What if my spayed dog has two incisions instead of one? Is it normal?

This is more bruising than normal. It can be caused by a blood vessel in the skin when they put the buried sutures in. It’s not from the abdomen. The incision is fine. The underlying stitches cause the incision to be jagged but it will heal fine and you will barely be able to see the incision in a month or so. So nothing to be overly concerned about. Keep her quiet with no running and jumping and she’ll be fine. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you get answers to your veterinary questions.

I see that Cheyenne is a large dog, and she could have needed a larger incision in order to safely visualize her uterus and ovaries to have them removed. Sometimes incisions can be bigger than others in order to perform the surgery. It does sound like 12 inches is a little longer than usual, but without seeing her in person or having done her surgery, I can't say for certain. You can ask your vet as to why the incision is this long, and they can explain it to you :-)

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! The incision looks like it is healing well so I would not be concerned about those dark spots. Those could be normal pigmentation changes. As long as the incision continues to look like it is healing, there is no need to recheck her. Good luck and best wishes!

Typically a cat neuter only involves incisions in the scrotum. However if one testicle wasn't completely descended another incision may have been needed. Also- it's hard to be sure but that could be an area of razor/clipper irritation from the preparation for surgery and not a second incision. If there is any doubt I recommend contacting the veterinarian who did your cat's neuter to see if it was a standard neuter or required additional incisions.

It is not always possible to know if a female dog has been spayed simply by examining them. Some spay scars are very small and cannot always be seen or felt. It is also possible that scars from incisions may have been from other surgical procedures, such as foreign body surgeries, c-sections, or bladder stone removal. The only surefire way of knowing if a dog is spayed is to perform a surgical exploratory to actually looking for the ovaries and uterus, or have an ultrasound performed by a boarded veterinary radiologist (although this often costs more than a spay surgery). I suggest discussing this further with the vet who performed Annabel's surgery if you have additional questions, but it sounds as though everything done was medically appropriate. As a side note, I can see in the picture that Annabel's incision is a bit red. Just be sure to keep an e-collar (cone) on her at all times for the next 10-14 days until her incision is fully healed. If she licks at the incision, it is likely to become infected and may even open. I hope that her recovery goes well!

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Lina. Unfortunately only one picture is attached, and I think it may be the earliest picture given your description in the question. If the incision looks more red and scabby, that suggests infection. I would have her seen by a vet first thing in the morning to get it checked out to be safe. I hope this helps!

The incision looks pretty normal for a few days after surgery. Often there will be some inflammation that will feel firm under the incision. However, if the firm spot you feel gets bigger then I would recommend a follow up appointment with your veterinarian to make sure that she isn’t developing a hernia. Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.