My cat had some internal surgery 2 weeks ago and when he left the hospital, had 5 sutures sewn in to hold his lovely new hole together.
2 weeks later, the surgical wound is closed and is healing up quite nicely.
However, the cat has already removed 3 of the 5 sutures on his own. Would it be safe for me to just cut and remove the other 2 sutures, so I do not have to pay for yet another hospital visit?
Presumably, I would just snip one side of the suture and slide it out, correct?
Are you sure your vet would charge for an office visit to remove stitches? It might be included in the cost for the surgery as it is required follow-up.
I have done it. My vet didn’t mind. Told me to use an alcohol swab on the stitch before I pulled it through.
The biggest problem was getting a small enough, sharp enough pair of scissors to get under the stitch and cut without pulling on it so much that it caused pain.
We had to remove our cat’s sutures from her neutering surgery after we got her. The cat society people told us to wait so many days to let it heal first.
My vet told me to take the stitches out myself. Alcohol was not mentioned. The hardest part was getting the cat to hold still. But you know what? Ask your vet.