[PackMomma]

So, some of you may have read my post about Thumper acting unusual the last few days.. well good news - he recovered from whatever was hindering him (I believe it was muscle stiffness/exhaustion from way too much exercise on Monday) and lastnight he was perfectly fine - but I wasn't. Honestly, I've been a bit anxious/nervous about this procedure ( I have never gone though having a dog spayed/neutered )..and I think Thumper has sensed it, or picked up on my anxiety, because this morning he just wasn't himself again, he hesitated coming out of his kennel, his ears were down/back, and he glared at me with big puppy eyes like he was afraid or insecure or something. He walked around very cautiously, tail down, kind of 'sulking' you know? Its almost as if he knew something was going on. He was fine around my boyfriend this morning, very happy and bubbly and cuddly around him, but he kept his eyes focused on me, and when I looked at him..the ears went down, when he focused on my boyfriend, ears perked up and he was giddy again. I feel pretty bad..

Anyways, just looking for some support on this. I understand its not really a big deal and its a common procedure but i'm a little worried and I'm not sure what to expect.

I brought him to a spay/neuter clinic that's literally across the street from my work, so its convenient to drop him there and pick him up after work, however, this place CREEPED me out. The staff were very rude and unproffesional, IMO, and the place was like an assembly line of cats and dogs filing in to be nuetered.They took him for an exam and just grabbed him from me and I didn't see him or get to talk to anyone about his exam, meet the vet performing the procedure, etc.. I dont know, it just wasn't a pleasant exerpience off the bat and made my already unsettled nerves about this worse.

Ugh! I sure can't wait for this day to end so I can rush over there and get him back and make sure he's okay.

What sort of things, from all of your experiences, can I expect post-op? I'm a bit of a worry-wart (incase you couldn't tell) :redface:

 

[Abbylynn]

Goodness ... what a place that sounds like ... but I am sure it will be fine. I understand your concerns for sure!

Thumper may still be groggy and may not have much of an appetite or thirst for a bit. That is pretty much normal. I hope they give you instructions. :/ To them this is probably an every day routine. To Thumper ... he is picking up on your emotions .....

It should be no running or jumping for two weeks if I remember correctly from the Boys neuters and Abbylynns spay last year. Climbing steps should be prohibited a bit also. Watch for licking the site. Watch for unusual redness and swelling and puss or bad odor of course. This is about all I can remember. :/ Been a while now.

I hope the day goes quickly for you both! Good thoughts and prayers for Thumper on his surgery and quick recovery. It is probably worse on you than it is on him. I am sure he will be a trooper about it!

EDIT: I wonder if they suture or glue? I have dealt with both.

 

[PackMomma]

Goodness ... what a place that sounds like ... but I am sure it will be fine. I understand your concerns for sure!

Thumper may still be groggy and may not have much of an appetite or thirst for a bit. That is pretty much normal. I hope they give you instructions. :/ To them this is probably an every day routine. To Thumper ... he is picking up on your emotions .....

It should be no running or jumping for two weeks if I remember correctly from the Boys neuters and Abbylynns spay last year. Climbing steps should be prohibited a bit also. Watch for licking the site. Watch for unusual redness and swelling and puss or bad odor of course. This is about all I can remember. :/ Been a while now.

I hope the day goes quickly for you both! Good thoughts and prayers for Thumper on his surgery and quick recovery. It is probably worse on you than it is on him. I am sure he will be a trooper about it!

EDIT: I wonder if they suture or glue? I have dealt with both.

Yeah, I am kind of regretting my decision to save time and money by taking him to that place, rather then my vet whom I know and trust and always make me feel extremely comfortable about everything (considering I dont really trust vets very much). I was told good things about this clinic, and since its convenient and considerably cheaper than I figured why not. But that's just it.. they didn't really make me feel comfortable or tell me anything off the bat, they took him away and the receptionist said I can pick him up between 4:30 and 5 pm. Hopefully they can shed some more insight when I pick him up.

