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My dog's spay incision is leaking a smelly liquid. Is it infected?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Bichon Frise | Female | unspayed | 7 years and 11 months old | 15.43 lbs

I spayed my 8 year old dog friday, everything was ok until sundat overnight when she start dripping. I took her to the vet and gave her antibiotics. She is still dripping but less a sticky smelly liquid. The skin looks also a bit like its not "glued" togheter anymore(should i be worried)is the antibiotics gonna be enough? Should I clean the area? As its dripping on her leg she is licking it. She has collar but can reach the leg which makes her bend and not sure if is ok for the incision. Thanks

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3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Linda G, MS, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on September 12th, 2017

Hello, & thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. While the antibiotics should prevent a real nasty infection from progressing, I would also recommend gently cleaning the area with dilute betadine and warm water. Add a couple of tablespoons of the betadine into 1/2 cup of warm water, & clean off any serum that has accumulated around the incision. Do not scrub the incision. Dry the area, & you can wrap her abdomen using an absorbant pad & either vetwrap or coban. Most general pharmacies will have all this. You can also place an infant t-shirt on her, tying up the bottom to cinch her just in front of the hindlegs. Keep the cone on, & clean the wound several times a day. If it is not healing or the discharge increases or changes in any way, see your vet immediately. Good luck with her, she should be fine in 7-10 days.

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    Answered By David Darvishian

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Fifi. Just by looking at the pictures, I would say she needs to be seen right away by the veterinarian who did the surgery or by someone else if that is not possible. The incision definitely looks infected and needs to be more intensively treated. It needs to be topically cleaned well and then a plan can be developed. More antibiotics are probably in order, possibly a few skin staples along the incision, some anti inflammatories or pain meds, etc. Good luck with Fifi

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    Answered By Kevin Sanada, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on September 12th, 2017

    I'm assuming the vet didn't see any damage to deeper tissues (muscle and abdomen) or an abscess, so that's why she felt it was OK to treat at home on antibiotics. There appears to be one stitch that has opened, but the rest are in-place. Flushing with just clean normal water is the best thing you can do. There has been numerous studies that show antiseptics (like iodine) and antibiotic creams are not very effective and may actually delay wound healing. Irrigating with saline or normal water has demonstrated to be the most effective at preventing and eliminating infection. Make sure that you are applying good pressure when irrigating and the water goes into the wound. Irrigating only the outside of the wound will not be very effective. I hope that helps and this clears-up soon.

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