Spay surgery- what to expect

RoxyBeans · #1 11-02-2009, 12:32 PM

Hi all.

My little girl is going in Friday for her spay surgery. I'm kind of freaking out a little bit because I'm not sure what to expect as far as after the surgery. Will she be able to go up and down stairs to go outside to potty? Should I crate her.. how to I keep her wound from getting infected or her to leave it alone? Will she be in alot of pain? I have a million questions running through my mind and I'll be sure to ask the vet alot of these but I was just wondering your experiences w/ spaying your dog. I took off the whole weekend to be sure I could stay home with her and keep her comfortable. Hopefully everything will be ok and I'm just a worry wart

Thanks for any advice you can give me!

x19er · #2 11-02-2009, 02:27 PM

How old is she? Age has a lot to do with recovery time. Our Charlie was spayed at 6 months and the next day was up and about and back to her usual self while Sophie was around 2 and it took her much longer to get going again.

We got Charlie home the same day, she was dozy & slept and then the next day was up and around, so she can't have been in much pain as she even tried to tear off round the garden. You need to keep them quiet for a couple of weeks as there are external and internal stitches that can rip. We walked Charlie a little and often, kept her busy in the house with stuffed kongs, she was able to do the stairs but we made sure it was at a slow pace and not at high speed. She never bothered at her stitches but you need to keep an eye out for that plus I don't think infection should be an issue - just keep checking on the wound - Charlie's wound was tiny - I was really surprised.

RoxyBeans · #3 11-02-2009, 02:37 PM

Thanks for the info.. Roxy will be 7 months on the 6th, which is also the day of her surgery. I think she should be fine but she's pretty hyper and likes to go 90 miles an hour around the yard. I plan on keeping her in the crate alot w/ toys and all her favorite things. And I'll probably end up sleeping w/ her the first night or two to make sure she's fine. My friend who is a vet tech told me that spaying Boxers was the worst because they are very vocal and to expect alot of crying and howling.

Hopefully everything goes fine and my nerves can go back to normal soon. lol. Anyone know which painkiller it was to request for boxers? I think it was rimadyl that I heard not to use? I've already spoke to the vet about ace but I was wondering what they should use on her for pain management? Thanks!

laneysmom · #4 11-02-2009, 02:42 PM

Roxy should be fine. It is hard to keep a boxer pup down. She may be a little sluggish at first, but not to worry. I think my Laney was uncomfortable only the day of surgery. When I brought her home, she would stretch out & try to lay (rabbit style) on her belly. My vet didn't give me anything for pain. She didn't whine at all...actually my other female boxer was the same way. Just gotta try to keep her from pulling out the stitches, licking, etc.... Good luck to you & Roxy....

iluvfrankie · #5 11-02-2009, 03:08 PM

My girl was 2 when we spayed her. She was really silly when we picked her up. I had her bed set up near the fire where she likes it and she stood up all stupid for about 10 mins like she had forgotten what she was supposed to do!

We had to make a 'step' so she could get up and down off the sofa as she yelped gettin up and down because the movement was pulling her stitches.. The bed also proved too high for her. 'Step' made. Overall she made a great recover. she had no interest in her stitches so didnt have to wear the cone either.

cdnbxrlvr · #6 11-02-2009, 07:53 PM

We will be doing the spay surgery in a few months. I wanted to wait until Roxy had reached her first birthday and she celebrated by coming into heat! So we wait a few months for her hormones to settle and we'll be in the same boat.
One thing we did learn was that they try not to give them pain meds- it keeps them from over exerting themselves. I think the surgery is harder on us than them!

whiskers · #7 11-02-2009, 08:10 PM

Juno was spayed last month and was completely fine and I really didn't do anything different with her. I mean I tried to limit her jumping and running, but if she wanted to do zoomies around the backyard... I didn't stop her. You can only limit their activity so much. Our vet keeps them overnight, and the next day when we picked her up she was pretty mellow and laid around, but then after that she was back to normal.

We didn't get any pain meds either.

RoxyBeans · #8 11-03-2009, 08:53 AM

Interesting. I thought she would need pain meds. It does make sense though, to keep them from over-exerting themselves.. Thanks for all the advice everybody!

Kilby'sMum · #9 11-04-2009, 12:26 AM

I think Kilby was done around 5mths and Kona around the same. In both cases we dropped them off in the morning and picked them up around 4pm the same day. They were a little groggy that night and Kilby for part of the next morning but I would definitely say that within 24hrs of picking them up they were both back to normal and unless you saw the stitches you wouldn't know there was anything wrong.

We tried to limit them but only really managed for about a day before they had so much pent up energy they just had to get it out

Neither had any pain meds or bit at their stitches although Kona grew so quickly (she had a massive growth spurt a day or 2 after the surgery) that her incision sort of 'buckled' a bit as her skin was trying to stretch. It didn't bother her though and a bit of daily massage after the stitches were taken out and the skin settled down in less than a week.

RoxyBeans · #10 11-04-2009, 09:36 AM

Whew, I feel so much better now. I really was a nervous wreck wondering how she would be but after hearing everyones responses I think she'll be ok. Just gotta make sure my vet knows I will KILL if anything happens to my baby

lol. She's in good hands there though. Thanks everyone!