worried about puppy going to vet to be neutered!

Hi, I am so nervous and feel so guilty about our puppy going to the vet to be neutered! he goes in wed. morning at 7am and we cant pick him up until noon on thursday! that seems like such a long time! sigh!!!!!!!!!! we havent told the kids as they will hate the thought of him being gone for so long. i hope he does ok there and that they take really good care of him! I am worried he will feel like we didnt want him anymore!

when he comes home does anyone know if he will need to wear a hood or anything so he doesnt lick the stitches, or will we just need to watch him non stop????? and how long after do we need to take him back to have those removed??

Thanks for any input or reassurance you can give!

 

Hi that does seem an awful long time, Here in the uk if an animal goes in first thing on a morning to be spayed or neutered providing they come round ok and eat and drink a little they can come home that afternoon.

He shouldnt need to wear anything just keep an eye on him to make sure he dont pull them out, Its usually 10-14 days and the vet will take them out this should not cost you extra on top of the neuter.

He will be a little off colour and seem down a little but thats normal for the 1st few days until he gets over his operation and then he should be back to normal.

Mike

 

Its normal that your nervous/anxious about this.

Not all vets use external stitches, some only stitch inside so if this vet does this then there wont be any to remove and there will be less irritation....reason for this is that the skin, once the surgery is done starts the 'healing prcoess', it does depend on the vet though. Ive noticed its the younger vets mainly that are not suturing externally for this procedure.

Basically the 'go home' instructions for a male are no running, jumping, playing, no chasing cats, frisbees etc, no using the furniture as an agility course.... for 5 to 7 days, this will give him time to heal better.....if they overdo the activity then you might see swelling, redness and discharge from the surgery site (you should check the area a couple of times a day), its not uncommon for a little redness or a little swelling but you should always let your vet know if there is any and if you are concerned then its better to take your pup back and just ask the vet or technician if everything is okay. It can be nerve wracking for the owners and personally whenever anyone has phoned me asking about swelling etc I often asked them to come in so I could take a look or have the vet take a look.

Sometimes owners get this 'urge' to clean the area (occasionally there might be a little dried blood on there....dont panic!!) or sometimes the surgical cleanser, depending on what they use might still be on there a little but its best to leave the area alone, dont clean it or put any ointment on unless the vet instructs you to do this, anything you do could irritate the area, even mild baby shampoos or soaps can cause irritation, wiping the area could cause irritation.

In most cases they dont get an elizabethan collar after this, he most likely will want to clean himself but dont allow any excessive licking (like if he keeps on and on licking and licking) and watch he isnt nibbling, he can pass bacteria from his mouth/teeth into the surgical site/incision area. If hes doing this then he should have an e-collar (lampshade, cone )on.

As he is staying overnight you might want to take a little of his own food for morning, depending on his size the vet may do his surgery earlier so that he can have a little snack in the evening, in fact this is something that I would ask the vet about, I cant remember how small he is, very small dogs will often get some IV or SQ fluids during the surgery, just stops any un-necessary dehydration and blood glucose is something to watch for with the really tiny guys (with dogs over about 15# this usually isnt done, they can go the 24 hours or so with no food), what might help his anxiety is if you take in his own used towel or blanket or an old tshirt youve worn for him to lay on in the cage, some hospitals prefer you dont do this though because they tend to get a little messy sometimes and then get lost in the laundry and mixed up with the other humdred or so blankets and towels, wont hurt to ask if you can do this though.

The anaesthesia itself should pretty much be out of his system by the time you bring him home (depending on what drugs are used it can take anywhere from 12 to 24 hours sometimes a little longer for the full anaesthetic effects to have worn off), when you first get him home offer him a little water or ice cubes then about half an hour later offer a little food, you have to play this by ear though, some dogs act like theyve been half starved and gorge themselves which generally will cause them to vomit (which is why its best to start off with only a small amount) other dogs can take a while to get their appetite back but I would say that you want him eating by Thursday evening, even if its only a couple of teaspoons of food.....what usually happens is a little bit of food will kick in the appetite again.

Also, just a precaution, just watch him for grogginess, dont leave him near any steps, a pool (if you have one)....like I said the effects of the anaesthetic should have worn off by then but it doesnt hurt to keep a close eye on them for the first couple days.

Other physical things to watch for is make sure his breathing is okay, a little pain can cause some panting and there will be some pain although most dogs dont seem to show that it bothers them (some dogs go overboard and will play on it if they get a lot of attention at the slightest whimper), basically though make sure his gum colour is nice and pink, hes alert and responsive, which he should be fine by the time he comes home.....these are really more things to look for over the first few hours after surgery, he could be uncomfortable trying to go to the bathroom but that usually passes after about 2 days.

This 'could' throw off his crating routine again, hopefully it wont but its something to be aware of.

 

I can understand your nervousness but I'm sure your doggie will be A-OK. When my baby Chester went in, I was a wreck! But I let him take his "baby" (his favorite doll) with him and I think he was comforted a little better having his little "buddy" with him at the vet. I took him in very early and was able to pick him up around 5pm that same day. Since his was done with laser sugery, he was up and running very quickly. There were the usual instructions to keep him from running and jumping but since he was a puppy, boy was it tough. He was ready to run and play that same day after the grogginess wore off...he just kind of sat funny for a week. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: