I don't want tomorrow to come.

[skyler08]

I posted in a topic awhile back about Skyler and Pipers date. Well it's tomorrow and we aren't looking forward to it. I know they'll be fine but I just don't like the thought of our poor girls getting surgery and feeling miserable for a few days. We want to bring them home and as always the vet wants to keep them overnight. Did anyone leave them at the vet overnight? I think we are going to try our best to bring them home. I think They'd be better off at home where we can keep an eye on them and they'd be alot more comfortable. Need some good mojo and encouraging words> Thanks everyone.

[bc4ever]

I posted in a topic awhile back about Skyler and Pipers date. Well it's tomorrow and we aren't looking forward to it. I know they'll be fine but I just don't like the thought of our poor girls getting surgery and feeling miserable for a few days. We want to bring them home and as always the vet wants to keep them overnight. Did anyone leave them at the vet overnight? I think we are going to try our best to bring them home. I think They'd be better off at home where we can keep an eye on them and they'd be alot more comfortable. Need some good mojo and encouraging words> Thanks everyone.

 

Well, this is coming from the person who last night posted about Scooter looking "worried," but....here goes! LOL! Scooter was neutered when he was a pup. After dropping him off at the vets, I cried all the way home! We brought him home the same day. He was groggy most of the day, but came through it fine. Are there some specific health issues that would keep you from bringing them home the same day? If not, then you're probably right--everyone would feel better if they were where you could watch over them. Less stress for everyone. They'll bounce back quickly! Good mojo being sent times two!

[RuthBelle]

Bob took Belle into the vets early (before 8 a.m.) on her spay day (I had to work), and we were allowed to pick her up that early evening (after 5p.m).

 

If I remember correctly, she didn't seem too groggy, or appeared to be in much pain. According to schedule, I did give her the pain meds. the vet gave us (I think there was just a day or two's doses). I do remember we had quite the time trying to keep her from jumping up on the couch, climbing the stairs and running around too much in general (as recommended in the vet's paperwork info.).

 

The problem we had was with her licking at her stitches. After about a day or two, she had removed or licked away the one at the very end, but since the incision didn't look like it was coming apart there, we didn't take her back to the vets until it was time to remove the rest.

 

Other than that, she did very well.

[skyler08]

They don't have any health issues that I'm aware of, so I think they will be comming home with us. Plus at the vet there wouldn't be anyone there all night. So seems silly to leave them there. They have to be there by 9 am, so hopefully they'll be ok to come home that evening.

[bc4ever]

They don't have any health issues that I'm aware of, so I think they will be comming home with us. Plus at the vet there wouldn't be anyone there all night. So seems silly to leave them there. They have to be there by 9 am, so hopefully they'll be ok to come home that evening.

 

Hmmm...I'd bring them home too. Why stay at the vet's office if no one is there at night to monitor them anyway? As another poster said, our biggest problem was keeping Scooter "quiet." I laughed when the vet told me that! You'll probably be in more "pain" than they will. Be strong. Someone reminded me that if I act like something is wrong, Scooter will think there is too. Such wise people here. Let us know how it goes!

[ShoresDog]

If no one's at the vet's, I agree that you should bring them home where you can watch them. I have three comments:

 

1. Be sure you have Elizabethan collars for both of them; they really, really need to not lick their stitches, and you don't know ahead who will or won't.

 

2. The vet will tell you to keep them very quiet for far longer than we are able to keep healthy young border collies quiet, but it really does make a big difference if they are kept quiet for the first two to three days, so you will need to crate them. There just isn't any other way to keep them sufficiently quiet at home.

 

3. Take them (one at a time) for a very slow but long enough walk so they will poop after coming home. I learned this one the hard way! Daisy stayed overnight and had held it the whole time! A very slow and gently walk would have saved me some awwrrrfulll cleanup.

 

Best wishes, Piper and Skyler! It's all for the good!

[skyler08]

Thanks everyone from all of us. We will do our best to keep them "quiet". Like evryone said, that will be tough but we will have their crates ready and cozy for them. What are Elizabethan collars? Those aren't the satellite looking cones are they?

[Ms.DaisyDuke]

Our vet also wanted to keep Daisy at the office. They did have a night person there with them, but I explained that she had a bit of separation anxiety and does not like strangers, and they agreed that home was the best place for her. But it did depend on when her surgery was. If there was an emerg. surgery that had to be done before her spay, they told me she might not even be awake. Fortunately she was done first thing in the AM and I got to take her home with me that night. I did keep her in her crate for most of the first 4 days, just to keep her quiet. ShoresDog is right, it's the only way! The collar is important too! We didn't use it if she was supervised with us, but one of my roommates at the time felt this was animal cruelty and would take it off her when I wasn't home, needless to say, she took out 4 of her stitches and they almost got infected. My fingers are crossed that they both come through just fine!!

