spaying

Hi everyone,

I'm having Holly my 1 yr old cav spayed next wk. She's my 1st dog and i'm wondering has anyone any advice on aftercare, how long before normal exercise etc? She's a really active little dog and i know she's gona miss this a lot. I know my vet will advise on all of this but any feedback by experienced owners would set my mind at ease as I can't help worrying a little bit about my little girl

Hi
When I had Bella spayed she was quieter and rested a lot. You have to be careful if you lift or pick her up as she will be very tender. Also if she jumps up be careful. The worst bit was the plastic coller she had to wear.....she hated it. Its only for a few weeks and she should be recovered soon. Just let her rest and she'll soon be running around again. Good Luck and let me know how you go on.

The important thing is to keep your girl calm. No jumping, no running, no wrestling for over a week-- I didn't have the e-collar on any of my neutered crew. I had them get their surgeries on a Friday and spent the whole weekend with them. By the time I went to work on Monday, they left the stitches alone. I had one boy who was missing a testicle and for him, I put a onsie and he was fine.

Lucy handled her spay really well...she was a bit younger than your pup at the time...I think 7 months. Anyway, it barely slowed her down. They told me not to let her run or jump and to keep that horrible collar on her...well she was having none of it. She just acted like her normal self....never touched her stitches even without the collar and she healed up quickly and w/o incident. She also didn't need any of the pain medication they sent home. She was just happy go lucky the entire time. I am sure it depends on the dog, but really it went a lot better than I had anticipated at the time.

My two previous dogs have been bitches and spayed when young, it doesnt seem to bother them much at all, after a day or two, they are just normal, we seem to worry far more then they do. di

My little one didn't need the collar, which was great. My vet was adamant though that we couldn't walk her, let her run or jump etc for 10 days - as she's very energetic, this was the hardest thing for her - the actual surgery didn't take much out of her at all. It was worth it though, as she recovered brilliantly from the op, and there's no trace of a scar at all.

I agree with all of the above.

I think that the plastic cone is a simple safety measure - only until stitches come out, so 10-14 days. Remember, I'm the guy who re-stitches pets who chewed their incision open!!!

Confinement (to a small room or a large crate) is critical, too. The last thing you need is a hernia, ie organs from the belly pop up through the incision after jumping, running etc.

One important thing to understand is that although spaying and neutering are brilliant ideas, they affect the metabolism and may lead to weight gain. So I would suggest decreasing the amount of food by 25% if you cook, or switching to a "light" diet.

I hope I didn't open a can of worms here. The link between spaying/neutering and weight gain or obesity has been proven in countless scientific studies... and I see that it is true every day in consultation!!!

And by the way, how to help chubby pets is a topic we will talk about soon in my newsletter. It's free, from my web site

Dr Zeltzman, DVM, DACVS
www.drphilzeltzman.com

drphilzeltzman said:

I agree with all of the above.

I think that the plastic cone is a simple safety measure - only until stitches come out, so 10-14 days. Remember, I'm the guy who re-stitches pets who chewed their incision open!!!

Confinement (to a small room or a large crate) is critical, too. The last thing you need is a hernia, ie organs from the belly pop up through the incision after jumping, running etc.

One important thing to understand is that although spaying and neutering are brilliant ideas, they affect the metabolism and may lead to weight gain. So I would suggest decreasing the amount of food by 25% if you cook, or switching to a "light" diet.


I hope I didn't open a can of worms here. The link between spaying/neutering and weight gain or obesity has been proven in countless scientific studies... and I see that it is true every day in consultation!!!

And by the way, how to help chubby pets is a topic we will talk about soon in my newsletter. It's free, from my web site

Dr Zeltzman, DVM, DACVS
www.drphilzeltzman.com

Click to expand...

Bless your heart Dr. You are one of the first I've heard say that there are changes in castrated animals. My own vet believes that people just feed too much food (which is probably true too). I have littermate females. One is spay - one isn't. I feed the intact one 30% more and she is thinner and has better body condition than her sister.

My vet also won't tell people when their dogs are too heavy(unsolicited). He says that too many people get ANGRY.

Thanks everyone,

Thats really helped put my mind to rest. Special thanks for the comments re feeding, thats also something that was on my mind. She lives for her walks and her runs around the woods at weekends! Hope this doesn't change as i'm loving this new active lifestyle myself!

