Nat the Cat Gets Spayed
Look for a series of post-op spay pics at the end to see what a healthy healing incision and an unexpected seroma look like.
"I'm sorry, did you just say EIGHT HUNDRED dollars?!?!"
"Yes," she replied, impatient to continue on with her spiel.
WOW, are you kidding me? This phone call to my veterinarian's office was not going the way I'd anticipated. Apparently, in order to spay my cat, a pre-surgical bloodwork analysis is required...REEEEEEQUIRED; no opting out available. It's to ensure the safety of putting my young feline under anesthesia! I guess I could see the reasoning if she was old, but she's NOT! Never in my many years of cat-keeperdom has this ever been a thing. And they wonder why there is an overpopulation problem. They're out of their minds if they think I would, OR COULD, pay that...
EIGHT.
HUNDRED.
DOLLARS...
Pfffft... I lied and said I'd call back later.
Needless to say, I ended up going with Rozzie May once again; a wonderful, much-needed organization that offers low cost spay and neutering services (among a few other things) at a huge price advantage for us common folk. The staff are all so warm and welcoming; a very caring group of peeps. They charge $140.00 to spay a female kitty. The whole thing ended up costing me $170.00 since I had them microchip her as well (I can just about guarantee that my vet charges way more than thirty dollars for a microchip). I figured, why not? And my husband was kind enough to donate an additional hundred which seemed to blow their mind (must not happen often) !
But this time I opted out of using the cat cab and chose to bring my sweet Natty to Conway, NH myself and wait it out for the day. Although, I must say, the cat cab is a fabulous option for those who have to work. All you do is show up super early at the designated parking lot (last time it was Tractor Supply Co.) and wait around with all the other nervous cat parents for "the bus."
I especially love seeing grown men kiss their little kitties good bye as they promise to pick them up later... “I’ll miss you!” they vow, after loading their Miss Fluffernutter or whatever into the back of the van. Then they give at least three look-backs as they walk away to their car; melts the heart it does. And then at the end of the day we’re all back, tappin' our feet with eager anticipation for that bus to bring back our precious furry cargo, safe and sound.
But waiting all day for the call to inform me that my baby is out of surgery and fine and when the pick up time should roughly be wasn't my cup of tea. I just didn't like sending her off like that; worrying and wondering the whole day if she was scared riding in a van jam-packed full of other occupied kitty crates. I did this once before, about a year and a half ago, for Miss Mama Mae...
When I had picked her up at the end of a long day, the towel I laid in the crate for her was soaked with urine. Plus, there was a spoonful of the foulest smelling canned cat food, plopped onto a piece of paper plate, which I can only assume was for her dining indulgence should she feel hungry on the ride home. She never touched it...can't say I blame her. But still, she returned to me just fine with zero signs of trauma. I'm sure she was treated like a princess by the truly caring staff... I think the whole experience was more of an ordeal for me, not her!
Anyway, this time around I chose to get up at 6 am and bring my annoyingly heated hornymeister to the clinic myself. And, using wisdom gained from my last experience, I lined the crate with a pee pad which was pretty brilliant, if I do say so myself! I also gave my Natty-nat-nat two towels to lie on.
Conway is an hour away and drop off time was from 8-8:30 am. We got there at 8:15, dropped Miss Natty off and then my hubby and I hung out for the day… got some breakfast, drove around a bit, and browsed the shops. It was okay, but the Kancamagus highway isn’t as pretty in the winter, kind of drab.
By 2:30 that afternoon we were back at the same restaurant from earlier, trying to kill some more time. That's when I got the call that Nat was all set. Relief washed over me as I rushed to eat the worst chicken tenders I’ve ever had in my life, thinking to myself, “Whew! Glad the worst part is over!” (But sometimes issues can arise…)
Once home, I removed the towel of pee and congratulated myself on a way easier clean-up! I needed to keep her isolated for the first couple of days and chose a room where I thought the least amount of high jumps would occur. No rough housing with her fur-mates allowed! But let's face it, people...it is really impossible to control a feline. I mean, the post surgical care directions I was sent home with said, “Your cat’s activity must be restricted for 14 days.” SERIOUSLY?! Have they ever met the feline species? Even alone, she still entertains herself. Anyway, I did my best to keep an eye on her throughout the next few days in order to make sure she wasn't licking her incision site. Otherwise, I would have had to put the cone on her; so glad I didn't have to do that! I did catch her licking a little bit from time to time and I would promptly stop her. She was pretty good about listening, but I can't speak for what she did when I wasn't in the room.
Natty is full of energy and can be quite restless, so I suppose that’s why she developed an issue. I noticed an unusual lump about 5 days after surgery. But she was otherwise doing fantastic; no oozing or bleeding from the incision site, no abnormal redness or swelling, no hotness to the touch. And there was no hint of pain when I gently touched the belly area (note that I never touched the actual incision). She was eating and drinking, peeing and pooping, and playing. She was her usual, happy little self. But on day 6 I really noticed the bulbousness and it concerned me, so I did what every other inquiring mind seems to do in these modern times…I googled it.
After typing in terms like, “cat after spay recovery,” and “should my cat’s belly look bulbous/swollen after being spayed,” and "spay incision healing process pictures,” I came across a few pics that did look similar and suggested a possible seroma. For those of you who don't know, according to the VCA Animal hospitals website, “A seroma is a non-painful pocket of relatively clear fluid involving the incision. It contains serum (the water portion of blood) that has leaked under the skin. This usually occurs if the cat has been too active in the first few days after surgery.”
I ended up texting pics of her belly bulge to my emergency vet and they told me to take her to my primary care the following day, since she otherwise seemed to be doing ok. But then they called me back later, upon further review of the picture, and wanted me to be prepared that she may need another surgery! That had me super worried! But it did help me get her seen by my regular vet first thing the following morning (which is a miracle these days if any of you have tried making an appointment at your veterinarian's office over the last two years).
Upon examination, my vet confirmed that it was indeed a seroma, but no surgery was necessary...PHEW! He did say that it was larger than he was used to seeing and that she had a higher risk of developing an infection, so they treated her with a one time shot of antibiotics, a shot of Robenacoxib (Onsior) for inflammation, along with three pills (same drug, just in pill form) to give her once a day for the next three days (I don't know what they put in those pills, but it's like kitty-crack! She ate each pill up all by itself and was looking for more like a desperate coke addict down on all fours, combing the carpet for remnants...just sayin'.) They told me to just be patient because it takes time for the body to reabsorb the fluid. I'd say about 5 days later is when I noticed that the seroma was finally shrinking in size.
So, all in all, we ended up spending about $540.00 in total for the spay surgery (including donation and after-care). Can you imagine if I had actually spent the EIGHT HUNDRED DOLLARS to have her spayed? It would have been close to three hundred bucks MORE for the unexpected after-care!
Happily, all is well in Natty Land so, because we all like to google before we actually call an expert, I wanted to contribute to the online trove of kitty spay pics. I hope these pictures will be of some help to anyone looking for reference photos in order to determine whether or not their kitty is healing normally. So, without further ado, here are some pics (with captions), beginning with day one after surgery...
Thanks for posting about this--and all the detailed pictures. I wasn't aware this could happen so good education for us cat people. (All you need is a marker to put a pair of glasses on that Day 11 pic.)
Oh, poor little kitteh! That seroma must've felt so painful and upsetting - for all concerned.