spay/neuter

[Diane Viau]

Libby is at the vet today being spayed. I called to see if she's been in to be spayed yet and how she was doing. She's submissive and nervous around strangers and other animals so i'm worried about her being in an environment full of animals and strangers.

They said she's in the recovery and recovering well.

Is ther anything I should know/do or not do when she comes home tonight. I have a home daycare so the house this week will have 4-5 kids on any given day.
I know we can't bathe her for a while anything else? When can she start eating? We packed some of her food with her while she at the vet, but he said she wouldn't be eatting.

Thank you

Diane

[Joanne Brady]

Hi Diane,

When Amari was spayed and we brought her home, all she wanted to do was sleep. I took Soleil for a very long walk to tire her out. Soleil sniffed at Amari (she probably still smelled of anesthesia) and seemed to understand to let her be. They sleep in our room and at about 4 AM the following morning, Amari began to stir. I gave her a teaspoon of yogurt and she tolerated that. I sat with her and then gave her a piece of kibble which she gobbled down. I fed her a tiny bowl of kibble by hand and she kept that down. She went outside to potty and later that morning I fed her, but half the normal amount. She kept that down, so I gave her the other half about lunch time.

Our vet sent us home with a FAQ sheet and we followed that. It was a challenged to keep her from running and jumping with her sister. Amari didn't pull at her sutures but if she had, I was planning on putting a t-shirt on her and tying it over her back end. An elizabethan collar is another solution for that.

Write down any questions that you have and take them with you to the vets when you pick up Libby and then go right down the list.

Your little girl will be home soon looking for some TLC.

Joanne

[Diane Viau]

Thanks Joanne,

Should I keep her kennel out of livingroom? Right now it's next to the patio door so in the morning she doesn't have to walk very far to be let out. Also the kids play area is in the livingroom and I don't want that to bother her or them bother her while trying to nap. Our room is upstairs, but will she be okay to go up and down the stairs when she needs to go pee?

I will definetly bring a list of questions with me when we go pick her up.

Thank you

Diane

[Joanne Brady]

Hi Diane,

I had a female Rott many years ago that made up her mind where she wanted to sleep after she was spayed. I put her in the spare bedroom and planned to sleep on the floor with her as I had with her brother when he was neutered. Well, she started to make quite the fuss and started to climb the baby gate. I finally gave up and took the gate down and asked her what she wanted....she took me to the kennel that she shared with her brother. I opened the door and in she went. Her brother gently laid down beside her and they slept all night.

Amari went right to her bed when we brought her home. The incisions now are very small and it didn't seem to bother her much or slow her down. I had to keep an eye on the stitches (in Amari's case- wire) just to make sure that she didn't have a reaction. I kept her away from the heavy duty rough housing that she and Soleil partake in for a couple of days. We don't have stairs in the house and I can't remember what the FAQ sheet said about that. I really can't see any reason for taking her kennel away from where it normally is - that is what she is looking for and reassures her that it is home. Depending on the age of your kids, you might be able to tell them to leave her alone, or if they are young and play in the livingroom, maybe put the kennel in a quieter place for the first day or two. Either way a good educational opportunity for the kids.

Amari was so "stoned" when we brought her home that a bomb could have went off and she would have slept right through it.

Good luck with your baby.

Joanne

[Diane Viau]

Joanne,

I greatly appreciate your help.
The kids range from 1-6, but I will remove her kennel from the livingroom and put it in our bedroom tonight when we go to bed. They'll all be gone by time she comes home tonight so she'll be able to rest with no interruptions.

Thank you

Diane

[Jill Ramsey]

She shouldn't go up and down steps at least the first 24 hours, due to the anethesia. It would be too easy to fall. Sometimes they are very wobbly.

[Diane Viau]

Oh ok.... well so much for that idea.

I don't want to lock her in her kennel all day tomorrow either...not really fair to her, yet I don't want the kids bothering her.

I have 2 in particular that like to always be near her.

She ate when she got home and seems to be tolerating it well. She's now resting in her kennel still a little doppy. When we first brought her home she went straight for the livingroom and laid down. Once we got up to start supper she was following us all over...didn't want to leave our side. We convienced her with a treat to laydown in her kennel.

I suppose i'll just have to keep taking them away from her for the next few days.

