speyed kitten - escapologist from wound protection

[Lacuna]

Our kitten was speyed on Wednesday and has been pretty groovy about the whole thing. The only thing is she will not keep anything on to stop her getting at the wound.

The main problem is she's so damn small. Buster collars last about 10 minutes before they'e off, bandages about half an hour, babygro (once it was on) lasted nearly 3 minutes. She isn't that bothered about licking it but it does look a bit bumpy round the wound site and I'm a bit suspicious of it.

Of course its now bank holiday which means that everywhere helpful is shut today but if anyone has any ideas of how to keep something on the damn animal. She's due at the vet in the morning fora post-op check where they'll probably insist again on some form of wound protection but I'm running out of ideas.

 

[Iwantakitten]

When my cat was speyed they said they could give me a cone of shame but it quite often stresses them out and they prefer to not put anything on the cat. I was advised to keep an eye on it and reconsider if she was fussing it a lot. After the procedure she mostly left it alone, it was pink on the incision for a couple days and the skin a little bumpy for a few days after that but within no time it healed up on its on. The vet was very happy with it at the post op check up.

If there are no signs of infection and she's not too bothered about it, especially as you're seeing the tomorrow then I would be tempted to leave it without putting anything on her at all.

 

[ycbm]

I've had four females done over several decades and know of five others and never once was the wound protected.

 

[Lacuna]

Thanks - was starting to worry a bit (all my other cats have been done in rescue before we got them so its our first experience of it)

she's not showing any signs of being in pain or it bothering her so I'll just keep an eye on her.

 

[wkiwi]

It becomes a major issue if your kitten:
1. licks at the wound, which can introduce infection. A few dabs with the tongue is okay, but turning it pink with licking decreases healing and can put bacteria into the clean wound. It is a myth that animals licking helps surgical sites heal. And cat's mouths are full of bacteria.
2. pulls out the stitches - if all stitches are removed (there is more than one layer) then the intestines themselves can fall out and some animals WILL eat them. Sorry to gross you out, but this is a serious complication.
Having said that, most animals leave their stitches alone at least in the early stages of healing, however if your kitten won't (and don't forget you wont' be able to monitor during the night) then you could rig up an emergency elizabethan collar from a ring of thick cardboard tied to a kitten collar, and i have known people use small flower pots (plastic) with the bottoms cut out (and no sharp edges- has to be the soft plastic, and a suitable size).
Most cats are more likely to pull at stitches after about a week, when they start getting really itchy - there is less risk of complications if they chew the stitches out at this stage, but ideally should be more like 10 days for stitches out (but depends on how individual heals).

 

[ycbm]

The vet I prefer to take mine to does keyhole surgery and glues the wound. It's fantastic, cat never even seems to notice. I assume it's harder for him than to cut a bigger hole, but it seems lot better for the cat.

 

[Lacuna]

Our vet has done Keyhole too - it is a diddy wound on her flank. Maybe 2cm at the most and doesn't look angry or anything.

She's ignored it today as far as I can tell so I'm feeling much better.She's at the vet in the morning so we'll see how it goes.