# Very bad reaction to internal stitches :(



## demichan (Feb 21, 2014)

My baby Yuna got spayed over three weeks ago and today she was operated on again to replace her old stitches with a different kind. The vet said she had never seen such a bad reaction before - Yuna started forming pus filled sores on the skin around and in the incision which the threads were coming out of. All three layers of the incision were affected.

My biggest worry, now that she is home with us, is that she reacts to these new stitches. Does anyone know what might happen in that situation and how likely it is to happen? 

I've attached a photo of my sweetheart before this whole mess began.


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## sheiladoreen (Jul 11, 2014)

Such a cute cat!

So sad that she had a bad reaction  did the vet say what caused it? Maybe an allergy to the material that was used?

I know some vets will use glue instead of sutures if possible, so if these don't work that might be a consideration. My bet is that they've had this happen before and likely she won't react to the second stitches. If she does, I'm sure the vets have some tricks up their sleeve. I wouldn't worry too much, just monitor the incision and keep your vet updated on any changes.


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## Heather72754 (Nov 1, 2013)

Your girl is beautiful, what a sweetie! So sorry she has had to go through this, and I'm sure it's been so hard on you to see her go through it also. atback

Let's hope she doesn't react to these new stitches, but if she did most likely she would get a similar reaction like she had to the other ones. What did the vet say about the likelihood of her reacting this time? Hopefully the materials are totally different and she will be fine.


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## 21inCostaRica (Aug 18, 2013)

Don´t worry too much. Just make sure that she doesn´t lick the wound at all and keep the cone on for at least a week.
I´ve had so many problems with spays in the last two years that I use Cothivet spray when the stitches come off.


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## spirite (Jul 31, 2012)

I don't have any experience with stitches, but I wanted to wish you and Yuna well. She's beautiful! I'll keep my fingers crossed that she doesn't have a reaction to these stitches and that she heals quickly!


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## Stryker (Apr 2, 2007)

Hi demichan !

Really, only a Veterinarian would be able to definitively tell you exactly what happened with Yuna's incision site - anything else is, de facto, only a possibility or speculation.

Whether or not your Vet is accurately describing what has happened could only be assessed by another (independent) Veterinarian. A second opinion would provide you that.

You might consider searching for other similar reports about the Veterinarian or the Veterinary clinic...while there are websites where people "rate" Vets, they are sometimes questionable. You could also simply use Google, using clinic and Vet's names.

I don't want to put you on the spot with this...however, I'm trying to understand what was happening over the last three weeks...were you seeing anything that concerned you? Was there a re-check date automatically booked after the initial surgery? Maybe you could help fill in the gaps between then and today.

There is a website that has some very detailed information about the things that can go wrong in spay surgery - the author, a Vet, is very candid about (at least) some of the issues arising because of "poor surgical technique". It might help you understand some of the issues Yuna is facing. Here you are: Spaying Cats - a complete veterinary guide to feline spay surgery. Sections 6c and 6d cover wound breakdown and wound infection.

Does this clinic and/or the Vet treat all kinds of animals, or is it strictly a cat-only practice?

If you do find reports of other similar problems with clinic/Vet, please do let us know...not using any names, just the problems/complaints.

Hope that helps.


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## KsKatt (Jul 6, 2014)

She is beautiful, a Scottish Fold? 
I can't offer anything but positive thoughts and prayers. 
Could you post pics of the incision? It may help one of us out in the future, knowing what to look for.


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## demichan (Feb 21, 2014)

Thank you for the well wishes and the advice. The full story is a bit of a saga. I posted about it on another forum before she ended up needing the second surgery so I'll just paraphrase what I said there. 

Yuna was spayed just over 3 weeks ago. When we took her in to have her external stitches removed two weeks ago the vet noted that she had some swelling from the internal stitches and a very small infection in the incision which we were to clean three times a day. She told us to bring her in again the following week. We did so. There was still swelling (which was common according to most websites and the vet) but the infection was healing. We were told to keep cleaning and if there were no other problems and it looked good the following Tuesday then we could remove her cone.

He incision looked clean and healthy over the weekend but on the Sunday evening a purple sore appeared to the upper left of the incision site. It was about the size of a pinkie nail. I gently washed it and it popped, yellow-ish stuff came out and then it bled. As it was a Sunday night and she seemed in high spirits we decided to wait until the Monday to see if she needed a vet. On the Monday morning it seemed to be healing over quickly, but when we got home that evening another one (smaller) was appearing to the upper right of the incision, opposite the first one. We managed to get an appointment that evening. We didn't have our usual vet, who is fluent in English, and had to make do with my husband's German and the vet's limited English (we are living in Germany) so we found it hard to fully understand what was happening. 

The new vet had Yuna held down and attempted to remove what seemed to be an internal stitch through the first sore that had appeared. Yuna wasn't having it so they gave her a jab to put her to sleep for 15 minutes. When we got back into the room they had removed a fairly long piece of blue thread and said it had been irritating the skin. The vet told us to keep the cone on for another two days, not to wash the wounds, and that Yuna should be fine.

So, that was Monday. On Wednesday when we took the cone off and Yuna was able to wash away the stained part of her fur we saw that she had another dark sore, but this time right in the incision site  We took her in AGAIN and another German vet said that she was reacting badly to the stitches. He gave us meds (syntax antibiotic and metacam pain killer) and said if it gets worse they may need to open her up again to remove them. Sure enough, by Friday it had gotten larger and was festering away, so she was taken in and operated on.