Thanks for the tip

Diane

[Rowena Fry]

I'm glad this thread is up, cos Gum Gum goes in for her operation tomorrow and I'm already worried about the exercise situation.

See, we've had torrential rain here in Hong Kong for the past couple of days, so she's already going a bit loopy wanting to go outside and play. She's started whining and trying to climb the cupboard where we keep all her things, including her lead and halter! She should be a bit better today cos my mum has taken her to work with her and she loves that - gets to play with lots of different people and smell yummy smells! But she probably won't be able to go out to play again tonight cos it's raining again. It's going to be a tough two weeks if she's not allowed to go out at all! :(

I'm home all Wednesday and Thursday (day after surgery) to keep an eye on her, but I'm back to work on Friday. How long do you think she'll need 24 hrs 'surveillance'? I have an Elizabethan collar to prevent her from licking the stitches when we're not around.

I guess my main question is, if they have 'hard' stitches on the outside, how much will a pup be able to do over the next two weeks? Play at home only, short walks, gentle play with dog friends? Oh no, I've turned into an over-anxious crazy dog lady! LOL When my past dogs were spayed, I don't think we did anything special at all and they were 'normal' again within a couple of hours! And now I'm fretting like a chicken! :p

[Diane Viau]

Hi Rowena,

Well I can tell you that we were told, no baths for 2 weeks, no jumping up on people or furniture, no playing with other animals and she's to rest for the first 2 days. We have to check the site daily and make sure she doesn't lick it. For the next 10 days we can't let her do anything. Which is going to be interesting.

She came home at about 5:30 and by 9:30 she was pretty much back to herself, just not as quick. A couple hours later she was tired and sleepy, but would whine and remained like that throughout the night.

Libby's stitches are all inside. You can't see any of them and she can't tug at them.

Hope this helps

Diane

[Krysta Smith]

If your dogs are anything like Lola it's going to be a looong week!! Lola had the wire stitches and she wasn't allowed to do very much- quiet play, no running or jumping or climbing stairs. I had to keep her on a leash to make sure she didn't chase the cats or jump up on anything. If she got too riled up I just put her in her crate with something to chew on until she calmed down and then she was fine for awhile. As long as you have lots of things to occupy them it shouldn't be too much of a problem to keep them quiet. Good luck!! I'm sure everything will be fine.

[Rowena Fry]

Thanks Diane and Krysta!
That's very helpful! It is going to be a long week, cos as I mentioned before, she's already antsy cos she hasn't been able to go out due to the rain!

I'm still not sure what we're going to do with her while we're at work though. I can see the great benefits of crating in this situation, but she's never been crated before. She has a crate with a bed in it, but the door is never closed and she has free run of her x-pen in her room when we're at work.

Perhaps for the next week or so, my mum should take her to work with her, where she has a much smaller area but there are people around to keep an eye on her and she won't have to wear the Elizabethan collar. I'm not sure whether my ma is willing to do that though. Gosh, sorry,I'm just thinking out loud. Ack! Much to think about!

Thanks for the info!

[Andre Mendizabal]

Just give her a lot of love and care and don't forget to spoil her a little!!!!!! she'll be up on her feet in no time, Nala was back to normal just two days after surgery....
A big hug to your baby girl...
:bunny:

[Diane Viau]

Libby was back to her normal self yesterday. We have our dinning room chairs on our loveseat and couch so she can't jump on the furniture. Yesterday afternoon she jumped on the couched layed down and 2 minutes later jumped off and as she was jumping off she let out a little yelp/whine. You would think if it hurt she wouldn't do it again, but she would try to jump over us to get on the furniture so on went the chairs.

I think she has a hard time getting comfy cuz she's constantly laying down, but getting back up a few minutes later and going to another spot and tries laying there...it goes on for a while until she finally stays put and falls asleep.

I must the only thing that is concerning me is she doesn't seem to be eatting a whole heck of a lot. She take a a nibble in the morning and at night. I would say if she eats a cup of food she's lucky. Where as before her spay she ate about 4. She's also doing a lot of pantting. Although she did that before she got spayed.

Is she not eatting because she may still be a little sore? She doesn't lick at the site or even bother with it at all. Is she pantting because she's hot or is there another reason why puppies pant?

