My dog's spay incision looks weird. Is it healing or needs a vet?

Keeping puppies "quiet" after surgery is certainly not an easy undertaking! The good news is that I think her incision is healing beautifully. There is very mild inflammation right around the incision, but the incision appears to be closed and does not appear to have any discharge. Continue doing your best to keep her as quiet as possible for the next week, but I know it's not possible to turn a 5 month old GSP puppy into a couch potato! If she's really out of control, you can ask your vet about prescribing mild sedative medications (like trazodone) to help her to stay a bit more mellow while healing. Keeping an e-collar (cone) on her is the best thing you can do to promote healing, as this prevents her from licking at the incision at all. Hope that everything continues to go well!

The incision looks good. It is closed with the amount of redness and swelling you would see the day after a surgery. There aren't any external sutures which is probably why it looks odd to you. To pick her up, place one hand on her chest in front of her front legs and use the other hand behind her rear legs to scoop her up. Do the reverse to put her down. Keep an e-collar on her and restrict activity as much as possible.

What you're seeing looks like the tail end of suture material popping out from under the skin. I would not be worried or fuss with it too much. The incision looks well healed, but you might want to take Luna to the vet to have that piece of suture removed.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Lily. I know it is hard to do, but a dog should really be kept quiet for 10-14 days post-spay. This allows her body to heal. She went through major abdominal surgery. Her incision appears to be healing well from your pictures. I hope this information helps!

The site itself looks good. No swelling, redness or bruising and it appears closed. The slight discharge does not appear to be frank blood. It looks like it may be fluid from a seroma. Seromas can occur after surgery. Continue to monitor the site, If the discharge increases or has a bad odor then see your veterinarian. Monitor Delilah for lethargy, fever, loss of appetite, vomiting or diarrhea. These are symptoms that should also be addressed by your vet. Keep an e-collar (cone) on her to prevent licking or chewing of the site. You can use a diluted betadine or Hibiclens solution around the site to keep the area clean.

Although quite inflamed and with mild amount of dry discharge, the incision looks healing normally and does not look infected. A vet check up at this stage is not needed. Buster collar should be kept on at all times. 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!

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. The incision looks inflammed, but this could be part of the normal healing process. If there is any discharge, OR if the wound looked better than this previously and is now looking MORE red than say Friday or Saturday, I would take her back to the vet right away. If it is steadily looking better, and she is eating, drinking, pooping and peeing normally, then you can continue to monitor it. Best of luck with Lilo.