Crying after surgery

[dianeholmes]

My 7 yr old chocolate lab had a tumour removed from his gum yesterday and has not settled well at all. I persuaded the vet today he needed pain relief as he is constantly crying and unsettled. He sometimes howls like the proverbial wolf at the moon!!!

The painkiller has had time to kick in but he is upstairs howling and crying under the bed in the spare room. He is eating and drinking normally and was keen to go for a walk earlier on. Not sure what to do now as it sounds heartbreaking - anybody had this experience?

The tumour is thought to be an epilus - a type of benign tumour common in boxers and bull dogs but our vet had never seen one in a lab before. It has gone for histology to make sure it is not a malignant tumour. Anybody had to deal with one of these - I have read they can recur? I was also a bit shocked at how fast it developed - we first noticed it on Tuesday last week and by the time we took him for his op yestersday it had doubled in size.

 

[CAYLA]

The area he had the op is a rather sensitive one, I would expect a little unsettled behaviour for a few days but not longer, I would take him back tomorrow if it carries on and let the vet have another look at op site.
The anaesthetic it's self is very strange and unsettling from a dogs point of view (you ever heard a human coming too from an op) some sound a big like chew backa (sp) dogs feel the same confusion and grogg that humans do when the anaesthetic is wearing off and leaving the body so that alone can see some strange behaviour, some dogs/breeds react very different to others and complete recovery time varies. If he is managing to eat ok and drink then dont worry too much (not nice to hear) but def pop him into vets rather than phone for them to dismiss you. Im sure he will be ok by tomorrow.

 

[twiglet84]

Unfortunately some dogs do whine at home even with analgesia on board. I know its horrible to hear them, dont feel like his in pain though as sometimes they do it for attention. One of my colleagues whippets cried for 3 days following a dental DESCALE, tried pain relief, she was soooo worried and kept bringing him up but we couldnt find anything, just a sensitive soul perhaps. The mouth is a senstitive area and the anaesthetic maybe making him feel a little strange too. May be worth speaking to your vet about tramadol as an analgesic as this also gives some sedative effect, help him relax, maybe get them to recheck mouth also. Fingers crossed it is just an epulis. Keep us posted x

 

[noodle_]

mine whined and cried after his sedation as they had two types in him (or something... iw as too busy comforting him to listen to the vet)!

he spent a while chucking himself on the floor wanting to sleep/groaning and crying he slept the hour on the way back from the vets and all night - he hadnt even had an op!!

give him gentlehugs and take him back the vets if your worried

 

[Wisnette]

Our vizsla cried for a good 24 hours after having her teeth cleaned - I think it was more the trauma of the anaesthetic than anything else. My husband slept downstairs with her to try and give her some comfort! Its not nice to experience, I hope he settles.

 

[PucciNPoni]

While mine didn't cry specificially - he recently had a dental and his nose scoped and when he came home for a few days he was definitely out of sorts - he was grumpling audibly every few seconds. It might have been pain related or it may have been working thru his anaesthetic hangover.

 

[whisp&willow]

what a shame. I would try and just leave him to it though, as if you pamper him i would worry the whining will just continue. (i know it will be hard, but i'd worry he'll just lap up the attention and never want it to end! )

Betty had a lower molar removed at the same time as we had her spayed, and i was awful worried about how she would be eating etc once she had recovered form the sedation- i needn't have- other than the hangover effect of being knocked out i don't think she had a clue she'd had anything done to her! bulldogs!

the site of the removed tooth (she had sheared half of the tooth off again- you'd never know!) now has a bit of what looks like proud flesh, but we are keeping an eye on it, incase it turns out to be an epilus.

 

[Polotash]

I've only had one do this (I foster so always have new post op dogs here) and with her 1/2 pain relief tablet stopped the whining, so it was pain. Obv you need to talk to your vet before you give him anything though! It may also be the anasthetic, I know labs can be especially slow to come out of it fully.

 

[Alec Swan]

The Op itself is rarely what bothers dogs, it's generally a reaction to anaesthetic. Humans too have different recover rates, and as CAYLA says, different reactions. Some dogs can take 2 or even 3 days to recover properly. For some reason, coursing dogs seem to be the worst. I suspect that those that react badly don't actually suffer quite as much as the spectators, US. It's horrible watching them in their distress, I understand!!

I've found that the best place for recovery, is a quiet bed in a quiet room, and though not necessarily in the dark, somewhere subdued, and not with the daily hustle and bustle of life.

I know nothing of canine tumours, and suspect that your vet will give the best advice.

Alec.

 

[dianeholmes]

Many thanks for your helpful responses! We had a bad night with him last night despite the pain relief! Howling barking crying but he is much more settled now and hasn't cried much since lunchtime. We have a wound check up appointment tomorrow so the vet will see him then.

You may be right about the anaesthesia being the issue - he was wandering round with one of his hardened rubber toys in his mouth late last night so I assume he would have not bothered if he was sore!