Thank you for your help

Diane

[Grace Erick]

I took Capri home the same day of her surgery since there was no real reason to keep her there except they wanted to see her in the morning to check her stitches. No one is in the hospital at night and she is emotional, so I wanted her to be with me when she woke up. I just had to keep her from moving at home which is one purpose of keeping the dogs in cages at the hospital overnight if you can't do that at home.

When I took her home, we just sat on the bed together all day. I read and watched tv. She does't want to leave my side anyway, so it was easy to keep her still next to me in bed.

Bye, Grace

[Rowena Fry]

Gum Gum's surgery went well, although the operation site looks awful, it must be so painful! :( It's only the day after the surgery but she's still not completely herself yet, she seems to be in so much pain.

Diane, like your pup, she can't really get comfortable and will lie down sometimes and all of a sudden stand bolt upright and take a couple of steps then stand there for aaaages. I think it's less painful if she stands cos she does that most and a couple of times has even fallen asleep standing!

The operation site is definitely bothering her though and she's had to wear the head cone pretty much constantly since coming back home. Otherwise she just licks at the stitches too much. I'm actually giving her a little break from the head cone at the moment but have one hand on her back to intervene in case she starts bothering the stitches.....poor lil pup!

And here I was worried about all the jumping up and down and her not being able to go out for walks, but the little baby bearly wants to walk! I really don't remember my past dogs being in so much pain after their surgeries, it wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that they were all mongrels and Gum Gum is a pure-breed would it? I dunno, anyway, I'm at home all day today and will see how she is.

My mum and I have both talked about Gum Gum going to work with her for the next 2 weeks (until stitches come out), just so she's not at home unattended. I think this is what we're going to have to otherwise we'll just worry all day.

Oh yeah, Diane, Gum Gum hasn't really eaten that much either and she hasn't pooed since yesterday morning - the vet said she may be constipated for the next couple of days because it's painful to poo. She has been quite thirsty, but again, not so many pees cos that must hurt too.

I'm a firm believer in getting animals de-sexed, but the poor lil babies! She never knew what was coming, was so happy to be at the vets yesterday, whining to play with other dogs and then now I see how much she hurts just walking and it kills me! I know, I know, she'll feel better soon though!

[Andre Mendizabal]

Nala also stayed overnight at the hospital and I picked her up late the next day, so I really got her home until her second day after the surgery day, that day she spent most of the day asleep, I spent the day at home (it was a Saturday, surgery was a Thursday) with her, she didn't ate much, she just gobbled a little kibbled but she did drank water... by Sunday she started getting back to her normal routine, she ate a bit more. I think they feel weird about the whole anesthesia, stitches, pain going on and they rather not eat. I know when I had a surgery that required anesthesia I didn't wanted to eat, I felt nauseaus... so maybe that's it... however, if she continues with this for the next couple of days call your vet.

[Diane Viau]

I glad your puppy is doing well.

Libby still doesn't eat much and still pantting and she's 3 days past, however she's full of engery. If you didn't know she got spayed 3 days ago you wouldn't be able to tell. She's trying to run all over the house, trying to jump on the furniture even though we put our dinning room chairs on the furniture, she's trying to jump on us. Often we have to put her in her kennel to calm down. She's been sleeping all afternoon today, which is nice. :)

[Rowena Fry]

Gum Gum has more energy now than when she first came home, but she is still being a bit quiet, not completely 100%. But it's still just a couple of days after the surgery and she does have a whopping great incision in her tummy! I'm sure I'd be a bit quiet too if I had that in my tummy! :p

So yeah, my mum's going to take her to work with her the whole of this week, cos even though she was all right last night (the first night she took her cone off in the middle of the night! :o ), I just think my mum and I would just spend all day worrying if she were home alone! I think it's more for our own peace of mind than for Gum Gum! But it'll be good for the both of them cos they'll bond more and my mum has got to get used to taking care of Gum Gum more!

Andre, I know what you mean about the spoiling though. I feel so guilty that she's in so much pain that I've been giving her anything she wants. Not that she asks for anything, LOL, but I've been giving her loads of treats for no reason! She'll be back on NILIF once she's feeling better! :D

Diane, do continue to let us know how Libby is doing!
Take care! Have a good weekend everyone!

[Rowena Fry]

Just an update -

Gum Gum has been much, much better over the past couple of days. She's completely herself now (5 days after surgery), and won't stop running and jumping around! :eek: I guess at least that means she's not in pain anymore!

