# Spayed my 6 month old yesterday...Didnt go as smooth as planned



## sportsman1539 (Jan 22, 2011)

yesterday morning I took Sammie in to have her spayed and my mother took her dog (sammie's sister) in as well and we had them spayed at the same time. The procedure went fine and of course both dogs were really out of it for the rest of the day. The first thing i noticed was how skinny sammie looked when I picked her up. Mya looked slightly thinner than before but not as dramatic as sammie. They both threw up but Sammie threw up a few more times than Mya. I checked both of their incisions before I went to bed. Mya had a small amount of discharge that we simply soaked up with a napkin and Sammie's incision wound looked fine. Neither dog had messed with their incision wounds at all for the most part. I went ahead and crated sammie for the night(she usually sleeps in my room on the floor). They slept great through the night and first thing in the morning both dogs were alot more lively. I checked their incision wounds and found that Mya's looked alot better than yesterday with no discharge but Sammie's was another story. Apparently she had licked or chewed some of her sutures out during the night and she had an open wound about a 1/2 inch in length with some pink tissue hanging out. So I rushed her in first thing. They went ahead and gassed her this time instead of using the anesthesia and sewed her back up which cost me another $25. I picked her up and she was somewhat lively and got her to the house. After I noticed her nausea went away, i went ahead and gave her a cup of food and she ate it right up. Btw, i did get an e-collar this time(another $25) and believe it or not she has tolerated it well and hasnt tried to get it off. It looks like everything should be fine now. I was a little worried when I got up this morning and had to deal with that a work all day. Does anyone know how long it takes to get the weight back on? She just looks so thin right now.


----------



## TheNamesNelson (Apr 4, 2011)

She probably just looks thin because they shaved her. She might be slightly dehydrated and empty stomached from the surgery but that will solve itself once her appetite is back.


----------



## sportsman1539 (Jan 22, 2011)

Its not from the shave, thats just on the bottom of her belly. Her appetite is back and she is doing pretty and just had another 1 1/2 cups of food which she gobbled down. Mya is definitely getting back to herself. She just picked a toy up and put it in sammie's face trying to get her to play. Sammie for the first time ever wasnt down for it. But of course I wont be letting them play until they have healed.


----------



## Germanshepherdlova (Apr 16, 2011)

If she has resumed eating her usual amount, she will regain the weight in no time. My dog lost weight after he was neutered 3 months ago and within a couple weeks he was back to his normal weight.


----------



## CarrieJ (Feb 22, 2011)

I was going to add that at her age her metabolism is sorta like a speeder reader on crack. So missing a meal/fasting for surgery will affect her a bit.

I wouldn't worry if she's eating with enthusiasm.
Also, what a good girl for not fighting the collar of shame.


----------



## 1sttimeforgsd (Jul 29, 2010)

Hope that your girl heals up quickly and that you have no further complications.


----------



## alvinjamur (Jan 31, 2011)

i hope all will be well with your babies. i must admit that i am sort of
saddened by it....

my 0.02c on the whole neutering/spaying thing is that its not a good 
thing as it deprives the animal of vital hormone loads that is vital to 
the ongoing physiological development. a large part of the vet business 
is a racket that only serves itself. if a dog has to be absolutely spayed 
or neutered its much better to do it much much later....


----------



## alvinjamur (Jan 31, 2011)

i re-read your message about the e-collar. its a good idea to use it much much 
later....much later after using a prong collar. u can find information on the leerburg
site about this. 

i should mind my own business in all of this but my good wishes go out to the
animals and their owners, who i hope will do the best....


----------



## kiya (May 3, 2010)

alvinjamur said:


> i re-read your message about the e-collar. its a good idea to use it much much
> later....much later after using a prong collar. u can find information on the leerburg
> site about this. ...


"E" lizabethian collar is used to protect the wound, not for training.

I just had my girl spayed about a month ago, I hated the collar but left it on for about 48 hours. Then I closely watched her and since she didn't even try to get to her wound I left it off. When I read the post op instructions the whole "self mutalating" scared me into leaving it on. Poor girl was bumping into everything and the other critters weren't to fond of it. I had to laugh when she would go up to one of the other dogs and engulf them into her collar while she tried to give them kisses. 
Hope you girl heals up nicely now.


----------



## sportsman1539 (Jan 22, 2011)

alvinjamur said:


> i hope all will be well with your babies. i must admit that i am sort of
> saddened by it....
> 
> my 0.02c on the whole neutering/spaying thing is that its not a good
> ...


 
I read into it alot and deciding in my situation, it was best to go ahead and get her spayed. There are too many stray dogs loose where I live and i didnt want to take the chance even though she is mostly an inside dog. Also, it was going to be hard to handle the bleeding inside. I have carpet all througout the house. To me, there is alot of garbage out there about spaying at 6 months not being a good idea and letting them have a heat cycle or two. There are puppies at shelters that are spayed at 8 weeks old and from doing alot of research, most seem to turn out fine. I think there is alot of myth behind it. But that is just my opinion and im sure there are legitimate arguments for the other side.