I'm aware of the obvious things like limited exercise, etc and he will be wearing the shameful cone on his head for a while, and I expect him to not be himself and potential nausea, no appetite, etc. I'm just curious how long this healing process is going to take? Thumper is an extremely active dog and its hard to keep him... not moving. I'm just worried he's going to go nuts.

 

[Amaryllis]

As Abbylynn said, anesthesia leaves you a little groggy and icky feeling. (I can verify. I HATE anesthesia.) Kabota had some swelling for a few weeks afterwards, nothing major, but he would sit on his side instead of right on the area. He was also 3 or 4 (we're not quite sure how old he is) when he had it done.

It really is a very minor procedure for a male dog, but I do understand your concern. I get a little tweaked when I drop Kabota off to be groomed.

 

[JessCowgirl88]

Be sure to find out if the stitches are on the outside or inside. Not sure how it is for males since its been a while but they do have stitches that are on the inside and disenigrate. But we were always told on all our pets try to keep them calm and nto alot of excerisce for.. 10-14 days, as well as no baths for that time as well.

we have been told about 2 weeks or so for healing but we have had some dogs that withing a week you didnt even know they had surgery. So i think it depends on the dog as well.

 

[PackMomma]

Yeah I can imagine - I've had two surgeries myself so I can definitely put myself in his shoes for the next few days atleast, but when he starts coming around, getting back to himself.. It's just going to be hard to keep him from wanting to move around. Its pretty difficult to keep a hyperactive dog under wraps for long periods of time haha. Hopefully we can make it work but I just dont want an unhappy, bored dog. I'm hoping he heals a little sooner than two weeks... I am going on vacation 2 weeks from today and he will be at kennel. I needed him to get done before his stay there, and I couldn't get a sooner appointment so I hope two weeks is sufficient. He's 8 months old, and pretty healthy so here's hoping for a speedy recoup period

I just wonder what kind of signs I can watch for that may tell me its safe to let him run around a bit, and remove the cone? I'm assuming this really depends on how the surgery site appears, if the stitches have dissolved and everything looks good. I'm really not sure what they're using as they didn't disclose any information to me this morning.

 

[Amaryllis]

I have no advice on how to keep a hyperactive dog down. I never could do much with Muggsy, and Kabota's problem is a lack of energy, not too much. I will say that Muggsy did survive his own hyperactivity and 3 different surgeries, including neutering, so Thumper will probably be okay.

 

[Abbylynn]

I kept the boys in their crates for the first few days to keep them from running around. Leeo was especially active! I did the same for Abbylynn.

Please let us know how Thumper is when he gets home!

 

[PackMomma]

Thanks guys.. I'm off to go pick him up right now. I'll let ya'll know how things go at home and maybe include a cone of shame pic.

I think I will just do what I have to do to keep him on the down-low; it will be tough for sure but thankfully, I do have the large 4x4x4ft kennel which he's in during the days to put him in to rest when needed. I will have to baby gate the the stairs off. I am a bit concerned on how comfortable he will be in his bed time crate, with the cone and all, limiting his mobility with the awkward thing on and waking us up with the racket, so he might get to sleep on the bedroom floor or the master bath. We'll see how it goes.

 

[firefly]

We adopted Wally from the shelter the day after he was neutered. He had glue and no stitches. They actually didn't even bath him before his neuter (which I found very odd) as he was the smelliest dog I have ever smelled.

We tried to keep Wally from jumping and wrestling with Clyde for a few days, but that was pretty tough. The shelter said not to give him a bath for 2 weeks, which was horrible because he was filthy and had feces in his hair. Our vet said we could bath him 48 hours after his procedure as long was we did not scrub the incision site or use soap on it. Water running over it was ok, but we had to dab it dry. This is probably very different though if your dog has stitches instead of glue.

He did have to urinate a lot for the 24 hours following the procedure, but he was fairly alert and active. Then again, it could just be he was in his new home! He was totally healed in about 7 days.

