Why is my kitten's spay incision on her side, not underneath?

Thank you for sending the picture! I can see the puckering on KC’s skin that you’re concerned about, but this area looks pretty normal to me. The abdomen is closed in 2-3 layers depending on the surgeon’s preference, so even if there is a little puckering of the skin incision, the abdomen itself is still closed. I also don’t see any evidence of infection or inflammation since there doesn’t appear to be any swelling, redness, or discharge. For now, continue to keep the e-collar on KC and do your best to keep her relatively quiet. I realize that’s an impossible undertaking, so just do your best! I hope that everything goes well!

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Safe and for providing pictures, they are very helpful. This is what's known as a flank spay, and it is a place where vets will do spays on cats. One of the advantages is that you don't have the weight of the abdominal organs on the incision as it's healing. Yes, you are right this wound is wide open. She does need to see a vet asap to get this closed. Please take her 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. I hope this helps!

That seems to be healing nicely. The signs to watch for that would mean something is not going well are; Redness Pain Swelling Discharge Foul smell Also changes in pickle like weakness, vomiting, pain behaviours

From the pictures, Chicles' incision looks great! Occasionally, a scab will linger over the incision until it falls off or is licked off, and this is quite normal. Since she is 13 days post-surgery, you can gradually allow her to increase her exercise level by being out of the single room for a few hours for a few days, before allowing her to return to her normal lifestyle. I hope this helps and that all continues to go well! :-)

This incision is fine. It is healing from the inside out. Over the next few weeks thie skin will fill in and the fur will grow back. You may still feel the absorbable sutures under the skin for another month. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Chai.

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.

Hello, I am glad your kitten is recovering smoothly from her procedure. It looks like the skin may be a little dry from the cleaning agents used to prep patients for surgery. However, this should resolve/improve within a few days. If at her 10-14 day post-operative, her skin is still not looking healed, your veterinarian may chose to perform additional diagnostics at the site. Alternatively, if your kitten is licking at the area, she may be causing some irritation to the skin there. Please make sure she is not licking the area by placing an e-collar on her if necessary. Monitor the are for any swelling, redness, discharge and contact your veterinarian if you note any as this could indicate a local infection or reaction to the suture material. Hope this helps and best of luck.