----------



## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Alvinjamur, What is done is done. The choice to spay or neuter is the owner's, and not every owner who does not do what we would do is not hopelessly ignorant. It may be the best choice for that situation. But after the fact it does no one any good to question the decision. 

Sportsman, I want to smack you upside the head! I read the subject line and thought your girl was deathly ill or died. I am glad that it seems like she will be fine, though she had a bit of a hiccup. I think you should give it a week or two for her to get her appetite back, and start gaining without upping the intake, often after an alter surgery critters gain weight and then have trouble keeping it off. 

Good luck.


----------



## sportsman1539 (Jan 22, 2011)

selzer said:


> Alvinjamur, What is done is done. The choice to spay or neuter is the owner's, and not every owner who does not do what we would do is not hopelessly ignorant. It may be the best choice for that situation. But after the fact it does no one any good to question the decision.
> 
> Sportsman, I want to smack you upside the head! I read the subject line and thought your girl was deathly ill or died. I am glad that it seems like she will be fine, though she had a bit of a hiccup. I think you should give it a week or two for her to get her appetite back, and start gaining without upping the intake, often after an alter surgery critters gain weight and then have trouble keeping it off.
> 
> Good luck.


lol sorry about that. I just thought it would go a little smoother than it did. BTW her appetite is back just like before. She's had 4 cups of food today and has held it down fine. I was in the process before the spay of upping her intake because she was looking a little on the lanky/thin side. She is (before he spay) 23" tall and 48.5 lbs. Ive read where alot of GSD pups were 24" tall and weighed almost 70lbs so she is really lanky. To my surprise, when i got home today she looked a little thicker. Not so "sucked in" looking like yesterday. Im definitely sticking with the e-collar for now because I notice her getting bothered by the incision wound and wanting to mess with it. I got some pics of the wound and would like to get an opinion on how it looks but my photobucket account isnt working right now for some reason.


----------



## sportsman1539 (Jan 22, 2011)




----------



## baseballmama (Apr 26, 2011)

Sportsman you scared me too as I have an appt in two week to get Payton spade, I am really scared! I don't like any type of surgery especially with one of my "kids". Hope both girls are doing better


----------



## sportsman1539 (Jan 22, 2011)

its very scary to go through, especially when you realize what is actually being done. lol. Thats something pretty major for a human to go through. But dogs are very resilient and bounce back quick.


----------



## Sunstreaked (Oct 26, 2010)

We got Eva spayed right around 6 months also. Her e-collar was on the entire two weeks. My daughter didn't do that with her cat and it was a near disaster with intestines exposed - no thanks! 

Took about 2 days before she was really back to her old self.


----------



## baseballmama (Apr 26, 2011)

I know....your right dogs handle these things better but I know I will be losing a nights sleep the day before!!


----------



## Pattycakes (Sep 8, 2010)

I spayed my previous GSD at 6 months and my current GSD at 6 months. Both did just fine and didn't have any problems. My previous GSD weighed in around 78 lbs as an adult and my current GSD is smaller...around 65 lbs.

I left the e-collar on her anytime I wasn't with her and at night.


----------



## jdh520 (Jun 4, 2011)

I would def recommend leaving the e-collar on or as I like the call it "the cone of shame." good buddy of mine had his lab spayed recently and she licked their her stitches overnight. Had to put her down the next morning it was so bad.


----------



## sportsman1539 (Jan 22, 2011)

well tonight hasnt gone as well. the incision has been driving her nuts and she keeps pacing back and forth to the point i had to crate her. im also afraid her ecollar may not be long enough because a couple of times it appeared she was able to lick it. im ready for this to be over so i can sleep


----------



## 1sttimeforgsd (Jul 29, 2010)

Did they give you any meds for her, or could you give her low dose aspirin?


----------



## CarrieJ (Feb 22, 2011)

I'm actually surprised that they didn't send her home with the collar to begin with as well as pain meds as needed.

Hope the little fruitbat gets better...
(love the collar of shame pics)


----------



## sportsman1539 (Jan 22, 2011)

yea the vet acted like it wasnt much of a big deal. Mya has done fine without the collar and really isnt bothered by the wound but Sammie is a different story. I dont think she is in pain, more irritated by it


----------



## sportsman1539 (Jan 22, 2011)

I thought I would give an update on Sammie 6 1/2 days post surgery. She is doing excellent. Its been really hard trying to keep her from running around everywhere but we have slowly picked back up on some light activity today. I think she has caught back up on her weight too which was really nice to see. The e-collar has started coming off more because the incision wound doesnt seem to be bothering her much anymore. I do have a question though. During the healing process, when do they seem to mess with it the most? Right after surgery or when it really starts to scab over? Im asking because Ill be happy when I can just leave the e-collar off. Heres a pic of her wound from today. How does it look?


----------



## Sulamk (Jan 30, 2011)

looks like it is starting to heal! Sometimes they are bothered by the stitches itching towards the end!


----------



## CarrieJ (Feb 22, 2011)

She looks good, nice healthy skin.
I'm glad that she's doing better.

I honestly can't remember if Alice was bugged because it was four years ago and my vet at the time kept her overnight.
And, I'm darned old....


----------

