My female Ridgeback, 6 months, is being spayed - how can I make her more comfortable?

Question

I feel so guilty doing this. It is such an invasive, painful, major operation, but I rescued a dog a few years back who happened to be pregnant. She had the pups and I reared and found them homes, but I really don't agree with dogs just having pups for the sake of it. Anyway, my question is how do I make her feel more comfortable after her operation? Will she want the loo more? Should I sleep downstairs with her just for the night - to give her some comfort? (I know she's a dog, I'm the boss etc, but I just want to make sure she's okay). I have obviously spoken to the vet, but wonder what you all think, people who've already experienced it.

Answer 1

Your vet will give you an after surgery list of things to avoid, and what dangers to watch for.
Your pup will be quite sore, and seem pouty for the first day or two.
Keep her as quiet as possible, and just comfort her, assuring her that she will be fine.
Warm her food, and feed it moist.
she will feel the need to pee very often, and it is common to have trouble peeing for the first day or so..she will also have trouble moving her bowels, for the first 2 or 3 days. It will help her if you put a spoon of canned pumpkin in her food, or sprinkle a spoon of Metamucil over it..(fiber stool softener)
Keep her sleeping area warm.
If she is used to sleeping on furniture, it would be best for you to spend the first night with her, so that she doesn't climb on and off the furniture by herself.
She will improve every day, and act normal in about a week, and ready for all activities within 3 weeks.
I just had my sweetie spayed this summer. I think it was harder on me, than on her!

Answer 2

I've found that younger dogs tend to recover much more quickly from spaying, so you have picked a good time to have this done. She will be very sleepy the first day or so, depending on what pain meds she has been given. She might be happy to have you with her for the first night, but I've found that all of mine have just conked out for the night and never opened an eye until morning. Be sure she is eating, and more important, drinking. She won't eat much, but she needs to be kept hydrated.

I think you will be amazed how fast she bounces back from the operation.

Answer 3

My best friend just went through this yesterday with her Lab pup. She said she came home still groggy from the anesthesia and just wanted to lay down. The vet gave her some pain meds for her to give to her and she got her a nice soft pad to lay on to make her more comfortable. She did sleep downstairs with her last night because when she went upstairs, her pup tried to follow and it was hard for her. She's doing much better today though. I would definitely get the pain meds from the vet. Just watch her close so she doesn't try to jump and don't pick her up so that she doesn't pull any stitches. She'll recover pretty quickly though. Good luck!

Answer 4

Your dog should be given a long acting pain relief injection while she is in surgery of either Rimadyl or Metacam - if she is sooo painful that she need a fenyl patch then they have been tooo rough with her from my experience even hard long dog spays do not need something as strong as those patches and I would be questioning the vets surgical skills of they are using strong analgesia.
She will be given a premed of something such as acepromazine (tranquilizer) and atropine (anti allergic and anti salivation) about one -three hours prior to surgery.
She will be given an intravenous anaesthetic such as Aquafol/alfaxan to anaesthtise (short acting anaesthetic and give her pain relief) her enough to place an endotrachael tube. This tube is attached to an aanesthetic machine containing isoflurane and oxygen which will keep her anaesthetised during the surgery.
She should be given a long acting antibiotic and pain relief injection right at the beginning of surgery.
By the time they have clipped her belly for surgery the intravenous anaesthetic will have worn off and she will be maintained on isoflurane and oxygen. Once surgery is complete they trun off the isofluran and she is left to breath oxygen. approx 5 minutes post surgey the isoflurane will wear off and she will begin to wake up and the endotrachael tube will be removed.
By now the pain relief is working and its only the premedication that keeps them sleepy. The premed will make them sleepy for approx 24 hours, so by the time they go home all other anaesthetics have worn off.
That night you should take her home and keep her down stairs so that she doesn't get up and try to go downstairs incase she is wobbly from the premed.
Take her on a lead out to toilet although do not be surprised if she doesn't go as many animals empty their bladder and bowels during surgery (if they have a full bladder the vet will express rior to surgery as a full bladder interfers with being able to see into the abdomen well).
She should be offered a small light meal at around 6pm and water made available as soon as she gets home.
eep her warm and quiet that night and she shold be back to normal the next day. If she is not then you should ring the vet as this is not normal.
Most dogs will self limit themselves while they have sutures.

Answer 5

It's nice to hear that you are a caring and responsible dog owner.

You'll probably be surprised how well your dog copes with the operation. The last pup I had (black lab) was up and about within hours. She slept well that night but was pretty much back to her usual excitable self the very next day.

Make sure your house is warm, coz after the anaesthetic she will feel colder than usual, apart from that, she should be fine.

Good luck

Answer 6

Thank you for having your dog spayed. You are a good owner!! Spaying is a very FAST and simple surgery... Not major at all. It is very common and very minor. The dogs recover in just a couple of days.

Just keep her from running and jumping too much the first few days. And make sure she leaves the stitches alone - don't let her lick or bite. Make sure it stays clean but don't bother it too much. Other than that, just let her be herself... She will be back to her normal self in no time!

Answer 7

Don't feel bad at all about getting her spayed!! Its very good for the dogs, helps thier health in the long run. I was too little to remember my dogs surgury at home, but I worked in a vets office. We got her teeth cleaned a few years back. When she came home she was very drugged up because of the fetynl patch, it was like she was stoned for 3 days strait, until we were able to take the patch off. It suposivly helped her with her pain. So anyhow, we brought her fluffy bed downstairs for her pet her, told he we loved her. Just follow all the vets instuructions. You will get pain meds back and directions. Just help make her comfortable by your comfort and maybe a nice fluffy bed. Hope that helped. She will recover in no time.

Answer 8

In your position I would do exactly as you have described. Stay with her over night so you can make sure she can have water and go out to the toilet when she needs to.
It is traumatic but she will quickly recover.
Give her lots of quiet rest until she perks up - and remember that although she'll have a few glum days - you will be giving her a chance for a good life as a family pet - its the right decision for her! Don't feel too guilty!!

Answer 9

You sound like a responsible pet owner - shame not everyone is the same. There's some good advice already been given here - the only thing I can add (without repeating whats already been said) is try giving arnica tablets to aid with the healing of the wound. I swear it really helped when my dog was neutered (arnica is known for aiding smooth, speedy healing of wounds, reducing bruising etc). Good luck - hope all goes well, I'm sure it will :-)

Answer 10

Most decent vets will use pain meds properly post op - check that they are willing to offer at least 3 days post op pain relief. I would recommend meloxicam chewable tablets following the op, as well as vetergesic and meloxicam injections prior to the operation
Spaying is a good thing by the way - prevents orb reduces the risk of a lot of nasty diseases and problems later on in life.