Advice
The stray cat I've been feeding disappeared for 3 days and came back with this.
It's a small stitch on the side. I'm assuming she got spayed, but isn't that usually on the abdomen?
Additional info: she doesn't have any ear snips/punches. No tattoos. My town does like a free spaying and neutering for pet owners. I guess she wondered into one of those by accident and just got one done?
They’re very beautiful colourpoint domestic shorthairs, rather than Siamese. Absolutely gorgeous. They will darken as they get older, or more quickly if you’re living in a colder climate.
My wife is the sucker who brings them into the house, and I’m the sucker that won’t let them leave. We picked up our 5th a couple months ago. 3 are foster fails.
This makes me wonder how many kittens are found and people make their best effort to find the mom but she's actually away being spayed and then the mom comes back and her babies are gone D:
Not really. Only Utah, Colorado, and Rhode Island have any TNR statutes that mention how cats should be marked, and they all recommend tipping. It overwhelmingly depends on the organization or jurisdiction, and they overwhelmingly use tipping or tipping plus a tattoo because not tipping largely defeats the purpose of marking the cat at all since you would otherwise have to handle them - which usually isn’t a thing for community cats.
In New Jersey it's routine, because we are trying to get our feral cats down, so we do ear tip them, my sister has personally adopted six, I have two but that's my limit and they are all spayed and neutered and when we told them that they were not going to be back outside they didn't cut their ears
This is the answer. Having to do this in a week. Mom will also be the first one in, and leaving as soon as the anesthesia wears off so she can get back to her babies.
I was thinking the same! I had a cat many years ago who was spayed and we got her with a big window of almost missing fur at 9mo old on her side. She might have had kittens already? :o
My indoor only, never before having a litter, cat had the flank spay as well. It was the tiniest cut. My vet explained to me that they do this cause it is less invasive and heals faster since its so small.
Would also make sense for strays that are released soon after
Additional info: she doesn't have any ear snips/punches. No tattoos. My town does like a free spaying and neutering for pet owners. I guess she wondered into one of those by accident and just got one done?
I got “spayed” and it cost me effectively nothing; a few office visit copays, in actual fact. (Bilateral salpingectomy, not hysterectomy; the former is the most current version of getting “tubes tied” - actually removed - and reduces cancer risks, whereas the latter fucks with hormones.)
Elective sterilization procedure, which falls under “birth control”, and was therefore 100% covered by insurance. In the US this coverage is (was?) a federal requirement, but I got surgery in 2022, so I’m not sure if the clusterfuck since then threw a wrench into it.
Btw… I am not a cat, and still kind of wish I was. For other reasons.
I’m between insurance currently (lol, monthly prescriptions cost less with a GoodRX discount vs. my previous insurance, and I don’t pay a nonexistent firstborn child for the coverage, just have to avoid serious injury, I guess??)… so I already had reasons to be glad I did it when I did.
Damn, though. That’s fucked.
(Do we have a word stronger than “fucked”? It’s… that. Oof.)
Might as well since women don’t get treated like humans half the time 🫠
don’t know about anyone else but being reincarnated as a cat is def on my bucket list
This reminds me of my cat. We are a couple blocks from the cat rescue and they do trap-neuter-return all the time. They set out trays with food in cages, as you do. But all the neighborhood strays are wise to their tricks and steer clear… not my dumbass cat, who gets free flowing food and one daily treat on a literal silver platter. More than once my fiancé has had to convince a well-meaning volunteer that he has a home and is, in fact, neutered, he just likes free food and doesn’t think about consequences.
Some TNR don’t bother with the ear-tip. My neighbor worked in a vet’s office and they’d so a lot of people come in with rescued strays that were already spayed.
I would not be surprised if the cat has adopted multiple people and someone took it upon them selves to spay her. One of the cats we pseudo adopted (same come an go situation) decided to get real friendly with the neighbors after seeing how well it worked with us.
Maybe she was just taken in for the spay by another neighbor who wants to take care of her. If she does have an owner it doesn't sound like they're taking good care of her. You're a good human for stepping in <3
I've had a couple cats in my neighborhood that chose to be my friend (both literally were just waiting for me when I came home from work one night and instantly affectionate with me) and I had to play the guessing game of stray or wanderer.
I took one to the vet for a chip scan and they identified the owner, then /gave her my number/ and I got an angry call from her accusing me of stealing her cat. Cat kept sneaking out and coming to my door, but I wouldn't know until I saw my doorbell camera footage later with the cat slinking up onto my porch followed by owner's friends who were keeping the cats (other cat was not as skilled of an escaper) for her at the time and would pry her off my porch and carry her down the stairs telling her apologetically "she doesn't want you over here". Funnily enough those neighbors moved out, new neighbors are there, and THEIR cat started visiting me in the same way.
