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Spaying in a month - why am I panicking?

Lady Hoop

Well-known member
Lady will be spayed in a month or so and I am really panicking. Is that totally ridiculous? I have read that spaying is more invasive and a longer recovery. I also talked to a vet friend who said that you shouldn't see a vet for spaying that charges a ridiculously low price. Are there questions I should ask my vet? How do I know what's cheap? Is one type of procedure better than another (laser)?

My husband usually is home a lot and has been since Lady arrived. By the time she'll be spayed, he will be out in the field a LOT more. I work full time. Do I need to take a day or two off of work for her recovery? Or schedule it for a Friday?

I'm sure you are all laughing :eek: :eek:
 
Nope, not laughing. Sympathizing.

Someone should be home with her for a few days at least. She's supposed to take it easy--no running, climbing, etc. if you're not crating her, someone will need to supervise for sure because most puppies bounce back pretty quick.

In choosing the doctor, you want experience but that doesn't mean the most expensive has that. I took my Golden puppy to our local SPCA and had him neutered for $105. I'm out of work, and it made sense to not pay his regular vet $450. But I only did that because those doctors are really good and do a LOT of those surgeries.

I also was totally panicked at the whole thought of my baby going under e knife, and finally realized Tucker was in much better shape than I was! If you do feel anxious the day of, be sure to hide it so you pup doesn't pick up on it.

Good luck!
 
I totallyyyy know how you feel, my Lady was spayed last month and I was a mess leading up to it! I would say get it done on a Friday though or take at least a day off to be with her after the surgery. I dont know what is normal for prices in the states, but in Ontario, Canada vets in the city charge minimum $400, plus being the worrier I am I also opted for the pre-screen blood test and the fluids during surgery. They also ended up pulling a couple teeth that hadnt loosened up so in total I ended up paying around $600 :lpy:. I know the SPCA/spay-neuter clinics charge around $200 and same with more rural vets. The breeder had my other girl, Gracie, spayed before I got her (at around 3yrs old), and she payed $200 but this was a vet wayyy out of the city and I dont think they do the pre-screen or fluids.

I dropped Lady off in the morning before work and picked her up after work. I took the next day off to be with her (she had it done on a thursday). When I picked her up she was happy to see me but a little out of it. I carried her home in my arms and she slept on me the whole night. She was yelping a little with pain when she would move but the next day she acted like nothing had ever happened. I had to really restrict her from jumping on the couch because she was acting so normal. She also didnt try and lick at her wound so that was good. The hardest part was not going for long walks for a week after the surgery, my Lady is soooooo energetic she needs AT LEAST an hour and a half walk every day and a good run around the park.

Good luck, Im sure everything will be just fine :)
 
Often the price difference (especially in the US) is what painkillers, if any, are used. Most vets will give some amount of pain relief during the surgery and while the anesthesia is wearing off. Some vets will give them painkillers for the first full day after the surgery. Some vets will send home a few days of pills as well.

The cheapest places (sometimes as low as $50 for a spay) are absolute minimal painkillers. Often these clinics do tons of these surgeries every day and the vets are extremely good at the surgery (small incision, faster op), but no painkillers, and no bloodwork.

At some point you're just paying more for the fancy lobby, workers in matching uniforms, etc. (these can range tremendously on price). I'd say once you over about $200 there is nothing more your vet is actually doing for the dog (unless other procedures are being done at the same time). I think I paid $125 for Thistle's spay, $50 for bloodwork, and $25 for a hernia repair. I would consider the spay cost $125, even though I paid more than that amount. The others were not direct costs of the spay. Prices vary tremendously by region and city though. My mother's dog got spayed for $250 in Tampa, which was the cheapest price in town (not counting the low cost ASPCA).

Recovery isn't that bad. Thistle had hers done on a Thursday, And then I took Friday off. She seemed more upset about her beautiful tummy being bald than anything, so licked the bare skin, but never showed any interest in the stitches.
 
Thanks guys for the information! We have been super duper busy lately, but September (6 mths) has been the planned month! I had an appointment on Friday to go ahead and get it over with and have the weekend to stay with her to recover, but as I was driving her to the vet early in the AM to drop her off I realized that I TOTALLY forgot to remind my husband not to feed her that morning. We are so used to the same morning routine of taking her out and then feeding her right after. I called him on the way and...sure enough...he had fed her! So we're rescheduling for next week when I actually have a holiday 4 day weekend! It will work out perfect, but I'm still nervous. I noticed that pictures were posted of a fellow user's pup, Sasha, and she was wearing a onesie. I liked that idea...I have a feeling that Lady would lick.

It's going to end up costing upwards of $400, so based on what ya'll have said, that seems normal. However, they do not offer laser...at all. I was wondering why that is so when it seemed as though all of the other vets in town offered it, but just at a higher price. Should this alarm me for any reason?
 
Lady had her surgery on Friday. We went with laser and it was much cheaper than I expected. She was pitiful all weekend. She wasn't whining (grunting if you moved her) and didn't seem to be in pain, but she did sleep non-stop until 5PM on Sunday. After that she went from 0-95% out of nowhere.

