Expert: Ali - 3/10/2009

Question
i have a 6months old cat i adopted about a month ago i took her to get spaded about 3 weeks ago my cousin took her for me
shes been back she has full energy no signs of anything like pain discomfort etc...but i did notice ok where the womb is where the did the cut and where they closed her back up my cousin told me they used some glue i am not sure what they do nowadays exactly the thing is now she is biting and pulling at this plastic small in a sense plastic piece sticking out curly shaped like the curly end on a handheld basic cork screw swiryly she is biting and pulllin at it i would trim it back or what i tried to call the vet and where i got her to ask more info help where i bought her said call the vet now the vet wont answer my questions are 1.should i let her keep chewing and plling at this2.should i trim it back3.what is it 4.is is plastic that was used to stich her back5.will the womb come open if she keeps bulling at it(i am hoping someone familar with the contents of what i am trying to artichulate could please help me please ↑

Answer
Timothy,

I'm concerned that your kitten has been overly attentive to her spay incision and removed her tissue glue that is holding the skin layer closed. If this is the case it's possible that she's tugging on internal stitches and this could be potentially serious. There's no worry that her womb will open up, it was removed during the spay surgery, however there are internal stitches left behind to help everything heal and prevent bleeding. I'd recommend that you either put an Elizabethan collar onto your cat to prevent her from picking at her incision any further and take her to her family vet in the morning or get her in to see the emergency vet tonight. Obviously it's far less financially painful to get your kitty in to see her regular vet, but picking at her incision could cause a serious infection and it sounds like she's made a hobby out of picking at her surgical site. If you don't have an Elizabethan collar (some vets send them home with cats after spay/neuter surgery as a matter of course) you can do a couple of things - one option would be to go to the emergency vet clinic or a pet store that's open late and purchase an Elizabethan collar (which when properly worn looks like your cat is wearing an upside down lamp shade) so that the vet visit can be postponed till morning or if you happen to have a sheet of thin, flexible plastic or fairly stiff poster board and a sharp utility knives on hand you can make one yourself that can be attached by your kitten's collar or if your kitten doesn't wear a collar regularly you can also use a long strip of gauze made into a makeshift collar to attach the protective collar. You can find a great article to give you some idea of how to make an Elizabethan collar at http://www.petplace.com/cats/elizabethan-collars-for-cats-e-collars/page1.aspx If you can't get a protective Elizabethan collar on this baby I'd be most comfortable recommending that a vet take a look at this material coming from the incision ASAP to ensure that everything is still as it should be and to rule out the possibility of your kitten needing to be sedated so that repairs can be done on her spay incision due to the excessive licking, chewing or picking at any surgery site can cause serious surgical complications or post operative infection which has the potential to be life threatening. I would be interested in finding out what's happening with this kitty and what solutions you managed to come up with - I've had some difficulties with cats I've spayed picking at their incision, but my vet buries her stitches so that they aren't accessible to the cat and I've never had difficulties after spay surgery to this extreme and I'd like to be prepared in the event that someone else has the same problem with their female cat after she's been spayed.