Can a cat lick her spay incision?

My 6 month old cat was recently spayed.  After the spay, she seemd fine; eating, drinking, urinating, defecating energetic.  Five days later, I noticed that there was fluid seeping from the wound, took her to the vet and found out that she had licked her wound which caused a multi-organ system infection, the internal stitches had come undone.  She had to have another surgery to remove necrotic tissue and fluid and replace the stitches.  My question is, is it dangerous for a cat to lick her spay incision wound?  Had I known this, I would have kept a cone on her until it healed, however the vet did not warn me about her licking.  

[opus88]

that all sounds pretty fishy to me but I'm not a vet, sounds more like Kitty got an infection somehow from the incision or one of the stitches(this is common)
I've never heard or have I seen an infection from kitty licking the wound.....this is just natural for them to do and helps in the healing process, but I could surely be wrong.
how is kitty doing since the last surgery?

[April2]

From what I was told when I had my cat spayed, they said it's ok it they lick it but to watch carefully and if they're biting the stitches or pulling at them to stop them from doing that because they can pull the stitches out. If they persist in biting or pulling the stitches with their teeth, they may have to put that lovely cone on their heads for awhile to let the incision heal.
So sorry your kitty (and you!) had to go through so much.Hope she feels better soon!

[kellyhasenstab]

I really appreciate the information and support, thank you.  Fiona has been on very strong antibiotics since Saturday and is showing slow and steady imrpovement.   At first, I was angry, sad and confused.  At this point, I am just focusing on helping her get better as quickly as possible.  Thank you for your posts and kind words : )