[Tassie]

Hope things go really well for Skyler and Piper.

 

It's odd that the vet wants to keep them overnight. That's certainly not the practice here - our vets do the drop off at 8.00 am and pick up late afternoon / early evening. Our vets also don't routinely use Elizabethan collars - only use them if there's a problem. Touch wood, I've not had a stitch licking problem with anyone yet.

 

You might want to ask about pain meds - our vets routinely give Metacam injections, so the pups come home comfortable.

 

I had both Fergus (then 9 months) and Kirra (then 7 months) done on the same day, thinking it would be good to be able to keep them quiet together. Yeah, right! Pups had other ideas. The very next day, they escaped, stitches and all, through a very small hole in the stock fence, and went 100 yards down the road to the street, where they'd hear some children playing. I was at home, but on the computer at the time. Luckily, the children were dog savvy, and had dog leashes at home, so they got them and took the pups into their yard. Their mother tried calling me, but my phone was engaged - luckily I had the vet's number on their ID tags, so she called the vets and the vets called me when I got off the phone. The dogs now have my cell number on their tags as well as the vet's number - and they come with me in the car if I'm going to be away longer than a couple of hours - my fencing isn't totally secure.

 

I guess that was a long-winded way of saying your two should be totally fine, and your problem will be trying to keep them from hooning round too much.

[nancy in AZ]

Jill was just spayed on Fri by a low-cost spay/neuter mobile vet clinic. She was dropped off at 8:00 and I picked her up at 4:00. I specifically asked if I should get an elizabethan collar and was told it is usually more necessary for the males than the females. She hasn't been bothering her stitches at all. She was pretty eager to curl up in her crate when she came home. By the next day she bounced right back and I've been struggling to keep her quiet. Baby gates are helping, but she did jump it once.

[WyoBC]

Poor girls. I know they will be ok, but I know that doesn't help with the stress. My thoughts are with them. Paws and fingers crossed!

[SincereArtisan]

I work at a vet clinic where we keep the spay/neuter patients overnight. This is mostly to ensure that the pain meds are indeed working, that there are no issues with the stitches/incision site by the next morning, and to see how the patient is coping with certain restrictions (e-collars, crate rest and leash walks) to see whether or not we should recommend a mild sedatives during the 10 day recovery period before the sutures come out.

 

In 99% of cases, the pain meds work so well that the main struggle is keeping Fluffy QUIET--no jumping/stairs/cavorting/swimming etc. The remaining 1% are back to themselves in just a couple days.

[Guest maya's mom]

I too hated having to get our puppy spayed. She was pretty "out of it" the evening we brought her home. She even growled at us once! Our vet gave us one of those huge cone collars, but we did not do well with it. She didn't even fit in her crate with it on! At the pet store, I found an inflatable collar, which was 100 times better. It kep her from licking her stitches, which she was dying to do, and it allowed her to be more "normal" acting around the house. It was hard to keep her quiet though. We played indoors for the first couple of days, then went for some slow, walks. Once of her stitches opened though, not sure how, and she had to go back to the vet to have a staple put in it. She also had a small infection starting, so a round of antibiotics were given. Of course during all of this, she was fine. We waited the full 14 days before having the stitches removed b/c of these issues.

[trailrider]

Just had Buddy neutered 3 weeks ago. One tresticle was up by his kidney. In at 9, out at 1. He came home and did a lot of resting and cuddling for that day, and was back to normal the next. None of my dogs has ever bothered stitches, male or female. Good luck. Recovery can be a bonding experience.

[Shadows Mom]

Our vet keeps them for 2 nights! I missed Shadow so much when she was in there, but when she came home we didn't have to worry about meds or anything. They do long lasting injectibles! Shadow seemed normal to me, wanting to run and bounce, I just put her in my bed and she stayed calm.

 

The only issue I had was licking, and the E-collar just didn't work for her, if it was tight enough for her to not take it off, it was also tight enough for her to barely breath v.v She ended up wearing an old t-shirt LOL There's pics on the forum somewhere under "Shadows shirt" I believe.

[Guest SweetJordan]

Posting in here a little late, but I found this thread to be interesting. In our family we we're always told that the boys got to go home the same day and the girls had to stay overnight. We use a different vet know so I don't what what our current vet's practice is.

