This is the end result of a left flank spaying operation which looks very untidy. The incision looks messy and so do the stitches. There are question marks about the quality of the veterinary care in this instance.
Because the photograph is a little bit unpleasant, I have decided to put it on another page where there are no adverts in order to satisfy advertisers. Sorry about this but please click on the link below to see the photograph. You will remain on this page at the same time.
Result of Cat Spaying Operation in Flank Looks Horrendous. Photo: Sarah Jayne Bryan
This photograph of a female cat who was spayed on the day that the photograph was taken is horrible. It looks like a bullet wound rather than the incision made by a veterinary surgeon in a spaying operation. I don’t know if the operation was botched but I would be concerned.
The veterinarian made an incision in the flank of the cat on the left-hand side which is quite normal apparently although most people are used to seeing the incision made in the belly. I understand that most US vets make the incision in the belly. As the cat is sitting it almost looks like a wound to the leg not the flank.
Perhaps I am being too squeamish. Perhaps this sort of wound is normal but it doesn’t look like it to me. The comments below the photograph on the Cats and Kittens Sharing Group on Facebook indicate that they agree with me.
Some of them say that the cat’s owner should change her veterinarian and, for example, a lady whose name is Beverley McKiernan says that she has had 12 female cats spayed and none of them looked anything like this. She suggests that the cat’s owner, Sarah Jayne Bryan should get her looked at again. As a layperson and not a veterinarian I would be inclined to agree. It just looks like something’s gone wrong.
Another commenter, Rebecca Aldridge, said that it looks horrible and that her cat, Lola, came back from the vets with nothing but tiny stitches and no blood whatsoever.
Lynn Higgins said that it is a messy job and that the spaying operation should result in nice clean cuts and neat stitches. She suggests also that Sarah needs to take her cat to another that for a second opinion.
I think a butcher would have done a better job. If they handed my cat to me like this, I would have taken some photos, no big deal I just like to document things, I’d pay the bill, put her in the car, grab the baseball bat I have there, walk back in and gone ape shit on the place! If they so much as looked at me funny they’d be next. Then I’d get my cat home, call a neighbor to care for her while I’m in jail and wait for the police. I would freaking LOSE IT!
Yeah during my rage I wouldn’t have time to take her to another vet, so my neighbor would have to.
When vet nursing I assisted at hundreds, if not thousands, of cats spayed via the flank and none ever looked like this! Any vet should be able to spay a cat this way via a tiny incision and sew her up with just one or two blanket stitches and all the vets I worked for did it this way. The only time we made a belly incision was if the cat was in kitten. We never sent a cat home with dried blood on her, whoever did this is in the wrong profession, they should be working as a butcher!
I agree with Michael’s comments on the quality of the incision. Although I have never heard of flank spaying until today, a good vet, regardless of surgical location, would not make such a mess of things. The normal incision for spaying is tiny (maybe an inch?), just enough to get instruments into the abdomen for extracting the ovaries/uterus. That looks botched to me. The owner definitely needs to rethink her choice of vets!
Thanks Cat’s Meow. I agree with you of course. It just looks wrong. I feel sorry for the cat. Poor thing. Entirely in the hands of humans.
They would be probably have to throw me out of that butcher of a vet office because I would be livid if they did that to my cat. That cat is mutilated and butchered. I would report them to the vetenary board, demand a copy of the medical record which you are legally entitled to, but before all that take that poor cat to another vet, that cat could be in a lot of pain and it looks infected.
To the point and I agree 🙂
The incision on the flank of this poor cat is absolutely appalling. I have never seen a spay wound this jagged and bloody. It looks like the cat was tortured, not fresh from a medical surgery. I would be afraid of an infection, and of course the poor kitty must be in pain. The veterinarian who “performed” this atrocity definitely is not very adept at finely detailed procedures. I would be prepared to get medical treatment from another veterinary clinic shortly if the affected area does not show signs of healing.
Thanks Frances for your insightful comment.