Stitches

my mother in law hasnt taken her cat back to the vet to remove stitches after having her spayed, dangerous?

she was supposed to take her cat back in to have the sutures removed more that 3 weeks ago. is it dangerous? im hoping that i can scare her into doing it. i would take the cat myself, but i took her to have the surgery & she was so stressed out to be in a new environment & around my animals. we live far away so the cat has to stay over night when we take her to the vet.

Public Comments

1. Yes it can be dangerous. She can get an infection that will lead into her abdomen. I work at a vet and we had a dog come in to have the sutures removed 8 months later. They were really hard to find because the fur had grown over them. The dog ended up going home with antibiotics because there was an infection. Your mom in law really should take her into have them removed. It only takes a few minutes. If she won't do it, you should. The cat can't take herself, she is completely dependent on you guys to keep her healthy.
2. Will the cat let you lay her on her back and stroke her tummy? By now, the incision should be healed, and the sutures can be removed by anyone! All you need is a good pair of clippers to cut the stitch, then GENTLY pull it out by getting hold of the knot with a pair of tweezers and sliding it out. Once all of these are removed, just smear some Neosporin on the "line" and she should be fine. The "inside" stitches have already dissolved, but the outside ones do need to be removed. If you have a question about this, CALL the vet and explain that the cat was traumatized, and ask if it would be OK for you to do the stitch removal. I've done it a few times, and if the cat doesn't mind having her tummy touched, it's no big deal. However, if she doesn't want her tummy touched, she may have to be held in a towel, by whoever she loves the most. Try not to make it another traumatic event. Hope this helps........Good luck.
3. no it's not dangerous...they will eventually fall out or be easy enough to just pull out.....she should take her just so she knows that the cat is healthy
4. since they have been in so long then the cat really needs to have the vet remove them. they can not stay in forever and yes, it can become dangerous and cause infections. I have removed stitches from animals before and it is not hard to do BUT I suspect that the flesh is starting to adhere to the stitches and for you to remove them may be painful for the cat. Take the cat to the vet. It is a simple enough procedure and doesn't take long so the cat should not have to stay overnight. Suture removal is almost always covered in post surgery follow up care so there should not be a vet charge. The longer you wait though, the more likely it is that the vet will charge so get her in ASAP!
5. The stiches will get infected, it can be seriously dangerous.
6. call the vet. see if they are dissoluble. If they will dissolve, then no, it is not dangerous and they will eventually come out on their own. If they aren't, then they need to be removed. It takes less than two minutes. The vet looks over the incision to make sure it looks good, then gently pulls up on the suture and cuts it with a suture remover that looks very much like a pair of nail scissors (with a few additional safety features) I removed my own cat's sutures when he recently had surgery (well ok he removed most of them) simply because he was chewing on them. Generally a suture removal is a free visit and is included in the price of the surgery.