[skyler08]

Well turns out they were pretty adament(sp?) about keeping them overnight so they could give the meds and check the stitches/incision in the morning. We got the call about 3:30 and they both were awake and doing well. I can't wait to see them tomorrow. It's going to be a very long day.

[Ms.DaisyDuke]

Well, it's good to hear that they've both come out alright. Now you get the job of keeping them quiet!! good luck

[skyler08]

Man I hate those Eliabethan collars! Poor girls are walking around bumping into everything and you can tell they are bummed. Anything else work for anyone? I thought I read someone post an old shirt or boxers? They gave us Rimadyl for pain (three days worth, 1/2 a tablet a day, and Acepromazine to calm them ( which I don't think we'll use anymore, we tried it and it just made them so clumsy and sleepy that they could hardly walk). Needless to say we didn't like seeing them that way. We took them on a nice relaxed walk tonight and they did very well, they seem to be feeling ok, trying to play and mount and everything else. Thanks everyone for sharing your stories and for the kind words.

[Guest maya's mom]

We didn't do well with the cone collar either. I got an inflatable collar at the pet store, and it was a life saver. It allowed Maya to be more "normal" around the house, but still kept her from getting to her belly. They come in 3 different sizes I think, and you just put their collar through it, and snap it on them. Maybe that will help you.

[Lenajo]

With my dogs if they are so sick the vet feels they must stay overnight, I expect them to have one on one care by a trained tech or the vet. If they can't provide that, then they need to go to a clinic that can or come home where it can be done by me. I will *not* tolerate leaving a dog that supposably needs supervision in an empty clinic overnight just to be looked at at once by a drive in tech a 2am, and then at 8am.

 

I've not had anyone, from 6 months to 12 years, come home in pain after a spay. I don't allow pain meds because I feel pain, should it occur, is a neccesary indicator to the dog to stay quiet, or for me that their are problems that need to be addressed. Basically I don't want to cover hurt - because if they are something is very wrong. Spay and nueter surguries just aren't that painful on average.

 

I also highly distruct the current popular pain medications for dogs. I prefer, if needed to use homeopathics that I have seen to work well. They don't have the side effects possible with the others.

 

Most of my dogs trotted to the car with head and tail up, quite put out with the inconvenience of the whole thing. I took them home, popped them into the crate with an e-collar, and only had them out for only short walks and potties for about a week.

 

The idea of sedating a dog because it can't behave post surgery is alarming to me. The side effects of medications - of being disoriented and unsteady - are just not worth it. Do your dogs a favor and simply be firm with your dogs about the behavior you require. If you need to use your head halter, easy walk, or >gasp< prong collar as needed do so.

 

When Gabe messed up his shoulder he ended up with over 4 months total of crate rest. If we can do that, sans sedatives, and come out with a sane and civil dog I think just about anybody can. Especially for only a few days post a spay.

 

my 2 cents

[PSmitty]

That sucks that the vet gave them Ace for post spay! Is that common, does anyone know? I've not heard of that before, but mine were all S/N before I picked them up.

 

ETA: Glad to hear the girls made it through ok!

[MaggieDog]

Ace post spay seems utterly silly to me - if you need to settle the dog that much at least use something that doesn't just inhibit movement. The vet here at work does about 5000 s/n surgeries a year and the vast majority go home the same day (surgery before 11ish at the latest, home between 4 and 6pm); none that I know of have sedatives and I think they may get a pain shot, but nothing is sent home for pain meds. Ziva had her surgery done here and while slow and a bit sore the first nite, was raring to go the next day, so she got crated with tshirt on to prevent licking and short walks for the first week after.

[skyler08]

They are 100% back to their normal selves already. As I mentioned with the sedatives, we gave it to them once and saw how it made them act, and we felt down right terrible. Needless to say, no more was given and probably never will again. As for the pain meds, I honestly don't think we needed any of those either. Neither seemed to be in much pain, maybe just a little tired and/or stressed. And about the inflatable collars, thanks for the info I may try to find 2 this weekend.

[SincereArtisan]

TRUST me, there are some dogs out there---not necessarily our well-behaved, much worked with and obedient BCs--but quite a number of 6mo puppies that have required Ace post surgery, simply because their owners either cannot, or WILL NOT, control them. Yes, the idea of having to Ace up a dog after sx seems silly to me, too....because I have well-behaved dogs! But a number of households--particularly those with not one but TWO puppies, and children to boot--will require sedatives to get them through the 10-day recovery period.