Should I worry if I picked up my cat wrong after abdominal surgery?

Thank you for submitting regarding Leo. If he is healing well and has not had an surgical complications, it should be fine to lift him. You can place one hand around his chest and the other behind his hind end. This will avoid placing pressure directly on his incision site and should be more comfortable for him. I hope this information helps!

From what I can tell it seems to be healing well. If she is showing any signs of sickness or the incisions don't continue to improve, get her in to see your vet for a recheck. Put the cone back on if she starts paying too much attention to her incisions and overgrooming. It is likely to still be itchy for some time as it heals.

Hi Channon! I understand your concerns for Mimi after her surgery! During a surgical procedure, pets have their hair clipped, skin prepped with antiseptics, and a drape placed over the surgical site. The surgeon generally uses special clamps with sharp and pointy edges (towel clamps) that hold the drape in place to prevent any contamination of the surgical field. These clamps can cause fairly significant bruising post-operatively around the incision site. It sounds as though that may be the issue that you are noticing on Mimi's abdomen and should resolve over the next few days. However, if the bruising worsens, or if Mimi's incision has any redness, discharge or swelling, contact your vet. I hope this helps!

I think there's enough going on here that it would be worthwhile to take her for a recheck by your vet. It's not terrible looking, but there is some swelling along the incision margins and a small defect in the top of the incision. I would expect her incision to look better than this after a week. For now, I don't recommend you do any sort of treatment at home, because this may make things worse. As long as you get her to the vet in the next day or two, she should be fine to wait. I hope that helps and your kitty gets better soon.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Zoro. If he seems comfortable, it is fine to pick him up and carry him. He will let you know. Do your best to limit his activities such as stairs and jumping. This can be difficult though as cats can be quite independent. Just monitor his incision site for any swelling. I hope this information helps!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Tom. I recommend contacting his veterinarian today with your concerns. Most cats are back to normal within 12-24 hours after surgery. If he is not eating, he could be painful. Do not give any over-the-counter pain medications though as these can be toxic to cats. The sunken abdomen is not an expected side effect. It may not be a problem, but is worth discussing with his veterinarian. I hope this information helps!

Thanks for using Boop by Petco! Sometimes it can take some time for cats to recover from anesthesia and administration of these medications together so that could be a reason why it has been taking him longer than expected to recover. If he is eating and otherwise doing well, it may be ok to monitor him for a bit longer. However, if he worsens or by tomorrow he has not improved, he should be evaluated by his veterinarian for reevaluation. Good luck and have a great day!

That could be a reaction on the site of the surgery, which could possibly self resolve with time. I would recommend just to monitor it at this stage and if not improving or if deteriorating, I would recommend a check up to confirm clinical suspicion at least. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Hello. This is a difficult question since it can be hard to quantitate pain in animals, especially cats. We do know that scar tissue can cause some discomfort in us, but IBD can definitely cause pain in cats. If, for the most part, Trixie has been doing very well for the past 11 years, then I doubt a little scar tissue on the ovaries was at issue. I am concerned that your vet found the tearing & bleeding during the exploratory, that generally signals an acute traumatic event. Time will now tell if she is indeed more comfortable. I hope she is. Thanks for using Boop by Petco.

Hi, the incision seems absolutely fine. However what you describe in terms of demeanour and behaviour is not expected after a few days. It could be that Kit cat has a temperature or that she is still in pain. I would recommend to have her checked over to exclude any potential post op concerns such as internal wound breakdown or an internal infection. If all is well, she could have some symptomatical treatment for pain and or/temperature.