 

[PackMomma]

Thumper is doing just great! Phew! He does get frustrated with the cone, but he isn't fighting it and is becoming accepting of it. He isn't moving around too much, had a few short little mild play sessions with him, just tossing his ball in the house for him to fetch and what not. He ate all his dinner, he's drinking water etc and all in all is doing very well, he gives up eventually being annoyed with the cone and just goes to sleep. I can't tell what the incision is closed with.. there is a peice of tape covering it, it is seeping a tiny bit of blood so I'm assuming stitches? I don't have to worry about bathing thankfully, he was bathed last week and I refrain from bathing my dogs unless absolutely necessary..usually one or two baths a year tops.

I've just been taking him in the yard on the leash, he can't climb stairs with the cone by himself as cone gets in the way so I have to tilt it up and guide him up the deck stairs etc. he got major razor burn on his scrotum so I have to apply zinc cream there occasionally

Anyway..so far so good

 

[firefly]

Glad to hear it! I'm sure he will bounce back very quickly!

 

[spotted nikes]

Cortisone cream on the shaved area near (but not on) the incision can help with the itchy, prickly feeling that makes them want to lick/chew the area.
Men's boxer's turned upside down so the tail comes out the crotch opening, can make it so they can't lick the incision, but can do without the cone, when supervised.

Plan on no running/jumping for at least a week. Rusty wore his cone for 2 days, but was good about not licking if I was in the room. I'd play it by ear, as far as how long to leave the cone on.

 

[Gally]

We were lucky that Gally didn't need the wear the cone. He didn't really try to lick the site at all. Besides the obvious missing pieces it was really hard to tell that anything had happened to him, he was the same dog with the same amount of energy. As long as you can keep him from running and jumping for at least a week he should be good. We didn't restrict Galahad's exercise too much, he went back to his normal walking routine the day after surgery. You know your dog best so do what you feel is necessary to keep him from hurting himself.

 

[Abbylynn]

Glad Thumper is doing well ... cute little Man!

 

[PackMomma]

Thanks all

The clinic sent me home with zincoderm, for the irritation on his scrotum. I think I will just play it by ear when to take the cone off, I'm also considering purchasing a neck brace for him to wear, rather then the cone. I may try boxers, but I have a feeling Thumpers skinny little bum won't fit in my boyfriends boxers..I might need little boys boxers for him hehe. He doesn't seem to be trying to lick himself too much. This sounds nasty, but Thumper does get a slight discharge from his penis occasionally, which he does fine cleaning up on his own normally, but now I have to wipe him because it gets crusty if he can't clean it and then when he urinates its like a shower... so he's kind of a special needs little boy at the moment lol.

He's still be doing just great, I'm putting him on a complete raw diet for the next couple days atleast to get plenty of nourishment to help him heal, etc, and he's had no problems eating, no vomitting or diarrhea or the like yet. He did get pain meds this morning though so not sure how he will react to that. My boyfriend is at home with him today to keep an eye on him.

I'm getting quite a workout though - because Thumper can't climb the stairs in the house, and I have two flights that go upstairs to our bedroom, I've had to carry him up and down the stairs to potty, go to bed, etc...its very exhausting. I think he's got to be about 45lbs atleast right now, and I'm a lightweight myself so ..i'm feeling it today I tell ya. Him wearing the cone and being in his bed time crate just wasn't going to work, so I put his bed on the floor on my boyfriends side of the bed, and he slept there all night.

Here's a pic .. LOL

 

[Abbylynn]

Awwwwe ... poor Thumper! Lol! I bet he will be glad when that cone goes!

 

[jersey_gray]

I used spay/neuter clinics with my last couple pets (a cat neuter and a dog spay). While I didn't find them rude they were very to the point and just took said pets from me rather abruptly. I'm guessing that's typical considering it costs less than half of what it would have cost at my vet's.

 

[Fade]

keep that e-collar on the entire recommended time! even if he seems he isn't licking himself! So many people feel bad for the dog and take it off and then they either need to get new sutures or have to keep the sutures in longer. I scold my clients all the time for not listening when I send their dogs home from surgeries lol