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Why does my kitten's spay incision look concerning after licking?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Female | spayed | 2 months and 27 days old | 3.5 lbs

My female 3M old kitten was spayed on the 5th of this month. She has been licking at her incision. She has run a played a bit but is isolated now. We went back to the vet based on the look of her incision and they only gave us an e-collar and antibiotics. She had no e-collar the first 2 days after surgery. Should we be concerned about the look of this? Looking for a second opinion.

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4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jenna Beyer, DVM, MBA, cVMA

Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

Published on October 8th, 2017

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.

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    Answered By Linda G, MS, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on April 15th, 2019

    Hello. Everything is looking very good & I am glad you took the extra couple of days to keep the collar on. You can definitely leave the collar off now & return the regular litter to her box. Just as a precaution, just keep a close eye on the incision for the next week or so because the underlying muscle takes longer to heal than the skin, but I would not be worried about her licking the area at this time. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

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    Answered By Rodrigo Roca, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on January 11th, 2020

    Hello, sorry to hear about Luna. Make sure she is wearing an e-collar (cone) on at all times so that she is not licking at the incision as this is the most common cause for incisional infections. Contact your veterinarian and have them take a look at the incision, she may need antibiotics for the infection. If she begins to have any bleeding, discharge, or if the incision becomes apart, then she should be seen by a veterinarian immediately. Hope this helps and best of luck.

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    Answered By Dr. Strydom, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on January 26th, 2019

    The incision does not look infected however, it is hard to say if the incision is open slightly at the one end or not just by looking at the photos. I don't think it's an emergency but you should take her back to your vet for a follow-up exam so they can check it. In the meantime you should put the E-collar back on. Best wishes.

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