I'll let you know how she gets on!

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For those who are trying to help their overweight or obese dog (or cat), my next newsletter is exactly on that topic!

Interesting coincidence, no?

Subscription is available for free on my web site

Dr Zeltzman
www.drphilzeltzman.com

Instead of using the e-collar, you can get a baby onsie (or whatever you guys across the pond call the little one-piece baby undershirts that snap under the crotch) Put it on backwards so you can poke her tail out between the crotch snaps and just unsnap it and roll it up to take her out to potty. She won't be able to get to her incision and she won't have to wear the collar. I'd still watch her to be sure she isn't trying to nibble at it thru the material, though.

Holly did very well with her spay, in spite of my extreme apprehension I did not have to use a collar or a onesie, but did restrict her activity.

Holly's vet used dissolvable internal stiches, and glued her incision. I don't know if this is a common practice, but it greatly reduced the redness and seemed to keep her from licking. Like the Dr. mentioned, I have noticed a real difference in her metabolism post spay and have reduced her daily food intake accordingly. She is able to maintain body and weight with slightly less food.

When we had Maddie spayed we didn't bother with the collar, mainly because she hated it so much she wouldn't eat or drink. She was a very good girl though and completely left her stitches and wound alone.:lotsaluv:

I think she's the exception to the rule when it comes to weight as well. She's never been an over-eater, in fact was a fussy pup who we didn't indulge with treats because we were having enough trouble getting her to eat her dinner. Before her spay she would eat as much as she wanted (some days nothing at all ) then walk away, would refuse treats if she wasn't hungry etc. When we had her spayed at 11 months we had all the usual dire warnings about weight gain etc. , but we let her regulate her own intake as she always had done, and this little dog is now 4 years old and has never carried any excess weight. If anything, we keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't start losing weight. Thankfully she seems to have passed her food regulation habits onto Pippin. He was a greedy puppy, but has learnt to walk away when he's had enough. Though to be fair I don't think he'd ever refuse a treat! :jump: When he was castrated he had to have the collar on, but still managed to get at the wound. He used to lie on his side, put his top knee inside the collar and push it back enough to get his head round to his stitches. Bless. He used to like to use the collar to "snow-plough" Maddie sideways along the tiled floor as well.

Whenever we go to the vets for anything and get praised for keeping both dogs so fit and at their correct body weight, I just smile and take the compliment, as if it was all my doing.

my girl was really great when i got her done the hardest part was stopping her jumping up! she quickly got fed up of being carried up& down stairs etc so i had to keep my beady eyes on her until stitches out at 10days i even took her into the bathroom with me so i could have a bath cos otherwise she would wait till i was out of sight & be on a different chair when i got back! food wise same as madpip my girls a finnickity eater anyway so its made no difference to her that way, i weigh her often to make sure she's not loosing weight. she completly left the stitches alone until they were taken out & the vet happened to put them next to her-then she tried to eat them:yuk: however she did go into what the vet called pronounced phantom pregnancy after a little while, i was worried as her tummy was getting fat & one day i couldnt find her then saw 2 big eyes peeping from on top of the laundry basket. for awhile i found her in all sorts of odd places "nesting" but she soon got back to normal again

Holly is doing great! Was a bit sore the last 2 days but she seems be really getting back to normal now.Its hard work keeping her still now, she wants to be back running and jumping already! I'm using the collar on and off, she's dying for a good lick but i'm keeping a close eye on her. She really hates the collar but i've been putting it on at night,otherwise she's great.Stitches are coming out next Fri. We're both looking forward to normal exercise resuming, feeling very lazy these days!
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Hi

So glad Holly is doing fine all the super advice from members helped me a lot when I had my three girls all done ,especially that great idea from Brotymo about the baby grow (onesie ) which I used on my baby Rosie ,and the recovery of all three was a lot quicker and easier than us humans thought.

Spaying actually had a hugely positive effect on my little one. Prior to the op, she was an incredibly finicky eater - she'd go off foods quickly, we had to hand feed her a lot of the time - it was awful. Feeding time took so long, and we had to make sure our other dog didn't eat her food before she got around to it. Since the op, she eats like a "normal" dog - she goes for her food bowl as soon as it's put down, and doesn't leave until she's finished - bliss! She's not overweight either as we're careful with her diet, and she gets plenty of exercise - she's a really energetic little dog who LOVES her walks.