Heading off to the vet

[jennapea]

Getting Isabelle's shots today and going to make her appt to get her spayed. Oh, I feel so bad as I hear it can be a longer recovery for girls than boys. Any advice or experience with getting a female spayed? How long before they are back to normal? I feel so bad, but it has to be done..... I even hate getting her shots. Just never want to see her in pain or uncomfortable. :cry:

[Karlin]

Ask the doctor to do her shots in the thigh but not the neck or back, first off -- this is a good idea generally for cavaliers as it doesn't matter where the injection goes but many will be very sensitive in the neck area.

Spay generally takes a bit longer for recovery as there are more sutures but not very long -- a couple of days. She will be back to herself within 24 hours but will find the stitches annoying. They may give you a cone for her but a lot of people use a baby 'onesie' with a hole cut for the tail -- that will keep her belly covered and is more comfortable then those cones. The surgery is actually quite simple and very brief.

If anything I have had trouble keeping spayed/neutered cats and dogs quiet the day after! They all want to tear around the house as usual...

[GudrunTheRed]

As for the shots...I HIGHLY recommend you get the rabies shot 30 days AFTER the other shots. Some small dogs can react badly and even have seizures when they get all the shots all at once and spacing them out is an easy way to prevent any any reactions. Chester got his rabies 30 days after all his others and he was fine. Getting all the shots all at once is a LOT of toxins for such a little body and I would rather you be safe than sorry by spacing them out.

As for my neutering experiences...My friends Rob and Heather have a female Tri-color (Sophie) and an adorable 5-lb Brussles Griffon (Mattie) and both recovered very, very quickly from their spaying operations. Neither one had to wear an E-collar and both only acted a little sore for a day. The hard part was keeping them from running and jumping until the incisions had healed all the way. Mattie had her incision closed with surgical glue and it healed a bit faster than Sophie's stitched wound. My Chester recovered super quick from his neutering operation too.

So...in my experience spaying and neutering are no difficult operations and the furbabies recover very quickly and don't really exhibit any signs of pain or discomfort after the first day.

Good luck! You'll be fine...

[jennapea]

I just got back from the vets. I'm very inexperienced in being a dog owner. Apparently we were all caught up on her distemper shots, and she got her rabies shot today and we were given a certificate. It had been about 60 days since her last shot so we are good. The vet gave it to her in her thigh. Ususally she cries when she's touched there for a day or two after her shots, but today she isn't crying. I almost questioned if the shot went in, but I saw it with my own eyes. He mentioned the rabies shot could have side effects, but so far, 2 hours later she's acting normal.

We scheduled her spaying for next Friday. I chose a Friday so we would be with her the next 2 1/2 days straight to keep an eye on her. He uses sutures, so I will buy a onesie just in case. Thanks for the advice on that Karlin!

Thanks for the responses. I will just be worried about her all day that day until we pick her up and have her home!
Kat

[Moviedust]

We had Cedar spayed at the start of January. She did very well, though it took her about 3 days to fully recover. The vet gave us some pain pills to give if she needed them. she used them for 3 days, after that she was fine. I tried stopping the pills on day 2, but she whined a bit and wasnt comfortable. She didnt need an e-collar either, but Cedar didnt actually have any stitches. Her incision was "glued". Now, a few months later, there isnt even a scar! I did sleep with Cedar the first night to make sure she left her incision alone. I slept with her again the second night because I felt bad for putting her through everything. By the third day, we had both recovered and she was back in her kennel.