:-[ So Bella is booked in for her spay next Friday, she goes in early morning and out late pm, then I'll have 3 days at home with her as it's a bank hol wkend. She's not allowed any food after 8pm night before, but ok to have water. Eeekkkkk I'm a little anxious!! Poor love will go into the vets all happy and wagging her tail :-[ The vet is just up the road (literally a 4 minute walk) I just wondered afterwards should I drive her back ( it will mean lifting her into the car and out, or could she walk it slowly?) I live in an upstairs downstairs house too, so going to keep her down in the bedroom with me first night and then carry her up as and when I need too. App the vet uses a cone afterwards, don't think she'll like that, what other things have people used? A t shirt?? Any advice etc please share!!! Also, Roughly how long until she can go on walks / climb stairs again? Few days? Longer? Thanks ;D
Re: Bella booked in for her spay I think each vet will have a different opinion....for my Bella the following applied: Vet kept her overnight, and sent her home the next day with a cone. She wore it about an hour, I washed off her tummy to get all the prickly shaved hairs and funny smells gone...and then watched her carefully. She paid no attention to the stitches really. She had 3 days worth of anti-inflammatory pain killers (Rhymadil). We don't have any long string of stairs, so no comment there. We were told to restrict running and jumping for 5-7 days. She has always had access to couch and bed...so I watched her carefully the first couple of days...and lifted her up and down as much as I could. Hopping off the bed was apparently the most painful stretch for her, so she waited for help from that. Otherwise, within 3 days she was getting assistance from me about 1/2 the time. : She was generally quieter than normal, and tired easily...but she still how excess energy to burn from time to time. By seven days she was tearing around like normal, and we had stitches out at 14 days. Just enjoy the extra snuggly cuddly time with her, and pay attention to how she feels/acts - and help her when she needs it. Hugs from my Bella to yours!
Re: Bella booked in for her spay I think it's worth finding and buying a decent cone that your dog is comfy in - they come in handy for all sorts of things and it's good to have one ready to go, you never know when you'll need it in the future. I like the soft comfy cone. http://www.thelabradorforum.com/index.php?topic=4722.0 Your leaving by JulieTandCharlie, on Flickr
Re: Bella booked in for her spay Phoebe was spayed 3 weeks ago. I was really worried about it beforehand too, but now just glad it's over! The most difficult thing is keeping them calm as the very next day Phoebe was back to her normal jumpy, bouncy self!!! Like you I live really close (a couple of minutes!!) from the vet. I asked them in the morning if she would be okay walking home and they said yes, however I regretted it as Phoebe was really drowsy and tried to lie down on the pavement. She was also really disorientated. I used an inflatable buster collar - I brought it beforehand and put it on her every day for a couple of minutes to get her used to it. She really didn't seem to mind it by the time she had her operation. She used to lean on it like a pillow to go to sleep (although it did make her snore very loudly!!). Phoebe had disposable stitches so didn't need them out. She had a couple of post op checks and everything has healed really well (despite us failing at keeping her calm!). We were told lead walks only for 2 weeks (after a couple of days - first couple of days to try and keep her resting!!!! We built up her lead walks gradually. Hope it all goes well.
Re: Bella booked in for her spay Holly was in and out the same day and hasn't been fazed at all by the experience and happily hauls me in to the vet reception for biscuits whenever she can. Bringing her home was a short car journey and I had to lift her in and out for a full 10 days. Holly would actually like to be lifted in and out of the car even now at 1 year old. We had the standard vet collar home but never had to use it. The first little while she was too groggy to pay the stitches any attention and then didn't really bother. Someone was with her constantly for about 72 hours so she didn't get an opportunity to lick and then for the remaining 7 days of official recovery she was with me at work so wasn't alone. I know that's not a option for everyone so I would probably had to use a cone of some sort if I had to leave her. We had to keep Holly on short lead walks for a full 10 days, following the vets advice. I thought it would be a nightmare but she settled to the routine quite well and we did more frequent but short lead walks as her energy built back up and played quiet (quiet for a lab) games at home that used her nose a lot instead of bounding about. Good luck, hope the time flies for you and Bella makes a quick recovery.
Re: Bella booked in for her spay Belle (our mongrel) was spayed at around 18 months, she was very dopey when we picked her up (same day) - I wouldn't have liked to have walked her home, even a short distance, we lifted her into the car. It was a complicated spay, but she was back to her old self next day. Gentle walking on lead for (almost) a week, no jumping, but she was fine supervised on the stairs. She'd recovered by the next day, so it was very difficult to limit her activity. She was good as gold and didn't need a cone.
Re: Bella booked in for her spay It seems to vary tremendously, for what it is worth this was our experience last year. Molly was kept in overnight and recieved pain meds. She wasn't given any medication when she was released next day. Her wound was glued. This seemed really successful, it didn't irritate. She didn't pay it ant attention so didn't need a collar of any sort. We were given the usual 'keep them in and keep them quiett' advisory sheet, but when I saw the Vet after 48 hours he told me to take her for a lead walk or, in his words "that one will be bouncing off the ceiling as well as the walls" All in all it was a none event.
Re: Bella booked in for her spay [quote author=JulieT link=topic=10696.msg158681#msg158681 date=1429818136] I think it's worth finding and buying a decent cone that your dog is comfy in - they come in handy for all sorts of things and it's good to have one ready to go, you never know when you'll need it in the future. I like the soft comfy cone. http://www.thelabradorforum.com/index.php?topic=4722.0 Your leaving by JulieTandCharlie, on Flickr [/quote] That's just too cute ;D Thanks all .....maybe I need to get one of those before next week. Hmmmm I'm back at work on the tues and puppy sitter will be in to take her for a group walk with others so I'll have to have a chat about keeping her on the lead... Tricky tricky ... I assumed she'd be ok to go play 4 days after.
Re: Bella booked in for her spay It does make us feel kinda bad to book them in for the op....Sympathies! She'll be back to normal pretty soon after though I agree with suggestions to drive her home. They can be very woozy afterwards.
Re: Bella booked in for her spay Oh, I remember how worried I was but it was all in vain, Bonnie was just fine and Bella will be too. 8) I would agree about not walking home; Bonnie was completely spaced out afterwards (it's rather cute, actually ) She wasn't given a cone and, despite how inquisitive and cheeky she can be the rest of the time, she didn't even notice her stitches. The first night, as the meds were wearing off, she just lay on the rug by the fire and didn't move. I put her water bowl next to her and handfed her a bit of chicken now and then, as she'd take it. She was so sleepy and cute so I just lay next to her all night. Next day..... she obviously didn't get the memo as it was like it never happened! Back to boisterous, bouncy self. : That is hard: making sure they're not jumping, leaping, running too fast and climbing things - for 7-10 days. My vet advised we walked off the extra energy, rather than played, so I just took her on longer than usual lead walks. Good luck CDM. Bella won't need it, she'll be fine, but I know that puppy-mummy worry! Charlie looks very cute in his cone! 8)
Re: Bella booked in for her spay My vet said no long walks for a few days… so your vet's advice may vary. It was an awful time for us as Maisie had a tooth out and couldn't have ANY TOYS and very few walks. Seriously??? What is a labrador to do??? I would not suggest walking as Maisie was so dopey she could not have walked. If you go with the plastic cone they give you, be warned - Maisie chewed her cone up and it had to be modified quite a lot with duct tape to be worn. However, I didn't need to make her wear it as much as I did… she didn't really care about her stitches AT ALL.
Re: Bella booked in for her spay Hi there,just to add about a cone handy you've got a good bit of time to get her used to wearing .I built Dexter up,gradually from him seeing it to actually wearing it and then increasing the time with lots of amazing treats,he thought it was the best thing in the world by the time he had to wear it ,thankfully because he wasn't one of those dogs that could be trusted : It's horrible taking them in but they bounce back really quickly x
Re: Bella booked in for her spay Willow didn't have the best experience with her spay. Her stitches were in for two full weeks an we kept her on lead for that time. We didn't take her for a walk at all for the first few days because she was too miserable and sore. She didn't fuss her stitches much, but when she started, I popped on an inflatable buster collar, which I'd bought and accustomed her to beforehand. I think that's important so you're not adding more distress at what can be a stressful time. It's also useful for anything unexpected in the future. I'd definitely drive her home.
Re: Bella booked in for her spay Yes, definitely take her home in the car, lifted in and out. Mine had to be taken into the garden on the lead for about a week to 10 days, lead walks only, no jumping or climbing! I put a baby gate across the hall to prevent access to the stairs and spent most of my time in the kitchen (our sitting room is upstairs), but stairs were ok after a week or so. Crate rest helped too, as both of mine love their crates. Neither needed buster collars and didn't lick themselves at all, so I just had to remember that they were supposed to be kept quiet! Thank goodness for Kongs! Hope all goes well. Recovery doesn't take long really, it just seems like ages at the time.
Re: Bella booked in for her spay Izzy is having hers done on thursday. I too am anxious, as Izzy is like a duracel battery...she goes on and on! Also wondered about her in the car coming home...she usually has a harness attached to seatbelt, but dont want to hurt her. Will she just settle on back seat if drowsy? will be glad when its all over!
Re: Bella booked in for her spay Good luck Bella and Izzy, what we girl's have to go through eh? Maisie had the endoscopic spay, but didn't have a collar and didn't try and nibble at the glued wounds and was back to her normal self the next day. Hope all goes well.
Re: Bella booked in for her spay All will be fine. Juno was delivered to the vet for 8:30 and we collected her around 16:00. Walks on lead were fine from the next day of normal length as long as she was happy, but no off lead and running. No painkillers or anything, we were just told not to feed her until later in the evening and then only a small meal and to check that she was weeping and pooing ok - she actually wee'd on the floor in the surgery when she saw us so that was no problem No cries or whimpering during the evening or night. Her stitches were in for two weeks and we went for a check up 2 - 3 days after surgery to make sure all was well. Apart from that she had a cone but as she was such a good girl I only put the cone on when she alone I.e. night time and when I went shopping
Re: Bella booked in for her spay [quote author=Wendy68 link=topic=10696.msg158882#msg158882 date=1429874030] Izzy is having hers done on thursday. I too am anxious, as Izzy is like a duracel battery...she goes on and on! Also wondered about her in the car coming home...she usually has a harness attached to seatbelt, but dont want to hurt her. Will she just settle on back seat if drowsy? will be glad when its all over! [/quote] Yer, Bella doesn't always wear her harness and Just lays down on the back seat so I'm sure Izzy will be ok. Good luck to you too! Thanks everyone!!
Re: Bella booked in for her spay Bonnie's a bouncy blighter in the car but after her spay she was so drowsy I just had her curled up on the seat and drove slowly. I didn't use her harness or a belt. They're usually very drowsy bless them. So, unless you're going on a motorway, I'd reckon you'd be fine without. x
