How to safely remove a sticky bandage from my spayed cat's incision?

Cats are little stinkers! You may have to try a longer than normal rigid e-collar, or you can look for the bowl style that are used in cats. You could try a large tube sock as a dress (cut holes for head and arms). You could attach string or elastic to make "stirrups" that pull the shirt down. As for cleaning, a warm wet washcloth is all that is needed. Though, since it appears red and swollen, I would recommend taking her to the vet for evaluation and possibly to start antibiotics.

If this is how her incision looked when you took her back in for the recheck, then your vet probably thinks that it will heal on its own - we call this second intention healing. This is a reasonable way to heal a wound that only affects the skin. If the vet thought that the wound extended deeper than just the skin, then Bonnie would need to have the sutures replaced. The down side of healing by second intention is that it takes much longer for the wound to heal - it could be several weeks of having her wear the e-collar. Because of this, often my clients will prefer that we go ahead and sedate and clean up the wound to place new sutures. Healing would then be expected in around 10 days.

Hello, I am glad your kitten is recovering smoothly from her procedure. It looks like the skin may be a little dry from the cleaning agents used to prep patients for surgery. However, this should resolve/improve within a few days. If at her 10-14 day post-operative, her skin is still not looking healed, your veterinarian may chose to perform additional diagnostics at the site. Alternatively, if your kitten is licking at the area, she may be causing some irritation to the skin there. Please make sure she is not licking the area by placing an e-collar on her if necessary. Monitor the are for any swelling, redness, discharge and contact your veterinarian if you note any as this could indicate a local infection or reaction to the suture material. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding your cat. You can try feeding her collar through her cone to make it more difficult to remove. Make the collar snug, but make sure you can place at least two fingers underneath. If this does not help, you can try securing it around her neck and then under her armpits and back up. This attaches it more like a harness if you leave a long enough piece of a guaze tie. I hope this information helps!

The incision looks healing normally even though there is a slight muscle reaction to the stitches (normal as well). Licking is not good as could lead to infections and delay in the healing process. Buster collar is useful to avoid any licking. 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.

Hello, and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. If Maisy is licking at her incision then she needs to wear an E-collar (cone) to keep her away from the incision. She should be in a safe enclosed space to minimize jumping and excessive activity until her incision heals.

I'm glad to hear that Bree is feeling well after her spay surgery. However, the single most important thing you can do during her recovery is preventing her from licking at the incision for at least 10-14 days after surgery. The best way to achieve this is by putting an e-collar (cone) on her. These are typically available through veterinarians or most pet stores. The blood and yellow discharge could indicate a sign of incisional infection from her licking, or could be irritation caused from her jumping and activity. Since you are seeing blood and yellow discharge, I do recommend taking Bree back to her vet for an exam to determine if an infection is present. If her incision has become infected, topical antibiotic sprays are not typically very effective and oral antibiotics are often needed. I hope this helps and that all goes well!