Large Skin Surgery Dismissal

We have just made a fairly large incision in your cat's skin to either remove a large mass, or to repair a large wound. Here are a few things you will need to know for the next few weeks.

Activity:

1. Please keep your cat's activity restricted for the next two weeks.  If they normally are indoor/outdoor, please try to keep them indoors.  Do not engage in any strenuous play or exercise.

2. After two weeks, your cat may resume normal activity.

Things to watch for:

1. Please watch the incision area for any discharge, redness, or swelling.

2. If your cat acts lethargic, stops eating, or is vomiting, please call us immediately.

3. If you notice that the sutures are coming out within the next two weeks, either because of the skin tension, or because your cat is pulling them out, please call us immediately.

4. Your cat may have had tension relieving incisions made to alleviate the tension on the primary incision.  These will heal on their own.

Items that may have been sent home:

Pain medications

• Please follow the label instructions and give these until they are gone.  Cats do not tend to show signs of pain, but that does not mean they do not feel it, and given the size of your cat's incision, they are feeling some discomfort from it.

E-Collar

• If this was dispensed, please keep it on continuously for the next two weeks.  It only takes a few minutes for your cat to remove multiple sutures. 
• If this was not dispensed, and you feel your cat needs it, please let us know, and we will get you one. 
• The soft-sided e-collars may be washed in the laundry.

Antibiotics 

• If these were dispensed for possible infection, please continue to give them per label instructions. 
• If you cannot get the antibiotics in, please let us know, as we have alternative forms of delivery for most antibiotics.

Follow-up:

1. The sutures used were absorbable unless otherwise specified, so will not need to be removed.  They will dissolve and fall out over the next 2-8 weeks.

2. If we sent tissue into a pathologist for histopathology, it can take up to a week for us to receive results, at which point we will contact you.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact us at All Feline Hospital at 402-467-2711 or info@allfelinehospital.com. 

Printable Large Skin Surgery Dismissal