[Lindsayj]

We are going on Thursday to talk to Chloe's vet about her spay. I'm also very interested in getting her microchipped at the same time. I wanted to know what do I need to ask while I'm there? Is there anything I need to know about pain medicine? I've noticed that people have strong feelings about it on both sides, but I wasn't sure why. I've also heard not to allow them to use a heating pad. Should I take away her stairs to get on the couch and bed? I just want to make sure that I've covered everything. So, any advice or experience you can share would be greatly appreciated.

 

[pupluv168]

Toby is obviously not a girl, so idk about spay specific questions. As far as general questions, I asked what type of anesthesia they used, what their procedure was in an emergency, how long the healing time was, and if they had any recommendations about after care. I also made sure someone was there the entire time- I threw a fit when I found out they all took lunch at the same time so someone stayed there with him.


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[Lindsayj]

Thanks, Ashley! I didn't think to ask what type of anesthesia.

Sorry I posted this in the wrong section!

 

[momofmany]

I would not take the stairs away if they help her to get up on the couch and bed because if she trys to jump up she could rip her stitches. You will just have to watch her so she's not licking her incission because it could cause infection and try to keep her quiet for the first couple day to give her a chance to heal. Pain meds can be a problem sometimes because the dog doesn't feel the pain and start running a playing like usual it could be dangerous for them.They have to stay quiet the pain is so bad that its unbearable then by all mean give her something but if she's doing well without them and shes just slows her down then I think you can do without pain Meds and it would be best for her as well Jmho . I would get them just in case she needs a little something and if you don't need them great if you do then you have them on hand.

 

[pupluv168]

I would not take the stairs away if they help her to get up on the couch and bed because if she trys to jump up she could rip her stitches. You will just have to watch her so she's not licking her incission because it could cause infection and try to keep her quiet for the first couple day to give her a chance to heal. Pain meds can be a problem sometimes because the dog doesn't feel the pain and start running a playing like usual it could be dangerous for them.They have to stay quiet the pain is so bad that its unbearable then by all mean give her something but if she's doing well without them and shes just slows her down then I think you can do without pain Meds and it would be best for her as well Jmho . I would get them just in case she needs a little something and if you don't need them great if you do then you have them on hand.

I agree. I'd get them just in case, but try not to give them to her. You're mommy, you will know if your little girl is in unbearable pain. A small amount of pain will make sure she doesn't test her limits too much. If it gets bad, then by all means give them to her. And I also agree about the stairs. Anything that will keep her from jumping too much is a good idea.


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[svdreamer]

If she does start licking her stitches, not the skin around them, try using a baby onsie, put on upside down. The betadine they use to disinfect the skin for surgery can be irritating, I usually carefully wash around the incision if it looks like it's bothering them. But don't get the incision itself wet. I usually keep them in a crate or if no crate, then in their bed for the first 24 hours after they get home. By the afternoon after their spay, I open the door on the crate and let them walk around if they aren't being too rambuctous. Be sure to take them out to pee, they may not poo until the next day. Offer water at all times, ansthesia makes them very thirsty. They may only take a bite or two or wait until the next day to eat, that's ok. That's all I can think of. Keep the stairs, but wait until the next afternoon to let her use them, lift her up if you have to. Best of luck, I'm sure she will do fine.

 

[bgmacaw]

Our Chloe got spayed about 2 weeks ago. She stayed overnight at the vet and came home the next morning. She was in a some pain the next couple of days so she got a couple of doses of Metacam. She was a good girl and didn't mess with her stitches.

She was able to get down from the bed OK using her usual easy path (footstool, chest, bed). She took it easy for about 3-4 days but by the weekend she was playing with her cat friends at full speed and jumping from the floor to the bed.

 

[Lindsayj]

Thanks everyone. Our bed is too high for her to jump on and off, so I think I might take those stairs away and just pick her up. She doesn't ever jump on or off the couch, but she would be able to if she tried, so I will probably put those back after a day or too. Chloe isn't very rambunctious at all, so I think it will be fairly easy to keep her calm. I bought one of those blow up collar things for her in case she is bothering her stitches. A onsie would be better though. When you say upside down do you mean like put the stomach side where it's facing the back?

 

[svdreamer]

Yeah, put the snaps on the top, it covers more area that way. Of all my dogs, only one did I have to put in a onsie, and then only for two days. After that she left it alone.

