Nursing after Spaying?

Question

My cousin took his dog to get spayed not knowing that she had given birth. While there is only one puppy, the mother is at the vet and I have a dog that is nursing seven of her own and is letting my cousins puppy nurse. The problem comes when the real mom gets home. Is she going to be able to nurse this puppy after being spayed?

Answer 1

Yes! She will be able to nurse her own puppy just fine! No worries

Answer 2

Yes, how can the owner not know the dog has given birth?
The vet should have known too or at least have an inkling that the dog is /was pregnant as the teats would have been large and full of milk.

In any case the mum might still be able to nurse for a day or two but the milk supply will dry up as the hormones that promote milk production is no longer being produce after the spay.
If your cousin is worried, please purchase a puppy milk replacer and feed it once every 2-3 hours depending on its age.

Answer 3

Hormones decline gradually after spaying, it takes an average of 6 weeks after altering for hormones to fully decline so the hormonal effect of spaying shouldn't prevent the mother from nursing.

Its also possible that the mother dog might be sore from the spay surgery and not want to allow the pup to nurse because of soreness.

If soreness isnt a factor, the mother might be able to still nurse, if the pup suckles enough to stimulate milk production and if the mother hasn't started to dry up from becoming engorged and not having the engorgement pressure relieved by the nursing of a pup. I have found that often, a single puppy just doesnt suckle enough to stimulate enough milk production in a large breed dog. A single puppy may stimulate milk just fine in small breeds though, since small breeds often have very small litters anyway. In a large breed though, (German Shepherds) I've often ended up having to tube feed a puppy that was a single puppy unless I had a foster mother available that would take him.

Since your dog is willing to raise the pup, it probably will be easiest all the way around to just let your dog go ahead and raise him with her pups.

Answer 4

yes, she will do fine. I had a cat that gave birth to 2 kittens, but we saw she was still in labor. My grandmother took her to the vet and they had done a c-section to get the other 2 kittens, while they were in there, they went ahead and fixed her.

She came home and nursed her babies just fine.

Answer 5

We have had several strays give birth then find they have pymetria and have to have emergency spays. She should be fine but if there is only one let yours take care of it and let her incision heal. Once they are weaned be sure to get yours spayed.

Answer 6

I wouldn't risk it. But why not ask the vet - he'd give you the best answer.

Answer 7

consult a vet

Answer 8

Jeez that is a sad situation. How can you NOT know your dog had given birth?????????