Post-spay hernia? So worried

[Cailleach]

Hi, up at 2am worrying about a kitten - again!

It's been a horrible few weeks which involved one of our cats getting out and being killed on the road, a death in the family...the list goes on and I won't bore you with it.

Now Fudge, our 6 month old foster kitten who still has no permanent home, has developed a massive soft lump along the top of her spay scar.

It has been two weeks since she was spayed and the vet said the large wound was because she had "had to dig around a bit" to find her uterus. Poor Fudge was in an awful lot of pain and moving very gingerly for a week after the surgery whereas her sister Ivy just acted as though nothing had happened straight after getting home.

The lump runs the length of her scar, protrudes over the top of it and is bulgey and soft to touch. It has just suddenly appeared this evening. She does not react when the lump is touched and is very lively and eating normally.

She is booked in to the vets on Tuesday morning anyway for her second post-spay check, but I am terrified as we had to spend the last of our savings to get her spayed and vaccinated.

What the hell am I going to do if she needs more surgery?

[Lonecatwithkitten]

There is a reasonable chance it will be a seroma (fluid accumulation) rather than a hernia as they occur in about 5% of cats and if that is the case it will resolve by itself. If it is a hernia it is a relatively small surgery that is much quicker and less invasive than a spay. If you had tuck to the post op advice and very thing had looked good at post op checks you wouldn't be charged for this in my clinic.

[cozietoesie]

How quickly is it likely to resolve itself if it is a seroma?

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Seromas resolve in around 10 to 21 days. If they are drained they can last for longer, they are best left alone to self resolve.

[Cailleach]

Thanks for replying, Lonecatwithkitten Having googled seromas post-spaying, it does look very similar.

Everything was fine until last night when this suddenly appeared; no redness or infection in the wound, they were kept in one room for several days immediately post-op, not handled too much, then we went to the first post-op check up and everything was fine...

She had been running round the room just prior to this, play-fighting with her sister so I was worried something had come loose, as it were.

It is still there this morning but looks slightly less "puffy" than before. She is in fine spirits and will let me touch her and prod the bulge. It's big though, about two inches long.

Worry, worry, worry!

Well we will see tomorrow - they are at the vets for their last check in the morning.

[cozietoesie]

Good luck to her tomorrow.

[Cailleach]

Thanks, Cozie I will post an update on here tomorrow.

[cozietoesie]

How did they get on?

[Cailleach]

Took Fudge to the vet this morning as planned; vet is not entirely sure if it's a seroma but recommends watching it for a week and seeing if it goes down any. If not, I need to take her back in.

Funnily enough it does look a bit smaller today. She is really angry with me for taking her to the vet again and is currently sulking under the bathroom rug (yes really.)

So we shall see! Thanks for advice and concern yesterday, much appreciated.

[cozietoesie]

That sounds promising. (It looking a bit smaller.) Should coincide nicely with her hair returning over the patch so that she's back to her pretty self soon.

She's under the bathroom rug??

[Cailleach]

Yes indeed; she is a painfully timid little thing, unlike her outgoing, everybody's-friend of a sister.

She spends a lot of time under rugs...and cushions...and pillows.

Who knows why!

[cozietoesie]

Dear Goodness. I hope you don't stumble sleepily to the loo in the middle of the night and stand on her!

[Cailleach]

No no, they sleep downstairs at night, otherwise we'd never get any sleep!

[Cailleach]

There is good news and bad news.

The good news is that Fudge's massive lump turned out to be a seroma after all, and that it has now totally disappeared.

The bad news is that BigFatPatchyCailleach cat now has a bladder infection and keeps running to the litter box. She even tiddled on something on the floor yesterday- my jacket; this is most unlike her. I think she is miserable at the moment as she has lost her sister and is missing her.

So it's off to the vet again tomorrow - hey ho!

[cozietoesie]

Ach - although good news that Fudge had a seroma after all.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Switching to only wet food for 7 days when they have a bladder infection is one thing I recommend on top of other treatment to flush the bladder through.

[Cailleach]

Thank you Lone, I have already banned her from her biscuits for a while, which is not going down too well!

I have had her on a diet for a few months now and am seeing good, albeit slow, results; she drinks plenty of water so that is not an issue.

Is there anything else I can do for her until her Monday vet appointment? She is not in much distress; she is eating well and even playing, no miaowing in pain when using the litterbox, no blood in her urine, so I don't think she's in too bad a state.

If I can do something to make her more comfy though, I would like to kow what.

[Cailleach]

*know

[Lonecatwithkitten]

If she is having wet food your doing all the home stuff you can.