She's been going to work with my mum so she's not at home by herself, which she absolutely loves because everyone makes such a fuss over her!

The only thing is that she hasn't been pooing as much as normal, possibly because she's still not eating that much. She's always been a bit 'pernickety' with her food, and perhaps because she's not getting her walks, she doesn't want to eat as much. But apart from that, she's doing splendidly!

Thanks for the support everyone! I hope your pup is doing well, Diane!

[Diane Viau]

Rowena,

Libby is doing great, thanks for inquiring. The only thing is that she seems to have lost everything she was taught. She won't listen at all! She would sit and stay or wait, she wouldn't jump on the table or counters and was house trainned. Since she got spayed, it's all reversed. She won't sit, stay, wait, she jumps up on the table, on the counters!! She takes food from the kids when they are sitting at the table, she'll jump up on the table and eat their lunch. She peed in the house about 4 times. No matter how much we work with her and do everything we were taught in the puppy classes it just seems like she doesn't care and keeps doing it. She jumped up on the counter 8 times yesterday while my husband was making supper and all 8 times her told her off and corrected her, no sooner did her feet touch the floor did she jump right back up so she went into her kennel until we felt she was calm down enough to listen, but then she just does something else she knows she's not suppose to do. It's so frustrating.

Other than that she's doing great. Her incision is healling great. We started taking her on walks again last night so I hope that will help and she can burn off some energy.

Diane

[Rowena Fry]

Diane,
That's so funny, cos Gum Gum is the complete opposite. Fair enough, we have been spoiling her a bit since the operation, so for a little while, I wasn't asking her to sit before I gave her dinner. But that was also cos it seemed to hurt her to sit back then. But now that she's feeling better, she's back on NILIF and she's being good as gold!

She's also turned into a right little FLIRT! She's always been a nosey pup, investigating noises, following to see where you're going, nosing the bathroom door open so she can check you're still there. But recently, as she's been going to work with my mum, she's been getting loads of attention from customers who adore her cos she looks like a teddy bear. Apparently yesterday there were some people in and they were taking pictures of her with their phones, and she was POSING!!!! She was sitting pretty and holding out her paw for them....to kiss probably! Cheeky little monkey!

I'm glad to hear Libby is feeling better! They'll both be right as rain in another couple of days. Gum Gum will probably get her stitches out on Tuesday, so on Wednesday she can go and play with her friends again! Hoooray! She's going to go crazy when she sees them! :D

[Maisy Moon]

My almost 6 month old Rottie will be going in on the 31st to get spayed. I chose a vet that kept her overnight (there are some here that send the dogs home same day) but now i am wondering if she'll be more comfy at home. :confused:

[Joanne Brady]

My Rott/lab cross went to the vets in the morning, was spayed about 1 and then we picked her up about 7 PM and brought her home. She was still pretty out of it but she did walk out on her own steam. When we got her home, she went straight to her bed and slept. I kept an ear out for her in case she had to go out (poor thing had an accident on the floor of the vets office as they were bringing her out). I finally heard her stirring about 4 am and I went and sat with her and gave her a bit of yogurt and some kibble. The vet sent home pills for pain. Amari took a half and didn't need them anymore. Amari is reactive and afraid of people, so leaving her at all stressed me out, but leaving her overnight would have been worse and a setback for her. Talk to your vet and see what options you have.

Joanne

[Andre Mendizabal]

When Nala got spayed I left her overnight and almost all next day... since surgery was on a thursday afternoon and I picked her on Friday at 5pm... this was a good choice for me since I couldn't get off work and she would've stayed alone on Friday morning, which is not a good idea... also, they have overnight care at the animal hospital so she was supervised through the night. I think its mostly a personal choice to leave them or take them home the same day....
Good luck with the surgery!!!! your girl will be just fine!!!! :-D

[Grace Erick]

Hi,

I am posting this here incase anyone misses it on the chat thread.

I looked into getting my dog licensed and it says that if your dog is fixed, it costs $20 and $60 if the dog is not fixed. I think the fine for a humane society person catching you here w/o a license may be $45.

Here comes the good part. In WA and maybe in your state too, if you get a new license, they will send you a voucher for a free microchip. Another offer is for a buddy license if you have more than one dog. The additional license is $5. You can go to your counties licensing site online and see if the application for a license offers you any special offers at this time.

