Kitten that got spayed has lump under the incision

morganafay

Hi, I was wondering if anyone knows if this is normal, cos my female cats are old now so I don't remember.

She got spayed last week, the wound is fine and it has dissolving stitches, which look almost gone by now. But there's a soft lump where the incision is, bigger than a grape. It's really weird looking. It feels soft like fat, and it doesn't seem to hurt her when I touch it. Could it be possible that the internal stitches came out or something? It doesn't seem like an infection at all.

The wound doesn't look infected or anything and she's fine, eating loads, playing, purring.

Is this normal or could it be something that she needs to see the vet for? I can post pictures of it later on.

lorebringer

It could be a few things - fluid collection under the skin, herniation or just bad scarring. I would bring her back to the vet and see what it is. If she has ruptured her internal stitches she would have what is essentially a hernia and need it treated. Fluid collection is very common after abdominal surgery, esp if the animal has been very active, and should go away on its own but you really should get it checked.

Toulouse

Always address any post-op concerns to your vet.

morganafay

Thanks, I'm going to ask the vet anyway. I'll ask my mother when she gets home (she's a nurse) and I'll ask the vet, since she probably won't charge me just to look at it, so I might as well. I'd hate for her to get sick or anything.

I hope it's just fluid (she has been running around, can't really stop a cat doing that) because I don't want her to have to have surgery again, but I'll just have to see.

Toulouse

She should still be covered under post-op care so she shouldn't charge you.

morganafay

Woohoo! She's a really nice vet anyway, only charged me €50 for the spay. She said if she charged people more then they just wouldn't spay them (in the country) and she'd prefer to have cheap prices than for kittens to be drowned or just left to fend for themselves.

It felt it again and it doesn't feel like fluid. I'm thinking it could be a hernia so I'm going to take her to the vet again to see (unless my nurse mother or doctor sister have some idea what it could be, but they usually don't!). It seems too soft to be scarring, I dunno, it could just be normal but I've never seen it happen before.

morganafay

Well I called the vet's friday and was told to call again Saturday, and when I talked to the vet Saturday she said if it was a soft lump to just keep an eye on it and it'll probably be fluid. But now the lump has gone hard so I called the vet's again today and no answer. So I'm going to call the vet's mobile number in a little while and say that I'm really worried and really want her to see her. (My vet only works part time and also treats large animals, so it's hard to get an appointment, but she might call to the house if she's passing.)

And my 10 year old cat started limping this morning, and one of her back legs looks really injured. She's always on the roof of the shed or garage so maybe she fell off. :eek: so gotta get her seen by the vet too. Why do they always get sick at the same time? She needs a check up anyway, she's looking very old and has been seriously sick a few times in the last few years, so I don't think we'll have her for long.

DAWNRISER

Could be scar tissue. This happened to one of my cats, hard lump under the scar. Vet said it was just how her skin healed.
But as other poster said, best to be safe and have it looked at by vet.

morganafay

The vet said it was a lump of fat, that's now gone hard, but that it should go away in a couple of weeks. But if it doesn't go away or if it gets bigger then to bring her back.

And with the other cat she has a bit of ligament damage probably, but nothing too serious. It should get better on its own, hopefully. I don't want her to have to be x-rayed or need surgery or anything because she's 10, and I'd prefer for her to not have anything unneccessary done. The vet gave her a full check up though and said she's really healthy so I'm delighted. Though she's pretty fat, that's at least a sign that she's healthy!

And there were two vets there and they both checked the cats, so that's good, to get a second opinion.

When I went in the vet was doing a dental on an old Yorkie with a heart murmur and she was worried about the dog dying so she got me to help out, listening to his heart and stuff. His heart slowed right down and she had to give him something to speed it up and finish off the dental quickly. He was fine anyway, and probably will feel much better minus most of his teeth, because they were really bad.