I have just booked my puppy to be spayed - help! (& some pics!)

[Demolition_Derby]

You may remember me from asking all about puppy food and toilet training with Ruby, well here's my next set of questions

.

She will be 6 months on June 16 and after much deliberation about waiting until after her 1st season I have decided to get her spayed now.

I have never had a dog neutered (always from rescue centres) so I am really worrying about it

. How long do they take to recover from the anaesthetic?
How long do they take to recover from the 'shock' of it all?
And, long-term how long will she take to recover?
How 'still' do they have to stay after the op (I am sure the next day I will have the bouncy hyper puppy back with me

!!)

Sorry, loads of questions (probably really stupid ones

) any other advice/info will be VERY much appreciated!

Just a few pics of her too

This one was taken about 2/3 months ago

These 2 were taken at the beginning of May

Please excuse my friend's face, and the fur on it, and big ears...

 

[Slinkyunicorn]

Aww she is lovely!!

As she is a fit and healthy young dog she will probably be back to normal in 24 hours!!

Dogs don't read the same book as vets so don't know they are supposed to lie down and take it easy

.... All of ours have been back to 'normal' very quickly - just have a few quiet days planned with no big walks until she has been back to have her stitches out - mind you our Irish Setter took her own out at 4 days with no problems!!

 

[Charmaine18]

I was only nine when my dog was spayed, but I remember that she had dissolvable stitches so she didn't have to go back and get them removed. That's all the detail I can really remember though!

 

[MarleyandDarcy]

We have just had our bitch spayed at 14 months old, she also had her rear dew claws removed at the same time (these were a pain) her stitches in her tummy however - she never even noticed them!! Her wound was about 2 inches long.
I would say keep her quiet until her stitches are out, 10 days usually, then build her exercise back up

Magic's stitches started to pull a bit by about day 8 so again we tried to keep her as quiet as poss so they didn't rip out!
It is a fairly large operation and obviously had all her insides moved about so she will need to be quiet for a little while!!
We found the evening she came home easy to keep her quiet (she was still very very sleepy!) and then it steadily got worse and worse over the 10 days!! hehe!!
Is she crate trained? As that will help.
Also Magic was sent home with one of those horrid lampshade collars - which she used to whack against her back legs and make them bleed! So we brought her a muzzle to stop her getting at the stitches, which she was much happier with

 

[Goya]

My Lab was sooo funny with her "lampshade"collar. She could not work out her spacial awareness through doors etc. We were in stitches (pardon the pun)
She was sleepy for about a day then it became our problem to keep her quiet and to stop her running about etc. I'm sure she didn't understand the need to be careful with her stitches.
She was back doing agility and flyball after about 4 weeks. She wanted to do normal things far sooner but we obviously had to be careful for her.

 

[Goya]

PS. The muzzle ideas is a great one. Wish I had thought of that.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

I've only had old ladies neutered due to beginning signs of problems, but even for my old ladies the Buhunds (both happened when they were around 11 years old as I recall) they were themselves again by the evening or next morning, the Smooth collie (around 9 years old when it was needed) did need two days but she was the sort of dog that enjoyed being pampered.

You should however take it easy the first three days, preferably just pee outside the door and back in again if possible, to allow the edges of the wound to begin healing. Jumping up once or twice is nothing to panic over, but 20 in a row is probably not good. After the first three days you can begin taking small walks again, just be sensible about it.

If you feed dry food, you could f.ex. not feed in the bowl but throw it out all over the floor (the more spread out the better), to find and eat every last bit will be more tiring for her brain than just have them all accessible in a bowl put in front of her. Hiding treats around the room would work the same.

 

[Demolition_Derby]

Wow, thank you everyone for your replies and suggestions

.

Is the wound only 2 inches?!! I had visions of it being from her stomach all across her abdomen

!

The muzzle is a very good idea, thank you.

She doesn't jump up at people but does clamber onto the sofa and sleeps upstairs at night

so I guess I will be carrying and lifting her? Can I carry her with the stitches (one arm around chest, one under her bum)?

The food on the floor is an excellent idea too, thank you. I will definately do this, will also hide sausages etc aroud a small area in the garden. It will keep me busy me even if Ruby isn't interested

!!

Thank you

!

 

[FinnishLapphund]

There's no problems in carrying if you're just a little careful and if she beats you to it and gets up the in the sofa or up the stairs there should be no reason to panic, just lift and carry as often as you can. They don't need to be 100 % padded with cotton, they should just not do it as much as normally.

 

[millimoo]

My lab was spayed at 12 months, 3 months after her first season.
She went in on the morning and was home by tea time, and a bit of a cry baby - we had to have a morphin top up the following day.
She never wore her lampshade and the vet said they usually leave well alone which she did. Anyway she was back to normal by her third day - she even went berserk in the house and did two circuits of my bedroom and 2 jumps over the bed before I could get hold of her (I was mortified but she was fine).
Wound healed brilliantly, and you would never know. She had her stitches out on the 8th day as her wound had healed so well - althugh you do need to watch for infection

 

[mtj]

my little lady was spayed at 9 mths, 3 mths after her first season.

our vets keep them there for the first night so they can give pain killers. she really didn't seem to bad when i went to collect her.

if you haven't already had your pup microchipped, now is a good time. our girl was already done, but our vets encouraged people to get their pets chipped whilst under the anaesthetic (big needle).

thsnks for the muzzle idea. our aussie is hopeless in a lampshade - just sits looking at the ground. the poor thing doesn't even attempt to sleep.

 

[ladyearl]

You are spaying at the best possible point to prevent future problems (according to current thinking).

She'll probably be very tired and woozy on the day and pretty much look like back to normal the next day.

Depending on the technique they use she'll prbably have a week with stiches - during which you will need to keep her quiet and on the lead (good luck!!).

IME most don't need to be prevented from getting to their stiches but keep an eye on her. I've seen a tongue snake out from a muzzle and do some damage but the great big lampshades are a total nuisance and can stress the dog. My sister's JRT came back with one - can you imagine how rediculour the wee thing looked!

 

[foxviewstud]

she is lovely hope everything goes well for her