# Cat spayed- side or belly?



## MoMacnab (Jul 23, 2006)

Hi

My seven month old kitten Shirley was spayed today. She recovered well from the operation and the vet decided to release her home on the same day. 

I have a question about her wound site- I had expected her wound to be underneath, on her belly, as I have seen friends' cats have their wound there. Instead, she has a wound on her side. Can anyone explain to me the difference in the two operations? 

Many Thanks!

Mo.


----------



## Zalensia (Aug 25, 2003)

No idea on the difference but all my female cats have had the spay mark/op done on their side.


----------



## debo (Jul 25, 2005)

From what I have been told, Vets in the UK do the incision on the cats sides and here in the USA it is done underneath. My husband is from the UK and he says he prefers the side incision as it doesn't hang down so much when they recover. Our cats, not an ounce overweight, seem to have this BELLY hanging down from this incision! We asked the vet and he said it is normal.


----------



## Stephie (Feb 4, 2005)

The ladies are right, in the UK the operation is usually done on the side. You can opt for the alternative, as I did with Willow but that was only becuase she is a show cat (or was until she got an ASBO for biting the judge!!  ) It was significantly more expensive but in terms of the actual procedure it's just the same.

Most importantly I am glad to hear that Shirley is recovering well


----------



## MoMacnab (Jul 23, 2006)

Thanks for your replies!

I am glad to hear that the operation is just the same as the one performed on cats who have the "belly" spay. I had started to worry that she had not been spayed, but instead had the procedeure where the tubes are tied but uterus and ovaries remain, meaning that she would still go into heat- until now I had never heard of a cat having her wound on her side. But from your replies, it sounds like she has indeed been spayed!

Thanks again, 
Mo.


----------



## wkdwhite (Oct 25, 2006)

Hi
Im in Ayrshire and the vets here always made the cut on the side.


----------



## MoMacnab (Jul 23, 2006)

Hi!

One further question in relation to Shirley having been spayed.......I have just noticed that her 2 external stitches are gone. They were there about an hour ago when she was sitting on the couch next to me, and now they are gone. The vet told me that she has 'dissolvable' stitches internally and that there was no need to take her back to have them removed. In addition, she had these 2 blue coloured external stitches that have vanished!

Is this anything to worry about? She seems pefectly happy and isn't fussing over the wound site. The spay took place about 36 hours ago.

Thanks!


----------



## Zalensia (Aug 25, 2003)

She has prob pulled them out.
If the wound isn't showing any signs of opening up I wouldn't worry.


----------



## MoMacnab (Jul 23, 2006)

Thanks Zalensia. Called the vet nurse this morning and she told me to bring her in right away so that they can staple the wound. They also want her to wear a head collar for A WEEK (!) to stop her bothering the wound. Maybe they are being a bit over zealous, but I suppose its better that than doing nothing only for her to get poorly. The wound still looks good though and is nice and dry- the vet might not even need to staple it when he sees it.


----------



## kana (Apr 23, 2004)

A week seems to be a bit long as it should be mostly healed by then. I have a boy cat, but my female dog kept chewing out her own stitches and had to be resewn three times. 8O
It just took 2-3 days of her leaving it alone for it to seal shut.


----------



## MoMacnab (Jul 23, 2006)

I thought a week seemed long too- but that was what the vet advised, so will go along with it. I think you are right, if the cat (or in your case dog) will only leave the wound alone it heals really fast, but sometimes they are just too curious!!


----------



## Krystalily (Jul 13, 2006)

Andi had her stitches in for about 12 days. The place she got spayed at advised to leave them in 10-14 days. She was really good about not getting them out or picking at them so I had no problems. I just had to make sure she had to stay fairly inactive and not jump, but tell that to a kitten that loves to run around 8O


----------

