Expert: Jessica - 10/11/2009

Question
There are many feral cats in my neighborhood and I've been trying to get them fixed. I had a female spayed about 6 months ago and since then she has let me pet her.  I noticed today that her stitches are still in.  They didn't give her dissolvable stitches!  Her skin has now grown around them.  What should I do?  Could this harm her in any way?  Thank- you for your time.
Sincerely, Jennifer

Answer
Hi Jennifer.  Thank you so much for helping out the ferals!  What an awful thing to find out!  Sometimes dissolvable sutures are used, but they just don't fully dissolve, and they need to be physically removed.  Sometimes vets make mistakes and don't send home proper follow-up instructions!  In any case, as difficult as it is to catch ferals and skittish cats, it would be wise to get her back to the vet.  Sutures that are left in long-term can cause the development of scar tissue, which tends to worsen the longer the stitches are left in.  Additionally, the presence of a foreign material in the body poses a threat if her immune system recognizes and begins to attack it.  This can trigger anything from a localized to a body-wide inflammatory response.  Some sutures are surgical steel and are not likely to cause this type of reaction, but these are generally used as permanent sutures inside the body.  Sutures used to close skin wounds should always be removed to prevent complications later on.  As long as the knots of the sutures as still exposed, they should be relatively easy to remove.  If the skin has grown over the sutures completely, you should discuss whether to have a procedure done to remove them now, or to use a wait and see approach.

Good luck with her, and keep up the good work!

Jessica