My kitten's spay stitches are sticking out. Should I remove them?

If the incision looks fine MooMoo should do well. The stitches usually take up to 3 to 4 weeks to completely dissolve depending on the brand used. If her incision is still healing, it's not red, has no discharge and it's not painful to the touch continue to monitor her as you have been doing. I also recommend contacting the shelter that spayed her tomorrow and finding out if they want to see her or not.

It depends... Stitches usually dissolve or are removed after about two weeks. If Peanut had absorbable stitches but part of the stitch material poked through her skin, it wouldn't absorb because it was too dry. I would recommend giving the vet who did her surgery a call to see if she can go in tomorrow to have the area looked at. If it's been long enough and the area is healed, they can remove any remaining stitches. They may not even charge for this! I don't recommend trying this at home because if you cut her, she'll need surgery again to fix it (and that definitely will have a charge!). Good luck and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach

Hello. I am so sorry that this has been so stressful. Most surgeries go off without a hitch, sometimes there are complications. This looks like a piece of suture, that may have been in the underlying muscle layer, may be trying to or has already migrated out. For now, just gently clean the area with a skin antiseptic like Hibiclens ( available at any pharmacy ) twice a day. Just dab it on & leave it. If the area seems to be worsening, do have her seen as soon as possible, but for now, just keep it cleaned. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

It’s actually fairly common for cats to have a suture reaction in the subcutaneous layer of tissue but not the muscle and linea alba. While it’s impossible to know exactly how everything looked I too would have left body wall sutures in place if there seemed to be normal healing since reopening the abdominal incision could increase risk for contamination in the abdomen. I hope Pixel recovers well!

It looks ok. I just suggest you apply a thin layer of Neosprin to it twice a day because it’s a bit raw. I wouldn’t be worried unless it gets very swollen or is open and oozing. Please feel free to ask more questions if you need to. Best wishes!

While it can take a long time for sutures to dissolve, and may cause some swelling or irritation, if the area is still very inflamed, is bothering Mikasa, you're seeing sutures actually coming out of the incision site through the skin, or the area is hot to the touch or lumpy, I'd get a second opinion from another vet. It's possible there is an ongoing reaction under the skin that needs to be addressed, or the sutures removed and the area examined to check for other causes. Until you can get to the vet, making sure to keep the area clean and dry to prevent infection, and keeping Mikasa from licking at it is best.

It takes several months for dissolvable sutures to fully break down. While this happens, it's not uncommon for a suture end to poke through the skin. Since Willow's incision has healed fully a month after surgery, it's perfectly fine to trim the end of suture that's sticking out. Obviously, take care not to accidentally cut Willow!