How to tell if my cat's surgical incision is healing correctly?

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.

Then incision is more red than I would expect it to at this time. It could be just because he has been too active, or it could be early signs of an infection. If it is more red tomorrow then it is probably an infection. I would confine him to a small bathroom where he can’t jump around and keep his mouth away from the incision. Either a onsie or the e-collar needs to be on at all times to protect him from opening the incision. I would encourage you to have a follow up appointment with your veterinarian tomorrow to examine the incision and see if he needs antibiotics. I don’t see any need for an emergency clinic appointment today. Best of luck and I hope he heals soon. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It looks good to me. The redness isn't terrible and doesn't worry me. The hanging saggy belly skin is normal for a cat and is more obvious after you shave the fur. If she is licking I'd use an E-collar. She is likely licking 10 times more than you are seeing. I wish Zoey a speedy recovery!

I agree with your vet that the area will heal with time. However, Gypsy has the potential to get the area infected or open it up more if she continues to lick at it, so you need to use an e-collar or such to prevent her from licking. If the area continues to ooze, becomes red or swollen or the incision opens up more, then I would certainly contact your veterinarian again. Good luck! I hope that was helpful and that Gypsy heals quickly. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

All in all, I think that Tokyo's incision looks perfectly normal for being about 10 days post-op. I can see that she's likely been licking the center part a bit more than she should have been since the tissue is still slightly red. However, it's still healing nicely. Since this area is a bit red, I would try to put an e-collar (cone) or baby onesie on Tokyo for the next few days to prevent her from licking at it. The white areas that you're seeing look like normal fibrin-rich tissues, which are normal in the healing process and will fall off shortly. I hope that she continues to heal well!

If this is how her incision looked when you took her back in for the recheck, then your vet probably thinks that it will heal on its own - we call this second intention healing. This is a reasonable way to heal a wound that only affects the skin. If the vet thought that the wound extended deeper than just the skin, then Bonnie would need to have the sutures replaced. The down side of healing by second intention is that it takes much longer for the wound to heal - it could be several weeks of having her wear the e-collar. Because of this, often my clients will prefer that we go ahead and sedate and clean up the wound to place new sutures. Healing would then be expected in around 10 days.

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.