Seems like everything has been fine except I noticed this evening she has a lump on only one side of her incision (so much one-sided-ness with this girl!) It's quite firm and almost goes down as far as the incision goes. Luckily I took a day of picture and a picture today so I could compare. I suppose this could be because she did a 180 in activity all of a sudden last night. She spent most of the day today in her crate with a fluffy cushion to lay her tummy on, but I have a feeling my better half let her activity level go a little too high this afternoon when I wasn't home to pitch a fit. I think I need to monitor her and him both for inappropriate activity levels :) . In the meantime, I've put her onesie back on her since she goes back into a coma when it's on :) Husband HATES its when I put it on her b/c she gets depressed looking, but it's best for her. She thinks she is well enough to play hard.

She goes back on Friday for a check...any chance I should take her earlier since I noticed this lump?
 
Not sure what the lump looks like, is it red, pussing,or hard? Lady's incision got pretty hard as it healed, and was kind of like a lump which took a month or two to go back to normal. Could be normal but I would say if it is red or has pus or gets bigger than to bring her in earlier than friday.
 
She was probably quiet on the weekend due to time it takes for anaesthesia/painkillers to exit her system.

Id actually call your vet and talk to them. A suture rarely can rupture due to too much activity -- that's why they want restrained activity for a week-10 days post surgery. Better safe than sorry -- maybe you can text them the image. They can let you know if she needs to come in. :)
 
The lump is not red, but it has spread to the other side today so now both sides of the incision have a long lump alongside of it. It feels like a long straight cyst. Pretty firm. Here's the before and after pictures below...the left side is the day after and the right side is yesterday (it's grown since then.)

She's acting totally normal. I had a lump after stitches and my husband also remembers a similar strange feeling bulge with his wrist surgery. Besides that, it looks (with my limited spay knowledge) pretty good.

Vet doesn't seem very concerned. I said she does have some bulge/lump around it that I wanted them to look at when she comes for check up and they stuck with seeing her then. :roll: I'm sure I'm over analyzing, like always!



left: Saturday right: Monday by Lady Hoop, on Flickr

My siamese beauty must know I'm at my peak of worrying lately...she decided to get me worked up, too. I came screeching out of the kitchen when I thought I heard the exorcist in my house. It was an ungodly, loud, human-like, eery "WOOOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW" - when I say the exorcist, I mean it...I literally have no other way to describe this un-cat-like noise that came from her. In all our 7 years together...never heard this noise from her. Then she puked all over the place 3 times. I had to call the vet today about both feline and canine. She's total diva, overweight and long past due for a senior check up. *sigh*
 
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Called vet again and sent a picture. They wanted to look at it in person. She has [a] seroma and has been banished to zero activity for the rest of the week. They said both suture reaction and seroma at times so I'm a bit confused if it is one or the other. Either way, she will be spending a loooot of time snoozing the rest of the week. As bad as I feel when I put the onesie on her (her ears droop and she pouts) it truly is the only way we can get her to not be active. :(
 
Oh dear, your vet isn't a good communicator or reassurer is he? A seroma is very comon after surgery. It is an absolutely harmless build up of fluid close to sutures after surgery so long as it is not inflamed and sore looking or weeping fluid. It may well change in shape while it is there for either a long or short time. It frequently happens in humans too. If you really think there is cause for alarm you should make an emergency appointment with your vet. If not, try not to worry please and tell your husband the same My daughters tell me that I worry about my dogs much more than I ever did about them when they were children, so you are not alone. Let us know what the vet says when you go back to get the stitches out please
 
I developed a seroma after a c section which really sucked becaue the procedure was pretty easy I have no brusing and no staples. Plus it didn't help that I have a layer of baby fat hanging over my sutures icon_blshing My ob told me it happens especially in that area in women after c sections. Her advice was leave it be you will heal find she did tell me it "could" add to my scar LIKE WHO CARES.... She said it was as harmless as a zit provided it didn't get infected. Its hard to tell but I don't think it added to any pain or anything I was a little busy.

Now that that baby is almost 5 I couldn't even tell you if it added to my scar or not honestly you can barely see it.
 
Yes, communication has not been very clear with my last vet or new vet! Not to sound like some extreme feminist, but I must say I enjoy visiting with her eye specialist (female) a LOT more. She is very thorough and empathetic towards my concerns. I never leave there with a cloudy understanding. It's a breath of fresh air. I feel like my male vet thinks I'm bonkers and need to be locked up in a looney bin! However, he is very well-versed with Cavaliers and has communicated that he thinks at this point in time I've got a very healthy pup with the exception of her eye issues. It's very easy, knowing what we know, to get worked up over every little thing with these Cavs. I drive my husband nuts. It's better than being an apathetic Cav owner!

Back to the spay...I'm glad to hear it will heal well even with a bit of seroma complication. Thanks Melissa!

We've kept her down since her visit and the swelling has started to really shrink down. She is so bored... she's going stir crazy. She has another re-check tomorrow.
 
All is well with this issue. Her seroma is smaller and lumpy and hard, but going down more and more each day. Her incision site actually looks great and I can already tell it's going to completely heal nicely. She's happy to be playing again!
 
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