 

[Lindsayj]

How does their tail stick out if they have a onsie on?


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[svdreamer]

How does their tail stick out if they have a onsie on?


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You need to cut a hole. I had to put it on Marmalade, but it was easy, she doesn't have a tail. lol

 

[Lindsayj]

You need to cut a hole. I had to put it on Marmalade, but it was easy, she doesn't have a tail. lol

Haha I figured but just wanted to make sure!


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[teetee]

just want to let you know how we handled Miya's spay...I never heard anything about not using a heating pad. The vet told me that the drugs they use can cause their body temp to drop, so that's why they used a heating pad. Everything was fine there.

I was really cautious with her. She was so miserable, I felt so bad for her. We had pain meds to take home and even ended up getting extra because her vet and I wanted her as comfy as possible. She is a jumper..bed, couch, stairs or not stairs, you name it. We ended up bringing our mattress in the living room to put between our sectional. She had a step from the floor, to the mattress, to the couch..and it wasn't very high. We also put pillows everywhere, in case she did jump, she'd have a soft land. Maybe we were a little excessive, but I'd have done it all the same again. She didn't get to where she wanted to do anything until after 3 days, then it was still a little tough. So for those two weeks, we lived and slept in the living room with our mattress and fortress of pillows haha. The evening she was home, I mushed up some wet food with gravy and she had a bit of it. Her tummy was very upset for about 3 days.

So that's a bit of read I know, but I think every experience is different. Had we not had the mattress in the living room, she would have tried to jump and possibly hurt herself. I hope her spay goes well and she bounces back in no time. I remember laying on the floor with Miya bundled in blankets for a few days. I didn't leave her side at all. She's my baby so I wasn't about to let her be any more uncomfortable than she already was. It was really tough for her..and me.. I won't lie...I don't ever want to see her like that again.. BUT after those couple days, she was her bouncy self running around chasing the cat, like nothing ever happened. She's the same personality as she was before her spay.

ooo..and to add..I was really worried about picking Miya up. I didn't want to grab her wrong or her stretch in some weird way..so I didn't pick her up for a few days. We made everything easily accessible to her so she could walk if she wanted to, which she really didn't. I agree with keeping her stairs, and if you can, make Chloe a fortress of pillows too..incase she does jump or heaven forbid fall off the stairs or couch or bed. I know I am probably sounding nutso but...I did what I thot was best for her

 

[Lindsayj]

just want to let you know how we handled Miya's spay...I never heard anything about not using a heating pad. The vet told me that the drugs they use can cause their body temp to drop, so that's why they used a heating pad. Everything was fine there.

I was really cautious with her. She was so miserable, I felt so bad for her. We had pain meds to take home and even ended up getting extra because her vet and I wanted her as comfy as possible. She is a jumper..bed, couch, stairs or not stairs, you name it. We ended up bringing our mattress in the living room to put between our sectional. She had a step from the floor, to the mattress, to the couch..and it wasn't very high. We also put pillows everywhere, in case she did jump, she'd have a soft land. Maybe we were a little excessive, but I'd have done it all the same again. She didn't get to where she wanted to do anything until after 3 days, then it was still a little tough. So for those two weeks, we lived and slept in the living room with our mattress and fortress of pillows haha. The evening she was home, I mushed up some wet food with gravy and she had a bit of it. Her tummy was very upset for about 3 days.

So that's a bit of read I know, but I think every experience is different. Had we not had the mattress in the living room, she would have tried to jump and possibly hurt herself. I hope her spay goes well and she bounces back in no time. I remember laying on the floor with Miya bundled in blankets for a few days. I didn't leave her side at all. She's my baby so I wasn't about to let her be any more uncomfortable than she already was. It was really tough for her..and me.. I won't lie...I don't ever want to see her like that again.. BUT after those couple days, she was her bouncy self running around chasing the cat, like nothing ever happened. She's the same personality as she was before her spay.

ooo..and to add..I was really worried about picking Miya up. I didn't want to grab her wrong or her stretch in some weird way..so I didn't pick her up for a few days. We made everything easily accessible to her so she could walk if she wanted to, which she really didn't. I agree with keeping her stairs, and if you can, make Chloe a fortress of pillows too..incase she does jump or heaven forbid fall off the stairs or couch or bed. I know I am probably sounding nutso but...I did what I thot was best for her

Thank you! I don't think you sound crazy at all! If the stairs won't hurt her then I will leave them. She never jumps. She's always had stairs, so I don't even think it's crossed her mind to jump off of the couch. She a little scaredy cat, so I don't think he would ever jump off. I'm more worried about her jumping on the couch than anything. It's still a good idea to have pillows just in case.

