Why is my spayed cat licking red spots on her old incision area?

Given the red and irritated appearance of Nellie’s skin, I’m concerned that she either has a skin infection (usually from excessive licking with underlying allergies) or an allergic reaction (contact dermatitis) to something in her environment. The white plaques appear to be skin crusts, which can occur with either of these situations. At this point, your best bet is to take Nellie to her vet for evaluation. She may need a course of antibiotics or topical medications to get this issue under control. Until her appointment, be sure to keep an e-collar (cone) on her so that she doesn’t lick herself and make matters worse. I hope that everything goes well!

She may be licking excessively which could be contributing to the inflammation. Cats have rough tongues which can traumatize the skin leading to infection. Place an e-collar (cone) on her to prevent licking and have her rechecked by your veterinarian. She may need antibiotics and/or anti-inflammatory medications to resolve the issue.

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.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! There could be an infection developing or even inflammation that will make healing more difficult. I recommend having them evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment which will likely include the use of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medications. Good luck and have a good day!

I'm glad to hear that Bree is feeling well after her spay surgery. However, the single most important thing you can do during her recovery is preventing her from licking at the incision for at least 10-14 days after surgery. The best way to achieve this is by putting an e-collar (cone) on her. These are typically available through veterinarians or most pet stores. The blood and yellow discharge could indicate a sign of incisional infection from her licking, or could be irritation caused from her jumping and activity. Since you are seeing blood and yellow discharge, I do recommend taking Bree back to her vet for an exam to determine if an infection is present. If her incision has become infected, topical antibiotic sprays are not typically very effective and oral antibiotics are often needed. I hope this helps and that all goes well!

It is unlikely related to the surgery from getting fixed but does look inflamed and infected. Because it has been going on so long, I would take him to the vet to be seen for treatment. They may need to a round of antibiotics and anti inflammatory to help improve it. I would suspect it is an allergy or a previous wound/injury that is just not healing correctly

Hi, and thanks for your question. This presentation could be due to a trauma or localized spot of skin infection (likely to be caused by bacteria). A check up, appropriate disinfection and possibly antibiotics (oral, topical or in a shampoo formulation) are needed to solve the problem. Disinfection may be started at home with very diluted hibiscrub or betadine or salted water baths. Buster collar may be useful as well to avoid any licking/scratching (if any). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!