Vet here - she has had a flank spey. These are a common surgical approach (as opposed to the abdominal approach) for TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release). It is much less likely to end up with infection or wound breakdown for cats that are outside all the time. The wound looks like it's healing really well!
Fun fact, the flank spey vs midline spey debate is largely geographical. In the US, Australia, and NZ most vets would perform a midline spey, whereas the UK and Europe most vets perform a flank spey.
I can add that here in Chile the midline Spey is used too, I know due helping several relatives with their pets and taking them to different veterinarians each
Desexing from the side so you dont cut through the muscle. My vet does it semi often. Has less risks (keyhole opperstion) and generally better long term outcomes. None of the cats he's desexed from the side have had that saggy belly. Because he never cut through the muscles in the belly. It does require a lot more skill as a vet. And more experience.
That’s interesting that it requires more skill, my vet said the flank is better for the cat as it’s less invasive/risky but that people opt for the belly because it preserves the coat (it can grow back funny apparently). Needless to say I opted for the flank for my girl.
flank is better for the cat as it’s less invasive/risky but that people opt for the belly because it preserves the coat (it can grow back funny apparently).
That's unfortunate, I would always choose a less-invasive, easier option for my baby than worrying about what their fur might look like!
I didn’t know that I could ask them to do it differently, by the side it would have been much easier to make cures, my cat almost tore off my fingers every time I wanted to clean her (cat tax)
Its the norm in the UK and always has been, its so easy on the girls, often there isn't even any external stitches and they don't need cones or suits. The only time I've heard of belly spays is if the girl is a colourpoint breed and the owner wants to show her.
Since the cat is a stray, I wonder if they shave way extra to decrease the likelihood of fur getting stuck in it or bugs making a home around it while it heals.
Reading this thread and thinking 'What? Why is everyone shocked at this?', not realising apparently other countries still do midline as the main method, haha
Is the ear notched too? Can you feel any type of microchip by the shoulder blades? Also if there might be any type of tattoo near the incision or any shaved areas.
These are all markers people use to identify a cat was spayed when they're TNR (not so much microchips but you never know). I'm used to seeing it on their stomach too 😟😟
I plan on finding people who would adopt her kitties, but as for her, she can stick around since she's already spayed. She's been here rent free for like 5 months now.
She will have been chipped now so take her to the yet and tell them you are adopting her. If she had an existing chip with a traceable owner then she would have been retuned.
Someone else has been feeding her as well and took her in for a spay. Flank spays avoid harming the mammaries. Looks like momma cat has some good people watching out for her! Surprised at no ear notch/tattoo. Not sure where you are but any community org doing these would definitely clip her.
This is absolutely a side spay. It’s standard for cats in the uk, most vet’s here feel the healing process is better with a side spay, especially for smaller cats
Side spays are the common style you see these days, at least where I’m from. The incision is much smaller and it heals so much faster. It it’s a stray they should have notched the ear though
I was petting and feeding what I thought was a stray cat for months but then one day it came back with a side spay, I was horrified I had been feeding someone else’s cat! I fessed up on the local fb page and the lady was very nice about it, the reason she took her cat to the vet initially was because she wasn’t eating any of the food she gave her because ofc the cat was eating at mine!
She got spayed, congrats to her! Some vets do a side/flank entry incision. The female kitten I adopted in New England last month had a side incision spay as well (along with a small abdominal incision).
When I got my 2 kittens spayed it was on the side like that. They didn’t need suits or cones and it healed super fast, I think that’s how it’s always done in the UK.
If her ear isn’t tipped or notched, it was done by a private vet for a pet cat. That’s either someone’s cat, or someone took it to a vet, said it was their cat, and paid for it.
I was the other person in this situation once. This cat that visited visited and he was covered in punctures, so we caught him, took him to the vet and the vet shaved him everywhere he had wounds. We kept him in our bathroom a few days then let him out. Less than two weeks later he showed up without his balls, a tipped ear, and a collar with a phone number on it. We had thought he was a very friendly feral. We called the number and his name was Journey and THE OWNER ISN’T who neutered him. A third family caught or trapped him and got him the snip.
His owners thought kids playing a prank had shaved him (????)
I so wish I had learned this technique in vet school! They only teach you the classic shelter medicine style abdominal spay. This looks really minimally invasive. Maybe I’ll watch some teaching videos demonstrating it if I can find any!
And yes she probably got trapped and put through a local TNR 😂
This looks like a technique called a “flank spay” that is often used in feral/community cats. This is done particularly in nursing mothers to avoid an incision on the belly that could cause an issue with nursing kittens. It’s a bit odd that she wouldn’t also have a tipped ear though!
•
u/trendingtattler Jun 08 '26
This post has hit /r/all
Please remember the human and participate with subreddit rules in mind. Do not tell people how they should raise their cats.
r/cats rules can be found here
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.