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Why is my cat's stomach hard and swollen near spay site, but fine?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Female | spayed | 1 year and 3 months old | 10 lbs

Recently I’ve noticed that the lower part of my cats stomach has been hard and slightly swollen. I’m not entirely sure how long it’s been but I didn’t really pay any mind to it because she is acting completely fine. She eats normally, is just as playful if not more so recently because we got a new kitten about a month ago and doesn’t act in pain even if I touch it. It’s located near where she was spayed. She is a little over a year old and we got her fixed in April. I’ve circled where it is.

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2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Rebeccah Wood

Licensed Veterinary Technician, Registered Laboratory Animal Technologist

Published on August 12th, 2017

Hello there! There are a couple of things that come to mind with a hardened area at the spay site. The first and most common issue I can think of may be inflammation from a localized suture reaction at the incision site. When Soy was spayed, the vet most likely used a layer of absorbable stitches in her abdominal muscles below the skin. These stitches are meant to absorb over time (anywhere from 90-220 days, depending on the type of suture) and don't usually cause any problem, but sometimes the body's immune system reacts against this foreign material and causes swelling. This is not usually a medical concern unless the swelling is hot, red, or appears to be bothering Soy. If you see any of these symptoms, you should bring her to the vet as this may indicate an infection. It may take many weeks to go away - if you are at all concerned about Soy's well-being, feel free to give the vet that spayed her a call. If Soy will let you, placing a warm compress against the area for 10 minutes a day can also help reduce the swelling. There is also the possibility that this lump is a cyst or tumor, but this is much less likely considering Soy's young age. Good luck, and I hope Soy's lump goes away soon!

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    Answered By Jenna Beyer, DVM, MBA, cVMA

    Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

    Published on

    If you are feeling something hard in this area of Soy's body, you could be feeling an enlarged urinary bladder, a full colon, an enlarged mammary gland, or even an increase in body fat (this is a common place for cats as they get older). If it is not painful and she acts otherwise normal, I would recommend that you just watch it. If it gets bigger, if it becomes painful, or if Soy is not acting normal, it would be wise to get it checked out by a vet.

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