My José was neutered today and I've never had a dog go through it so maybe I am just paranoid, but, I am noticing tonight that his scrotal sack is swollen and there appears to be fresh bruising appearing. There is no active bleeding, but it is tender to the touch to him so I am concerned. I have given him a baby aspirin for pain/inflammation control but I will be calling the vet in the morning to check on it. Anyone noticed this before after a neuter?
Swelling/Bruising after Neutering?
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I'm not a professional at all. But I've had a few dogs that have gone throught it. There was a little bit of swelling just cuz its trying to heal, I was told as long as nothing is oozing or really bad swelling is occuring theres no reason to be worried, but its not wrong at all to call the vet if you have any kind of concerns. Thats what their there for right? 
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joebeans said:
2 questions, are you seeing actual swelling (fluid build up under the skin) around the scrotum, or is the scrotum itself just loose.
It's not abnormal for the scrotal area to be sore post-neuter, since during the first part of the surgery, the dr has to physically peel the testes from the spermadic cord/scrotal skin, and area of ligation usually bleeds a bit or the skin tears post-op. However, it's usually not traumatic enough to make a dog bruised to the point of extreme pain. If your buddy is still in pain tommorow, I'd ask your vet for some pain medication or NSAID to ease the swelling. Most vets today are pretty good about pain management, and really most neuters are relatively painless, as the surgery only takes a few minutes and isn't nearly as invasive as a spay.
If you are seeing "black and blue" coloration on the skin, and it is very swollen (even if there is no fresh bleeding), I would highly consider taking him to the ER. These are indications of hematoma, bleeding out, and it's possible a ligation may have slipped. Any signs of dizziness, extreme pain, difficulty breathing, acute lethargy you should be wary of. When the vet examines the scrotum they will be able to tell you exactly what's going on. The best case scenario it's just tissue damage at the suture site that causes the bruising and serum fills the space. Worst case scenario, there's a problem and you'll be at the vet already to take care of Jose.
Let us know how your dog is doing!
-Nate
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how is josé doing?
kisses nat
kisses nat
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awww poor jose no I dont remember Ozzy having any major bruising or swelling but different people/ dogs heal in different ways - definately give the vet a ring if your worried :wave:
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hope he feels better
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I actually have a question....??
When my toy poodle got neutered 10 years ago, he was castrated, so he has no sack or anything left. But now I see dogs with their little sack still there? Is this how they do it now? Becuase if so is ot something that needs to be requested, I would like Gizmo to keep some of his little manhood ya know?! :lol:
When my toy poodle got neutered 10 years ago, he was castrated, so he has no sack or anything left. But now I see dogs with their little sack still there? Is this how they do it now? Becuase if so is ot something that needs to be requested, I would like Gizmo to keep some of his little manhood ya know?! :lol:
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Poor José...I hope he is feeling better
Mando
Mando
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Poor José...I hope he is feeling better
Mando
Mando
Well it is morning and he doesn't look a whole lot better. Thanks Nate for replying, I was hoping you would... I am a human medical person.... so I am familiar with hematomas and he definitely has one... I can feel free fluid in the scrotal sack... so something is bleeding into it. Yesterday I watched the neutering and saw that his little sac was empty and loose and now it looks like he wasn't even neutered, the reason for my concern. It is tender to my touch and I can palpate some fluid inside of it... until he yelps and doesn't want me to touch it anymore. Phoned the vet this morning and spoke with the vet tech, she told me some swelling is common, but I explained I don't think a hematoma like this is common after a neuter so she said I could come back in and get some pain medication, but I have a feeling there will be more involved in that... My poor baby... a simple neuter and he looks just pitiful. I will let you guys know how it goes after I take him back in this morning.
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Poor José...I hope he is feeling better
Mando
Mando
I took some pictures to show Nate, and see what he thinks.. I didn't want to directly post them here, some people might not want to see, but if you do, click the links below... Yes... I took pictures of my dog's scrotum LOL
Click here to see Picture #1
Click here to see Picture #2
Click here to see Picture #1
Click here to see Picture #2
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yikes, that doesn't look good. glad you are taking him to the vet! i hope he heals soon!
by the way you've got men all over the world cringing with those pics) :twisted:
by the way you've got men all over the world cringing with those pics) :twisted:
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Joe that is definately abnormal. To me it looks like a bleedout and I can't believe it that neuter looks excruciating. Can't tell without physical examination, but it should be seen to determine if it's just serum filling the cavity, or actual hematoma. If they used the method of tying off the cord and slicing the testicle off at the stalk, usually the area of ligature is what is traumatized and swollen.
Hate to break it to you, but if there is a hematoma they may likely have to reanesthetize your pup to see what bled and repair sutures. This totally sucks and my heart goes out to you.
