What can I expect for my from a spay surgery?

Question

Hi! I am considering spaying my almost 6 month old chihuahua, but I am nervouse about it. I have heard that the dogs gain alot of weight and can become lazy, is that true? Also, about the surgery what should I expect? is she going to be in pain for a long time? Is she going to have a scar? Please HELP!!! I'm very confused!

Answer 1

The day of surgery and the next day she will not feel great. Within three days the biggest problem you will have is trying to get her to keep still. She will be back to normal within a week. I like spayed females. They are very sweet, and less likely to have female to female dominance issues.

Answer 2

Altho it is major surgery, it is also routine, if you have a good vet. The vet will use an anesthesia that is the same that they use on people, so there is no discomfort during surgery.

The vet should keep the pup overnite to make sure everything is ok.

After surgery, you may get a small Elizabethian collar, which is just a plastic collar to prevent your dog from licking her incision.

The vet will give you pain medicine, such as Rimadyl, which is a good general pain med. You will need to give your pup a handful of food before you give the meds... every time. The medicine is strong and can cause bad stomach upset, on an empty stomach.

Altho you will get enuff pain meds to last a week, most of the pain will go away after about 3 days. Keep her on the meds anyway. The incision may itch, she will want to lick it. The meds will reduce the pain and the itch.

The incision will look very bad when you get her back, but it will heal very quickly. The lack of hair will make it look much worse than it really is. However, after about a year ... or less ... the hair will grow back and the skin will heal completely. The scar will look more like a crease on her belly. If you didn't know, you wouldn't know that the crease was a scar from surgery...

It is important to keep the area dry for about a week. I don't know if your vet will use stitches, but the vet may want to do a check-up after a week. He will remove external stitches at that time.

You will need to keep the dog calm and quiet for a week or two. She will let you know when she can walk, but she may want to play after a few days. Can't let her, because she can tear up the internal stitches... and it might not even be that painful... but it is harmful.

Set a pre-appointment with the vet and ask the following:
1. What is the anesthetic and why use that one?
2. Will there be external sutures?
3. Will you keep the pup overnight ?
4. Will she need a collar for licking ?
5. What pain meds do you usually use afterwards?
6. How long should I use those meds, and how do I give them.
7. Do I give the meds before or after meals ?
8. When do the external sutures come out ?
9.. Do you charge for this or is this part of the total ?
10. When can the pup go for a walk ?
11. How long do you keep her quiet? When can she play ?
12. When are follow-up appointments?
13. Will there be bleeding, spotting, other symptoms after the surgery?
14. What else do I need to know?

A good vet should anticipate most of these questions and answer them before you ask. It's a good idea to type these and print them out. The vet will listen, if you have written questions... So will your Doctor !

She will not become lazy after the surgery, but her metabolism will slow down, and her rate of growth will slow down temperarily. If she were a big dog, you would see a loss in weight, but small dogs don't change much.

You want to feed her a little less food than you were feeding. I suggest that you feed her what the dog food package recommends, but feed the lower end of the range. Watch her weight for 12 months and record it every month to see the trend.

If the trend grows, in other words if she was gaining one pound per month and she starts gaining 1.5 ppounds per month, then cut back the amount of food by 10% or 20%...

Ask the vet about this, but she won't starve with a small cut back. However, if you start to see ribs, then add 10% more food. ... That is another reason for recording the weight trends.


Talk to the vet, it is his job to make you understand and to feel better.

Answer 3

I just had my 6 mth old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel spayed, he went into the surgery in the morning so was allowed dinner the night before but no breakfast. When we picked him up in the afternoon the vet had given him an injection to help with the pain which they said would last until morning, they also gave us some tablets to give him over the next two days to help.

He pretty much just slept since bringing him home, we offered him dinner which he ate ... I've heard that some dogs won't want to eat but you can offer it to them.

It's now the next day and he's a lot more active wanting to play. We're trying to keep him quiet so he doesnt stretch the area where the stitches are ... but he still runs around so doesn't seem too fussed by it. I don't think he likes the collar tho ... is wearing an "elizabethian" collar to stop him chewing the stitches.

My other dogs have been spayed one was when he was a pup, the other was only a few years ago ... they're both about 10 yrs old, I can't see the scar.

Answer 4

Your dog may become a little less active and therefore can a little weight but it is usually insignificant. I hate the false but popular rumor that dogs will get lazy and fat after being spayed. This leads to more dogs dying than obesity does. Your dog fares better to gain a few ounces than to birth litters and litters of puppies or increase her risk of reproductive cancers.
If you feed your a dog a healthy diet and give it plenty of exercise it should not gain too much weight.

Follow your vets instructions
Usually your vet will tell you to cease feeding your dog 12 hours before surgery

After surgery your dog may be knocked out and not move much, if at all. Provide her a clean and comfortable bedding in a safe and quiet area.

Do not touch the spay scar. It will heal on it's own. A little blood, fluid, bump is normal but if anything looks excessive contact your vet.

Dogs usually have very little to no pain. If the dog does seem to be experiencing pain ask the vet if you can give mild medication. If she seems to be in a lot of pain then it may be infected and she will need prompt medical attention.

