My cat's healed surgery scar is dark. Should I take her to the vet?

All in all, I think that Tokyo's incision looks perfectly normal for being about 10 days post-op. I can see that she's likely been licking the center part a bit more than she should have been since the tissue is still slightly red. However, it's still healing nicely. Since this area is a bit red, I would try to put an e-collar (cone) or baby onesie on Tokyo for the next few days to prevent her from licking at it. The white areas that you're seeing look like normal fibrin-rich tissues, which are normal in the healing process and will fall off shortly. I hope that she continues to heal well!

I think there's enough going on here that it would be worthwhile to take her for a recheck by your vet. It's not terrible looking, but there is some swelling along the incision margins and a small defect in the top of the incision. I would expect her incision to look better than this after a week. For now, I don't recommend you do any sort of treatment at home, because this may make things worse. As long as you get her to the vet in the next day or two, she should be fine to wait. I hope that helps and your kitty gets better soon.

Hi, I can see the dark pigmented mass on the photo and I would be more cautious then to say in certainty what any mass is by simply looking at it. If it hasn't been done yet I suggest to go to your vet and consider trying to take a sample. This usually means collecting samples of the material inside the mass with a needle (fine needle aspiration=FNA). Taking a sample and analyzing at it under the microscope or sending it to a pathologist for identification is crucial in most cases for a definitive diagnosis. If FNA is not effective (or if your vet thinks it's not the best option) the next recommendation is usually a biopsy.

Hi there. Often, losing a single suture a few days after surgery isn't a huge deal, especially if the incision still appears to be closed and there is no bleeding or drainage. But it's hard to say if this is a problem or not without being able to see it. If you want to, you can post a photo of the incision for us to look at - we may be able to give you a better idea of whether it needs any treatment.

The black spots look like pigment in the picture. If it is not pigment I would recommend bringing Catto to the veterinarian to look at it. With the pictures, it is difficult to definitively tell. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I would get this checked out by a vet. I worry about these dark-colored masses being melanoma, which can be a serious cancer if not controlled soon enough. It's also possible that this is a benign skin tumor or cyst, but there's no way to tell for sure from looking at it. A sample will need to be analyzed under a microscope in order to tell what type of mass it is. I hope that helps and all is well with the cat.

Unfortunately it's difficult to tell in your picture - there are multiple areas that appear discolored but I think it might just be the picture. If there are bruises that are not associated with an incision I'd recommend taking Jett to see a veterinarian - bruising can be a sign of a clotting disorder. If the bruising is right around the incision there might not be quite as much concern, although it would be quite delayed. If Jett is painful or the bruising around the incision is progressing I'd recommend seeing a vet.