This info was listed as time sensitive, so it may not be good for too long and it depends on what state you live in, but it's worth it to get a free microchip since they cost from $30 and up. I think that was what my Avid chip was which I think is considered a chip that can be read by most vets and humane societies. I think you can also go online and for a small fee register your pet through the U.S. if your travel and your dog is lost in another state other than the one you live in.

I was told that even if you get a chip that can't be read if someone brings your lost dog into the vet, the vet can still tell there is a chip there and then you can take the missing pet to the humane society to be scanned.

Bye, Grace

[Diane Viau]

Libby had to be at the vets by 8:15am. I called at 11:30am to see if she's been in for surgury and how she was doing. By that time she already had already been spayed and recovering well. We picked her up at 5:30pm that same day, she was still a little druged, but was able to walk out on her own and once home she went and laid down in the living room. By 9:30 that night she was up and about and eating well. The next morning she was herself again.

Libby wouldn't have lasted at the vet overnight, especially overnight. Do what you think is best and will be more comfortable for your pup. Good luck and keep us posted on how it goes.

Diane

[Ann Morscher]

Misty was spayed on Wednesday. I was so worried about her because of her separation issues. Her surgery was aroudn 10am and she did really well. The vet really encouraged us to keep her there over night, but promised to let me know if she wouldn't settle down. Well, she did just great. She was so sore and drugged that she never made a peep or tried to get out of her crate. We picked up up around noon on Thursday and she was still so very quiet all day. She ate well, but still slept most of the day. She had one accident shortly after we got home, but has done fine since then. She did wake up early this morning, but had been to bed early last night.

Today she was still fairly quiet and tries to play, but doesn't last long. She wants to be by me at all times. It's hard trying to keep her from jumping up on the furniture or bed. I am trying my best, but have missed a few attempts. She keeps her sutures in for 10 days.

Ann

[Luciann]

Ann

She will be groggy for several days or Tika was when she was spayed. Now Frodo was his usual self the next day after he was neutered. She will be wha i call a "velcro baby" for a little bit as well. i seem to think it is that they are seeking comfort and reassurance that everything is going to be okay since she feels different, the pain etc.

when both of mine were fixed they had the dissolvable stiches..

[Maisy Moon]

My baby is back. She is lethargic and looks funny with her belly shaved. I am glad it's over.

[Krispie]

I just recently had Shiba spayed and she came home the opposite of everyone's puppies. The vet said she might be lethargic and not want to eat, etc. Hah! First thing she ran in the house like a crazy girl and proceeded to eat all the food in Kobe's bowl. Of couse we were trying to keep her quiet so she wouldn't hurt herself or tear her stitches that that didn't work because she wanted to play just like normal the minute she got home. I was so happy to get her stitches out on Saturday! Just like everyone, I was so worried when she went in for the surgery but it obviously didn't bother her a bit!

[Luciann]

Kristi

that was frodo when i got him nuetered. Tika when i got her fixed yelp at every little touch and she crawled under my bed and went to sleep and was groggy for several days. Frodo on the other hand slept a lot but i swear he played some that evening and then all the next day too other than his regular weekend naps

[Maisy Moon]

Is there a plus or minus with regular stiches, desolveable and staples?

[Grace Erick]

Hi,

I have never heard of having stitch options, just foptions for surgery for regular surgery or laser surgery. Desolvable ones would perhaps keep you from going back to the vet to get stitches removed and cause the dog less discomfort with having them removed even if you still had to go back for a check up. It sounds good, but I don't know anything about it. Now staples, what's that all about? Is that an option at your vet's office? I don't know what it is, but it sounds harsh, but I have no idea. Do you know what it is? I have only heard of stomach stapling for people.

Bye, Grace

[Susan Bacon]

We had laser surgery done with dissolvable stitches for both our boys. Laser was worth the extra $25 fee because it was less invasive and the cut was not as wide, which was less painful for them. Dissolvable stitches was less of a pain for us too, given that there was no need to return to the vet's office!

[Luciann]

Well I like the dissolvable stitches since they are less of nuscinece (sp?) since you don't have to go back to get them removed and is less stress for the baby if they don't care for the vet. Staples are very similar to stitches and they too can dissolve as well. I was not given the option for regular vs. dissolvable stitches but my vet uses the ones that dissolves and they seem to work so much better i think

[Grace Erick]

I can't recall what I paid for regular surgery and what laser cost, but with my vet, the laser was a lot more expensive.