The scar will usually fade away. In a year or two you may not see it anymore.
Spay surgery usually has a quick and speedy recovery

Answer 5

I have 4 Chihuahua's. 3 are spayed/neutered. The baby will be neutered next month.

None of mine gained weight after the surgery apart from adding muscle as they were supposed to as I had them done between 5-6 months. Lazy... not likely. They fly around after each other when they are playing.

Mine were quite for 2-3 days, but then I almost had to tie them down as they wanted to be back doing anything and everything. I can see a tiny scar on the female, but nothing on the 2 males.

Everything will be just fine, but it's natural to worry. I ahve had so many animals spayed/neutered over the years, but I still worry until it's over and they are awake. It's because we love them. ;-)

Answer 6

No, it's an old wive's tale that dogs gain weight after being spayed/neutered. As long as you don't over-feed them and give them exercise just like before, they don't gain weight and they don't become lazy or change their basic personality.

She won't be in pain for a long time. When she comes home the day of the surgery, she'll be in some pain. Some vets send pain meds home with the dog, some don't on the theory that if they're in some pain they won't over-exert themselves. Most will give you the option to give them or not. The day of the surgery, your girl won't want to eat, won't want to do anything except sleep and recover.

By the next day, she'll be much more like her normal self and in a couple of days time, she will be pretty much back to normal. The scar is minimal and not anything that'll ever be noticed.

Getting her spayed is the best thing for her health - greatly decreases the chance of her getting cancer, not to mention possible false pregnancies, or unwanted real pregnancies, or things like pyometra as she gets older.

Answer 7

Get her spayed if you aren't breeding it's much healthier for them.
As far as gaining weight that's totally up to you if you overfeed then yes but I a a breeder and I have had several spayed as well as most of what I sell and only a few gained weight.
As far as getting lazy no tehy do not.
What to expect::: usually the night before they ask you not to feed or water the dog after 8p.m.
You drop the dog off at teh vets in teh morning, tehy will do suergery when scheduled often early afternoon. The dog will usually spend teh night and you will pick her up in the monring.
they may offer pain relief pills( I personally never use them).
She may be a littel tired and a little soar for a day or so. Teh main thing is do not allow her to jump as she may rip the suture area. Depends on hwat tehy use some vets use dissolvable sutures, some use the thread and some use staples ( if thread or staples the dog will need to go in and have them removed usually 7-10 days from surgery.
Chihuahuas can get a little upset and she might get mad at you and try to ignore you for leaving her. But remember you did it for her own good and just like children tehy will get over it.
if you ned to go somewher and she is allowed loose in the house I would suggest putting her in a crate or bathroom so she isn't jumping and ripping her sutures and just watch her when you aer home.
Good Luck and again best thing for her.

Answer 8

Your dog is going to have a spay scar on her tummy, where her belly button would be. You won't notice after her hair grows back. They shave like a square on her belly for the surgery. All of my animals are spayed. One of my cats is over weight, but my other cat is very fit. And my dog is pure muscle. Spaying your dog doesn't cause obesity, over feeding and lack of exercise causes obesity.

The rest of your questions are good questions to ask your veterinarian. They can tell you everything. What usually happens is you will admit your dog in the morning. Depending on the vet clinic, they might do surgery in the morning, or around noon. Then you will pick your pup up in the afternoon. At my clinic it is usually around 5 pm. They will go over discharge instructions, and they will send home pain meds, so she shouldn't be in pain. They will also give her a pain injection after surgery. Dog's handle surgery amazingly well. They are usually acting normal by the next day, eating, drinking, wanting to play. But the vet will want you to keep her quiet for a week or two, to let her incision heal. Leash walks only is what we recommend. And you will also want to make sure your pup doesn't lick or chew her stitches. Write down all of your questions to ask your vet before the surgery.

And spaying your pup is a Great idea. It lowers risks of certain types of cancers, like mammary cancer, and yes, dogs can get mammary cancer. And it also eliminates the chance of uterine or ovary cancer, and a pyometra, which is an infection in her uterus. All of these are very dangerous. And not only that, but you also don't have to deal with a messy heat cycle, and you are eliminating the possibility of any unwanted puppies. You will want to spay her at 6 months of age, because each heat cycle that your dog goes through increases chances of mammary cancer. I hope this helps. Good Luck with your puppy!!!

Answer 9

Spaying is the kindest thing you can do for your dog. Dogs that do not get spayed or have a heat cycle before spaying have a high percentage of mammory tumors. A spay will leave a tiny scar that usually fads as the dog ages. If you dont spay her she will bleed on your furniture and that will not fade. She will only gain weight if you let her. If you stop walking or playing with her or fill her up on fatty treats. Please spay your dog it is the right thing to do. In my part of the country I can find a spay from about 140-175. It is higher to spay a dog in heat due to the amount of blood.

Answer 10

Talk to your vet. The reason why some dogs gain weight after being spayed and neutered is because their owners feel bad for them and feed extra treats and food or figure the dog needs more rest and don't play with them or walk them. I had a lab that we got neutered and he was the same after as he was before.