I think it's Tina, Lulu's mom who told us she is on another forum and two different dogs from different places were put on heating pads after surgery at the vet. The dogs weren't able to get off of the heating pads and they suffered very extensive serious burns. I'm ok with her being on one during surgery, but I don't want her to have one after she is out in case she isn't able to get off of it if she's too sedated.

I'm definitely getting pain medicine for her. I will give it to her unless I start to see a problem with her trying to do too much.

I work 12 hour shifts, so I only work 3 days a week. I get 4 days a week off, so I'll be home with her the day she's spayed and the 3 days afterward.

 

[teetee]

That is great to hear that you'll be home with her for 3 days! I had just quit my job prior to Miya's spay...conveniently planned it that way. I hope her spay goes great. Will there be someone to watch her all the time and monitor her body temp and vitals? Is it an overnight thing?

 

[20887]

I would definitely go with the pain medication. It is much, much easier to prevent pain before it sets in than it is to manage it once it gets bad. You can give them to her for the first day or two and she should be fine after that. Penny had one dose the night of her spay and one 24 hours later, and after that she was perfectly fine. Even though she was on pain meds, she still laid around and was pretty inactive for the first two days.

I would also get a little t-shirt for her in case she starts scratching her stitches. I hope everything goes well!

 

[Lindsayj]

That is great to hear that you'll be home with her for 3 days! I had just quit my job prior to Miya's spay...conveniently planned it that way. I hope her spay goes great. Will there be someone to watch her all the time and monitor her body temp and vitals? Is it an overnight thing?

I have a very long list of questions to ask the vet. He's going to think I'm crazy. He understands that I'm a nurse/crazy chi mama, so that I'm going to want to know absolutely everything! haha He typically has dogs stay overnight, but there isn't anyone who stays with them. I've talked to him on the phone and I said that I want to take her home with me, and that her staying overnight without supervision is not acceptable to me. He said that we can talk about it more, but that it should be ok for me to take her home since I would understand what typical post anesthesia behavior is. He's found most parents freak out since their dog isn't acting themselves and it scares them. So, it's better for them to stay overnight in that situation. Because if the parents are stressed the dog gets stressed.

Do you know if Miya had gas anesthesia or IV anesthesia? I've been reading about it and I think gas is better, but I'm not totally sure yet.

 

[Lindsayj]

I would definitely go with the pain medication. It is much, much easier to prevent pain before it sets in than it is to manage it once it gets bad. You can give them to her for the first day or two and she should be fine after that. Penny had one dose the night of her spay and one 24 hours later, and after that she was perfectly fine. Even though she was on pain meds, she still laid around and was pretty inactive for the first two days.

I would also get a little t-shirt for her in case she starts scratching her stitches. I hope everything goes well!

I am definitely getting pain medication and I was planning on using it. I had just heard some people on here say that they didn't think it was good, and I found that interesting. Just because they can't voice that they are in pain doesn't mean that they aren't.

 

[20887]

I am definitely getting pain medication and I was planning on using it. I had just heard some people on here say that they didn't think it was good, and I found that interesting. Just because they can't voice that they are in pain doesn't mean that they aren't.

I agree, animals are good at hiding pain so it is hard to tell when something is really bothering them. It is possible that pain medication can make them think they are able to run laps or jump around because they can't feel it, but that hasn't been the case with my dogs. I think that is why some people disagree with it.

 

[Lindsayj]

I agree, animals are good at hiding pain so it is hard to tell when something is really bothering them. It is possible that pain medication can make them think they are able to run laps or jump around because they can't feel it, but that hasn't been the case with my dogs. I think that is why some people disagree with it.

That makes sense if you have a very active dog. Chloe wouldn't really run laps anyway! haha I think she will be a lot easier to keep still than most dogs. And I'm completely expecting her to ham it up and milk it for all it's worth.