# Just got Zoe spayed... I feel terrible!



## aprofetto (Dec 30, 2010)

We brought Zoe to the vet yesterday to be spayed.

My wife and I feel so bad about it... I really don't know what it is thats bothering us.

I wish I could tell her she was going to be fine and it'd be over before she knew it, but when I left for work yesterday morning she was just staring at me wagging her tail... if she only knew what was coming later that day.

When I got home last night from soccer, it was late around midnight, and she was laying in her bed next to our bed. I picked her up carefully and brought her downstairs for a midnight bathroom break.

When I laid her down on the floor, she just had this look in her eyes like 'I'm so confused papa...'. She started peeing while she was laying down which is extremely unusual.

I just tried to comfort her and tell her it was okay as I soaked up the pee with plenty of paper towels.

I carried her back upstairs and put her in her bed. Petted her a bit as her puppy eyes melted my heart. I could've cried looking into her eyes. So to make myself feel better I put my pillow on the ground beside her and slept for an hour or so side by side with her.

Now, as for the actual incision, it looks fine, but its just exposed stitches and she doesn't have one of those 'cones' over her head. The vet said to just keep an eye on her that she doesn't start biting at them. 

I kind of don't like the idea of it being exposed though. Would it be bad to put gauze over the incision and use surgical tape to hold it?


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## crisp (Jun 23, 2010)

The gauze and tape might make her want to bite at it more, they don't like something being stuck to them. The cone should help.


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## CassandGunnar (Jan 3, 2011)

Chrissy had her spay surgery 1 week ago today. She had no visible sutures, just a sealed incision. We were told to keep an eye on it and not to cover it or bandage it. She never messed with it and there were no problems. 
We are also home all of time with her so we could keep a close eye on her.
She is perfectly back to normal now and we were all outside for some play/exercise for almost an hour.
She was miserable for the first night, but we took her in at 8:30 in the morning and picked her up at 4:30 the same day. Between the surgery/meds/stress, she slept on and off for the remainder of the first day, but was fine the next morning.
This morning, she had no problem keeping up with the other two dogs.


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## aprofetto (Dec 30, 2010)

Great, thanks for the advice! 

We will leave the incision as is and just keep an eye on our precious little baby.


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## ba1614 (Feb 17, 2010)

I have a month or so before I'm taking my girl in, and I'm a wreck already! I've always had males, and don't neuter, so this is a new experience for me. I can't believe how much I'm fretting this, you would think my wife or one of our kids were going under the knife or something!
My wife was LHAO when I started argueing with the vet that I wasn't leaving her at their office the night before.:crazy:

Good luck with the recovery, and any tips to prepare are always appreciated. I'll be relieved when it's over.


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## Pattycakes (Sep 8, 2010)

AAwww...hope Zoe is feeling better today as well as you.  Dogs are pretty resilient and she will be back to her old self before you know it. When I had Uschi spayed...she had stitches on the inside and the outside was glued so there were no stitches showing. She didn't bother them at all.


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## GSDGunner (Feb 22, 2011)

I know how you feel. When I had Gunner neutered the effects of the sedation was hard to watch. He looked so confused, his eyes were all glassy and droopy. It broke my heart.
I only coned him when we weren't able to be with him. And since that included night time, I didn't want him in his crate with a cone on. So my husband spent the first night on the couch with him.

It's truly heartbreaking to see them like that. They have no idea why they feel that way.
I hope she's feeling better really soon.


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## aprofetto (Dec 30, 2010)

ba1614 said:


> I have a month or so before I'm taking my girl in, and I'm a wreck already! I've always had males, and don't neuter, so this is a new experience for me. I can't believe how much I'm fretting this, you would think my wife or one of our kids were going under the knife or something!
> My wife was LHAO when I started argueing with the vet that I wasn't leaving her at their office the night before.:crazy:
> 
> Good luck with the recovery, and any tips to prepare are always appreciated. I'll be relieved when it's over.


lol I felt the exact same way.

Honestly, when I really try to think hard whats bothering me so much, I think it was the fact that I couldn't talk to her and tell her what was happening. It was the fact we had to blindside her with the surgery.

If I could've mentally prepared her by telling her what was going to happen, etc., then I would've felt better.

But when she stares at you wagging her tail looking like 'what're we going to do today papa - play fetch, run in the backyard?' with a smile on her face, its what really hurts.

My wife thinks that Zoe is mad at her because she's the one who drove her to the vet, LOL.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

Couple of days and she'll feel good as new, and you'll be having to keep her on a tight rein until things are totally healed up.


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## Rott-n-GSDs (Jul 7, 2010)

Try your hardest not to feel guilty/upset around her. She'll pick up on that, and wonder what she's done to make her mommy & daddy upset.

It is so difficult to see our babies hurting!


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

i remember i felt absolutely awful when i had to take Zena in. I couldnt explain to her why she was going for a ride to the vet and being left there and why i was freaking out and just.... it was horrible. At the vets office they knew how stressed out i was so as soon as she was out of surgery they called and said i could go in and see her after about an hour. They took her out to see if she needed to go potty and she snapped their flimsy leash even as heavily drugged as she was. She had to stay overnight just in case and when i went to pick her up the next morning she was still drugged and needed help getting into the car. I slept on the floor with her for 3 days before she was finally starting to get back to normal. I HATE having to take them in and leave them there. I dont want to neuter my males unless i have absolutely no other choice but my females definitely only because i dont want to deal with heat cycles. But yeah.... i'll feel horrible each and every time...


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## gracieGSD (Jan 10, 2011)

Please don't worry so much. I had my girl spayed young too, and she healed just fine. Maybe she is reacting to your emotions? The guilt that you should not be feeling. You did the responsible thing for her. If she is giving you sad eyes, tell her she is fine in a fun sing songy voice, Chances are she'll beleive you and if your okay with it, she will be too. Hope she recovers soon. In a few weeks, it will be a dim memory.


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