Apart from this and the days immediately after her surgeries, Yuna has been in high spirits. She's eating, drinking, using her litter box and doing her best to play despite our attempts to keep her quiet. 

I have some photos of the third sore that appeared, taken about 6 hours before it popped. You can also see the slight scars left by the previous swellings to the upper left and right. While those ones popped and healed, the third one popped, drained, looked clean when we went to bed but in the morning had clearly popped again as there was muddy reddish goo surrounding her incision. 

@Stryker - I found that page when I was looking for info before when the first sores appeared but I couldn't see anything that fully described what happened to Yuna on there or anywhere else which is why I'm having to ask for help. Trust Yuna to be the exception to everything :/ The practise we use is one of the best in the area, and certainly the nicest I've ever been in. The vets seem knowledgeable and since it's Germany I do trust them as they're pretty strict over here regarding qualifications and training. Plus our usual vet speaks perfect English which is a blessing in rural Germany.

Ok, attached is that photo of the 3rd sore. It doesn't look too bad here but it got a bit larger and once it popped it was pretty rank. As you can hopefully see, it was right in-between the two sides of her previously healed incision.


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## spirite (Jul 31, 2012)

demichan, how is Yuna doing? 

I wish I knew what kind of reaction you should be looking for. I guess I'd just keep an eye on the usual - eating, peeing, pooping, playing...and I'm sure you'll be checking the new incision pretty constantly! Does the old one now look like it's healing properly?


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## KsKatt (Jul 6, 2014)

demichan said:


> The new vet had Yuna held down and attempted to remove what seemed to be an internal stitch through the first sore that had appeared. Yuna wasn't having it so they gave her a jab to put her to sleep for 15 minutes.
> 
> He gave us meds (syntax antibiotic and metacam pain killer)
> 
> Trust Yuna to be the exception to everything :/ The practise we use is one of the best in the area, and certainly the nicest I've ever been in. The vets seem knowledgeable and since it's Germany I do trust them as they're pretty strict over here regarding qualifications and training. Plus our usual vet speaks perfect English which is a blessing in rural Germany.


I'm glad the clinic is a good one. I do have to say I would have been very upset if a vet went digging around in a wound to get something inside it without having given anything for pain! Cats have the same nerves and pain center that we do. Could you imagine a doctor probing, deeply into a wound on you with no pain relief? Even a very good vet can have some bad habits. Do not ever hesitate to speak up for Yuna.
Please do some research on Metacam. It was designed for dogs, you will find very little reference to cats. My vet told me that it's use on cats is off label and just not worth the risk. He will not use it on cats at all. Here's a link to a very informative site.http://www.metacamkills.com/

Just things to think about and discuss with your vet.


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## Jenny bf (Jul 13, 2013)

Oh Demichan I hope Yuna gets better soon and there are no more reactions to stitches. I actually have a lot of issues with stitches myself and also have had reactions to certain materials, so I totally sympathise with Yuna.


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## demichan (Feb 21, 2014)

Yuna is perkier today. She has a check up tomorrow evening to see how she's healing. I haven't seen the wound for myself since the bandage is still on but every time she wakes from a nap she's a little better. She woke me up this morning by putting her face 10cm from mine and staring (an old habit) so she's certainly on the mend. It took two weeks for her reaction to the stitches to come through though so we're in for a wait. 

@KsKatt The blue thread was poking through the wound at the time so there wasn't much probing, but she wasn't our usual vet at any rate. As for metacam, the official label on the bottle says 'Meloxicam fur Katzen' so maybe it's a different strength/formulation? It's 0.5g per ml and the syringe is an official metacam one with a cat print on it so it seems pretty cat orientated. Do they do more than one kind of Metacam?


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## 21inCostaRica (Aug 18, 2013)

Once all the wounds are healed, keep palpating Yuna´s abdomen. You may feel a hard knot -that´s OK. If you feel a small soft "bag" it´s probably pus; you will need to take her to the vet again for antibiotics, and it´s possible that this bag will burst again so you will have another wound. 
You have been through a lot


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## spirite (Jul 31, 2012)

Hm. I'd been prescribed meloxicam for the past 2 years due to severe arthritis, and as far as I know, it's not a pain killer per se. It's an NSAID, like Advil or Tylenol, so it'll bring some pain relief if there's inflammation. If it's not inflammation that's causing the pain, it might not help - it was completely ineffective for me. 

Don't mean to scare you - just wanted to make sure you knew that it's not like Percoset or hydrocodone!


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## KsKatt (Jul 6, 2014)

demichan said:


> Yuna is perkier today. She has a check up tomorrow evening to see how she's healing. I haven't seen the wound for myself since the bandage is still on but every time she wakes from a nap she's a little better. She woke me up this morning by putting her face 10cm from mine and staring (an old habit) so she's certainly on the mend. It took two weeks for her reaction to the stitches to come through though so we're in for a wait.
> 
> @KsKatt The blue thread was poking through the wound at the time so there wasn't much probing, but she wasn't our usual vet at any rate. As for metacam, the official label on the bottle says 'Meloxicam fur Katzen' so maybe it's a different strength/formulation? It's 0.5g per ml and the syringe is an official metacam one with a cat print on it so it seems pretty cat orientated. Do they do more than one kind of Metacam?


Sorry, I'm not forgetting the questions, just hadn't been able to spend the time on researching. You bring up good questions. I wouldn't be surprised if manufacturers made different quality products, depending on where they had to have the higher quality and where they could get away with being cheap. It has happened many times with human medications, why not animal medications? 
Makes me very curious.


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