Bye, Grace

[Maisy Moon]

Have any of you noticed a change in personality after getting spayed? I don't know if it is because she isn't getting the same excercise but she seems to be more aggressive now that she has her energy back!

[Luciann]

Maisy

I noticed a slight change in Tika's behavior for about a month i put it down to hormone levels, Frodo was the same way when he got neutered.

you might just have to work with her to remind her that it is not appropriate behavior to be aggressive

[Krysta Smith]

I noticed that Lola started barking a LOT more!! She used to only bark at people who walked by and now she barks at everything- people, cars, animals, weird things (like the pilons (sp?) across the street). She has also become a lot more clingy. Those are the two major things that have changed. I can't think of anything else right now.

[Rowena Fry]

Krysta! Gum Gum too! Before she was spayed, so only ever barked if she was really excited or if I asked her to 'speak', but afterwards, she's got really mouthy! She was never the biggest fan of the daily routine of brushing, eye wiping and ear checking, but recently she'll dodge you cos she knows what's coming, and then start barking at you...and won't stop! Then when we're actually brushing her, she'll growl and even chew on us.

But the barking get to me the most because the neighbours live very close and we can't have them complaining about the noise. I was woken up at 2am last night by her barking at my mum cos she didn't want her eyes cleaned. (Mum took the pup to work with her and had a VERY late finish)

I really have to start working on the 'quiet' command though, shouldn't be too difficult cos she already knows 'speak'. But yeah, definitely noticed that she's more vocal now.

[Maisy Moon]

Mine too! She is barking a lot more and trying to avoid commands!

[Rowena Fry]

Hi Maisy,
Sorry, I didn't read any further than Krysta's post, otherwise I would have seen what you said. Yeah, exactly the same observation with my pup, that she's got more aggressive after the surgery. I don't know if I just didn't notice cos I was too young or if there was no chance, but I can't remember there being a big difference in my previous dogs.

Initially, I thought she was being more vocal because she had too much pent up energy cos we couldn't take her out, but even after the stitches have been removed and she's played for 2 hours straight with her friends (long time, she's only a mini poodle!), she'll still go home and bark at us when we try to groom her!

You have a wonderful name by the way, not sure if it's your real name. Sounds like a character from a book!

Good luck with the new behaviour! :-D

[Maisy Moon]

You have a wonderful name by the way, not sure if it's your real name. Sounds like a character from a book!


Maisy is my dog's name. My 4 year old named her after the mouse character.

[Rowena Fry]

Ohhh, I thought so. I teach small children so I know pretty much all the characters. I didn't know her last name was Moon though, or is that your last name? No matter what, I still think it's a gorgeous name though!

[Amber]

When I got Precious spayed, I took her in the early morning and picked her up mid-afternoon. They used dissolvable stitches, which I LOVED because she did not try to go after them. I guess they didn't bother her too much. They only thing that kinda freaked me out was her eyes were bulgy and she looked really stoned from the anethesia (sp?). I thought something was wrong with her because she didn't really move. I had to give her Karo Syrup and force her to drink water because she refused to come out of her crate for the first 48 hours! She would only eat out of my hand...and even then it was only a little bit at a time. Her behavior didn't get worse after the surgery...if anything, it got better!

The first 48 hours were a little freaky though...and she was stinky for a few weeks! lol. It was worth it though.

[Rowena Fry]

Hi Amber!
Yeah, Gum Gum was quite clingy and delicate when she first came back from surgery. Poor lil pup! But I think anyone would be like that if they'd just had surgery. Heck, I'm a bit like that when I'm sick with the flu! I just want someone to be close to me and take care of me cos I'm feeling icky. LOL

[Amber]

lol...me too Rowena!

[Stefie C]

My vet likes to keep the dogs two nights when they are spayed. You take them in mid-afternoon they day before so they can do the pre-op testing and then they do the surgery early the next day. I hated leaving her the day before! On the day she had surgery I stopped in after work to check on her and asked to tech if she was doing as well as I'd been told, why I couldn't take her home. She said they liked to keep them there in case they got sick from the anesthesia so I asked who was staying with the surgery patients that night. She just stared at me. I told her that if they didn't have any staff staying the night I would rather take her with me. The vet tried to talk me out of it but I wasn't about to leave her there with no one to take care of her. When I brought her home she went straight to the bathroom and layed down on the fuzzy bathmat in front of a space heater. She likes to lay there when we shower. My son turned on the heater and layed down with her and they snuggled on the bathroom floor for several hours. Then she got up & wanted to go potty. This was about 10 pm. She would have been miserable if she'd been alone locked in a kennel. After that she went to her crate and settled into her blankie and slept the night. The next day she pretty much back to her old self. Maybe just a little slow but still happy & playful. She didn't wear a collar. My vet said it wouldn't be nessecary and I didn't see her bother her stitches once the whole time they were in. She had dissolvable ones internally but the ones on the outside had to be removed the next week.

[Grace Erick]

Stepfie,

I know. No one is with your pet at night, so if you can keep your dog still after surgery and overnight, I see no reason to keep the dog at the vets.

Bye, Grace

[Gaddy Mep]

When we had our girls spayed, we kept them quite. No playing, no running, no walks. They most of the their time sleeping in a cage, going outside on a leash to go to their bathroom. Giving attention is ago, just make sure the dog does not get hyper. Stuffing a KONG toy to interest the dog is a good idea.

[Maisy Moon]

My Rottie is now fully recovered and is back to her usual excercise schedule but is not showing any signs of becoming her old self again. She barks more, will no longer obey commands unless corrected numerous times (or I have a treat in my hand). :(

I thought female personalities didn't change when spaying but now I think otherwise....I am actually regretting spaying her.

[Stefie C]

Don't get discouraged Maisy. My Sandy was different for a while after her surgery too. Not bad but different. I remember thinking what in the world did they do to you. Even when she seemed 100% physically, she still was standoffish and uncooperative. But eventually one day it just hit me, hey she's back to her old sweet self again. That was almost two months after her surgery. Have you ever had surgery? I have and I know it took me many weeks until I felt like myself again too. So hopefully you girl will be back to her old self soon too. Just give her a little more time.

[Maisy Moon]

Thanks for the encouragement.

I know I'll fall in love w/ this naughty version soon.

[Rowena Fry]

Don't worry, I'm sure Maisy will be back to her old self again, just as Stefie said. Gum Gum is much more verbal about her feelings, but she's also more cuddly now and will cuddle for 15 whole seconds as opposed to 2 seconds! If she's tired, then we're even talking minutes! LOL Maisy just needs time to readjust to her new body, her hormones are probably all out of wack. She'll be right as rain in no time! All the best to you, Maisy and your family!

[Amber]

Rowena--

That is so funny that you said that! Precious was is the EXACT same way! I got her because she was much more quieter than her sister and after getting ger spayed, she started barking and growling more. The growling is only in play and barking is usually only at Sally or also in play, but still! Also, she's always been a cuddly dog, but she has gotten a lot MORE cuddly since she got spayed! lol...maybe it's a poodle thing!

[Emma Warbuton]

Hi everyone, Im afraid I havent had time to read the WHOLE thread but I noticed that a few of you have said that your dogs were kept in for 1 or 2 nights after their spay..? We had Tilly spayed a weeks ago and she was kept in a grand total of 3 hours!! Her op was done at 12pm and we were asked to collect her at 3pm!!! Is this unusual? How come there is such a difference at different vets? She was fine by the way, just VERY grogey, I am glad that she was home in her own bed recovering but was it dangerous for her to be home that soon??

[Rowena Fry]

Hi Emma,
I don't think it's dangerous as long as the dog is awake. We took our pup home on the same day as well because there is no overnight 'service' available at our vets, unless there is something really wrong. We took her in at 11am, and I think surgery actually happened later in the afternoon about 3ish, and we got a call at 5 saying that she was ready to be picked up. She was awake but like you said, VERY groggy! The only thing the vet warned us about was eating and drinking, what to do and when, and to call him if she started throwing up. And now she's fine! :D

[Amber]

I remember bringing Precious in around 8 in the morning and the vets telling me later in the day that they ended up doing her first because she wouldn't stop barking and whining (lol!)...I don't blame them for wanting peace and quiet!...and then I picked her up around 5 in the afternoon. She was also VERY groggy still even though Precious was spayed earlier on during the day.