I have never had a female dog before. Little Holly is getting close to 5 months old and my vet recommends spaying at about 6 months. What can I expect from the spaying procedure? Any experience on how the dogs do with recovery, how long, etc? It is more of a major surgery than neutering a male so I am curious as to tips or advice on helping the little girl recover. Thanks in advance!
Spaying a female dog is a major operation whereas castrating a male dog isn't ! So yes , cuts through skin and muscle to reach the uterus , so you can imagine that isn't a rapid recovery ! Most get over the actual operation within a few days, but care must be taken to ensure no jumping around or off lead walks for about ten days or you risk damage internally as well as stitches coming out ( they come out at around ten days ) . Timing of the spay varies between Vets , some say to have it done before the first season , many think its better to wait until after the first season .
My girl was spayed at 5.5months of age. Sleepy the night of the op but her normal self the next day. Our vet advice was lead walking only for around 20minutes rwice a day. No running, jumping etc. We had a cone but only used it at night or when I went shopping to make sure she didn't touch the wound and stitches. Our stitches were in for 14 days instead of 10/11 but due to weekend and working days of our vet
My pup loves to run and jump, especially when she has her toys. I guess I'll have to hide her toys after the surgery and try and keep her calm. Calm and my pup are not words that are often used in the same sentence.
We had the spay following 2 weeks of restricted exercise (no running/jumping/bouncing around) due to a limp. Lots of mental activity, scent games and food games instead of running/bouncing around.
My girl was unusual in it took her a long time to get over the surgery at 6.5 months. She was uncomfortable and generally very low for well over a week. I wouldn't have a bitch spayed so young again, I would always wait until they've had at least one season. My younger bitch is just heading towards her second season. I'm still undecided as to whether she'll be spayed at all, even though I have no plans to breed her, I don't want to put her through major surgery simply for my own convenience.
Cooper was spayed after her first season at about 14 months. Cooper's spay was a little more involved than normal because she had to sedated to get the pre-op blood sample, and she partially vomited some liquid during the surgery. We put on low dose sedatives for about a week. She was on 5 different meds: Anti Inflammatory, Pain, Sedative, Antibiotic, and a med to coat her esophagus.
My girl was spayed after her first season and had a laparoscopic spay. This procedure removes the ovaries only and leaves the uterus. This means it is a much less invasive procedure than a normal spay, so less pain on recovery and faster recovery. She was a bit discombobulated by the anaesthetic for the first 12 hours but fine after a good night's sleep. I slept downstairs with her the first night but no need thereafter. Within 4 days she was back to her normal self and within a week she was back at doggy daycare. She had two tiny incisions which I could barely see and no stitches on the outside. My own vet didn't do the laparoscopic spay so I went to one a half hour drive away. I would say it was about £150 more than a regular spay and worth every penny to me. There is an article on this site written by the editor, Pippa, if you're interested to know a bit more.
Molly was spayed after 2 seasons, when she was nearly two years old and she took it completely in her stride (even with the added complication of a lump being removed at the same time.) She was a bit whiny for a couple of hours when I got her home but then had her dinner and cheered up! I was told on-lead walking only for I think it was 10 days but might have been two weeks and followed this advice. Molly didn’t need any painkillers but did have to have extra antibiotics, as at her 48 hour check the vet thought the site looked a bit red. (My vets were excellent, checking on her three times during the two weeks following.) It was a traditional spay but a very small incision. I had a previous bitch spayed and although she made more fuss immediately afterwards (refused to walk for several hours) I don’t remember it being difficult otherwise.
I had Xena spayed at 6 months for the simple reason that we were going out of town for a wedding when she was 8 months and I just couldn't risk having her go into season with a house sitter. If there's a next time, I'd wait until after the first season, but if you have to spay before then don't sweat it. Xena was dopey the first evening, just couldn't settle, but by 11am the next day she was back to normal. She didn't need a cone, and barely worried at the stitches. My vet was very strict about her being on lead exercise only, which was 2.5 weeks in total. He said that the risk of damage to the wound after having the stitches out was slim, but that the extra week on lead is worth it for peace of mind. I didn't want to risk an emergency surgery, so I followed his advice. We worked hard on her lead walking, did lots of gentle chasey-fetch games indoors....it was easy as really.
Ella was spayed at six months. She was absolutely fine afterwards, just a little groggy. We carried her into the house like a little baby, put her on the floor and she ran over and jumped on the couch! Keeping her quiet for two weeks was hard work but thankfully she recovered well and never needed a cone.
Belle was picked up as a stray when we adopted her. She was spayed at approx 18 months while she was pregnant, so quite complicated. She was back to normal the next day, no pain meds and no cone needed. The 7 (or was it 10?) days of lead walks with no running and jumping was tough for a dog who seemed to feel perfectly fine. She wasn't a lab, but a mongrel collie x with longish hair - her coat went fluffy after she was spayed.
I think they just took the whole lot out, womb & puppies. It doesn't really bear thinking about. We were not in a position to raise puppies, and it would have been wrong to be dumping more unwanted puppies into the world. The spay consent form included "....and to euthanase Belle's puppies" - absolutely heartbreaking, and I still think of the day I signed that form. There was only one vet in the practice who was willing to perform the op, with it being quite a risky one, we had to wait for her to come back from holiday, praying that Belle didn't deliver in the mean time.
Oh, absolutely no judgement here . I just didn't understand what had happened and how the vets dealt with it. Thanks for explaining
It's sadly quite common in the rescue dogs in the shelter. They have an abortion and spay in one go. Heartbreaking, but from the rescue's point of view, it makes absolute sense.
@Ski-Patroller I don't know if you mean that you were put on a low dose of sedatives for a week or Cooper because I was going to add that we were definitely on something to calm our nerves the day of and few days following Harley's spay - so good on you. The vet suggest a spay for Harley at 8 months odd but we booked her in at 7 months 1 week because there was a long weekend and I could add a few days off work to make it a longer weekend at home with her in case of complications. She only had her ovaries removed. Her operation went well and she was sedated and unco-ordinated on returning from the vet. She refused food and vomited later that night but by the next day she was initiating play and we had to be very strict about her staying calm. She had her stitches out 10 or so days later and I have to look very very closely to even see her scar, it healed beautifully. Post-spay she is now 17 months and has remained stable in her weight. She is not a greedy lab but she won't turn down a treat if offered. So we are steady on the treats. The vet is very happy with her weight. Her coat is the same as it was before, darker as she is maturing and harder but still lovely and smooth. She has a bit of a wavy, curly coat at the top of her tail too. Temperament wise she has not changed except for her age expected maturity. She is loving and enthusiastic. For us it was never an option to not spay, even though our yard is fully enclosed and has high fencing we had nightmares about a JRT digging under and us having 15 JRT X Lab pups to care for FOREVER. So the thought of becoming destitute due to the bills after feeding, medicating and buying toys for 16 dogs and 2 cats added to the motivation. But in all seriousness Harley is the canine light of our lives (I have to add canine, the cat is watching me type) and we did not come to the decision lightly, even though we realised it was most likely going to be the decision we made, we spoke it through on the forum, we had multiple consultations with our vet and we read as much as we could access before we felt we had reached statistical data saturation. Also, because Harley is from a less than stellar family of origin we took the oppurtunity to have her hips and elbows x-rayed.
It was Cooper, not us. The pain med made her really loopy, and we cut the quantity way back from what was prescribed. I had to build a spreadsheet to keep track of her meds. With 5 different meds at different times it was a project to keep up with them.
