replace the missing suture asap. In the meantime and after replacing the sutures, avoid licking or scratching by using a buster or a postoperative body (https://www.amazon.com/Kruuse-Buster-Body-Black-3X-Small/dp/B00Z0U6EH8). Please post again on the forum if you would like to discuss it further. I hope my answer was helpful.

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!

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.

If Shadow manages to pull out the stitches, the incision will come apart, leaving a big incision where infection can enter into the body, and there is a potential of herniation of internal organs. That becomes a medical emergency. If she has pulled out stitches, you need to take her into the vet right away. To prevent her from licking at her spay incision, she needs to be wearing an Ecollar all the time. You can get one from the vet or a pet store.