I don't want to jump say it's a hackjob since it does happen especially if the dog moves around a lot, but if I were you I'd nicely ask for Jose's medical records (after he's fixed) and consider a new surgeon in the future.
Joe I hope that everything goes well at the vet. The worst thing you can do at this point is start an argument with the vet about it before your dog is taken care of, but I would be outraged if they don't acknowledge that something went wrong on their end. It's not like you took him on a hike after he came home, or probed around with a hemostat. If there is a problem with your vet having an integrity issue, please ask me for advice before you pursue legal action.
Please keep us posted. I hope that it is the better of the two situations and Jose is just fine. -Nate
EDIT: I looked again and it also appears that Jose has razor burn (from the clippers) around the perimeter of the scrotum. Have these people ever heard of gentle trimming? Sorry, but it makes me a little angry Joe.
Hate to break it to you, but if there is a hematoma they may likely have to reanesthetize your pup to see what bled and repair sutures. This totally sucks and my heart goes out to you.
I don't want to jump say it's a hackjob since it does happen especially if the dog moves around a lot, but if I were you I'd nicely ask for Jose's medical records (after he's fixed) and consider a new surgeon in the future.
Joe I hope that everything goes well at the vet. The worst thing you can do at this point is start an argument with the vet about it before your dog is taken care of, but I would be outraged if they don't acknowledge that something went wrong on their end. It's not like you took him on a hike after he came home, or probed around with a hemostat. If there is a problem with your vet having an integrity issue, please ask me for advice before you pursue legal action.
Please keep us posted. I hope that it is the better of the two situations and Jose is just fine. -Nate
EDIT: I looked again and it also appears that Jose has razor burn (from the clippers) around the perimeter of the scrotum. Have these people ever heard of gentle trimming? Sorry, but it makes me a little angry Joe.
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When a young dog is first neutered, the skin from the scrotum is loose, and just looks like an extra flap of skin. The skin loses its elasticity over time and the area becomes flat. Older dogs that are neutered often retain this extra flap of skin. Any dog that has visible "full" scrotum either is not neutered, or paid extra for neuticlel implants.SunnyFLMum said:
SunnyFLMum, very very few vets implant "neuticles" after the neuter to simulate testicles. It's a cosmetic insert, and that is allt. Forgive me for saying this, but having neuticals is not going to give Gizmo any part of his manhood back =( In fact, there are very few vets that use neuticles because there have recently been reports of allergic reaction to the synthetic material causing dogs to chew them off themselves (how's that for manhood?), and cancerous masses that have grown adjacent to the neuticles. My opinion is that neuticals are unecessary, and there is no medical reason to insert them, and there is medical reason not to.
Just my 2 cents! =) Hope it helps your decision.
-Nate
Wow, thanks for your reply Nate. You're a great source of advice. I just returned home from the vet. He took a quick look at him and said that it just looks edematous and it usually only happens to large breed dogs and its not common on little dogs. He gave me Clavamox 62.5mg to give q12 hours to prevent an infection and Rimadyl 25mg to give q12 hours for the pain. I asked him if it needed to be drained and he said no that it would only fill back up and that the pressure inside the scrotum will prevent any further bleeding and it will resolve on its own within 1-2 weeks. I watched the entire procedure being done yesterday, they weren't extremely rough with the clippers, just did a quick shave, and it looked to me like he made a single ligature around the cords and then cut off the testicles. José is ok otherwise, he is just REALLY sore... I would be too if I had a huge hematoma hanging between my legs!! I just gave him the Rimadyl and Clavamox... I hope it helps with his pain, I know he is hurting. Do you think what the vet said is proper or should I consider taking him to another vet for a 2nd opinion??
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Joe, sent your picture to work to have a Dr. look at it. They said the bruising does happen on occasion, usually a result of tearing of the skin at the suture site. If the vet examined it and recognized it as not a huge threat, then it probably looks way worse than it feels probably. The edema is probably not blood, it's probably serum that collected after the testicles were removed at the stalk. However, they said you did the right thing by having the doctor re-examine, a real hematoma does present itself similarly, and without physical examination it's hard to tell the difference. What is odd is the pain, since most canine neuters have very little post-op pain and bounce back the same day even with the swelling.joebeans said:
If your pup doesn't improve, or you start seeing blood or darkening in the urine, or increased soreness, I'd have the doctor recheck again.
Sorry for creating such alarm in my previous post! At our hospital we get a lot of referrals to do repair work from people who have had hackjobs from low-cost spay/neuter clinics, and have seen more of these scrotal hematomas, so I'm more inclined to be cautious of one. As they say, better to be safe than sorry!
-Nate
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Poor Jose Having such terrible problems with what is normally a fairly routine procedure for males. I hope the vet is correct and Jose is better soon. I would be totally freaked out if Auggie had looked like that. Hugs and Kisses to Jose
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