# Gunner's surgery



## GunnersMom (Jan 25, 2008)

So Gunner's all set to be neutered this coming Monday.
I'm a bundle of nerves. He's never been put under before, so I'm scared to death that he's going to have a reaction, or there's going to be a complication of some sort, or something's going to go wrong. I know it has to be done, but I dread it.

It's probably been a little more than ten years since we've been through a neutering. I'm trying to remember everything, but it's a little fuzzy.

Any tips? Anything I absolutely should or should not do? Anything I need to be aware of, or watch for?


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## crombie (Aug 18, 2008)

def. get blood work before the surgery...it is alittle extra....but the blood work will give the doctors a correct exam before putting your dog under...i have seen dogs not come out of surgery right because of doctor error in judgement due to not getting blood work...all in all I am sure he will be a trooper....just my advice...


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## midnight804 (Jun 13, 2008)

getting the blood work done first is a great idea, better to have the vet aware of any potential problems beforehand than to find out on the operating table. 

I felt so bad for my boy when he came out because he was all doped up still. be prepared to see your boy act "drunk" for a little while after he comes out of it. 
He'll probably do just fine.


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## Sashmom (Jun 5, 2002)

It was awhile back since I went thru this with Sashi he was 2 I think, he had to have extended surg. because one was still up and he had stitches that came out later./ he stayed overnight and I went and got him the next AM. He was fine, make sure your Vet sends him home with a headcone, they cant bother anything down there, Sash wore his for about 4 days, he was so glad to be home, he didnt mind. Good luck.


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## littledmc17 (Apr 9, 2008)

Yes blood work!! When I had B's hips x-rayed they did blood work first before he was put under


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## GunnersMom (Jan 25, 2008)

He had blood work done about three weeks ago. Is that recent enough to be safe??


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## Skye'sMom (Jul 11, 2004)

That's recent enough. If Gunner has a lot of swelling he will need ice applied - one of the mods here suggested using a bag of frozen peas. 

My foster dog was neutered right after I got him last year and he had no problems at all. I wish the same for Gunner.


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## kbigge (Dec 29, 2007)

Good luck! He'll be fine, I'm sure. I understand your worry, though - I am already dreading getting Kodee neutered (not even sure I'm gonna do it, but probably will later). I used to work for a vet, and saw tons of neuters - never seen a problem, but I still worry too. It's our job as mothers. LOL!







You will be amazed at how fast he recovers. Animals are so amazing! If we did that to a man, they'd lay in bed for weeks, pizzing and moaning. You dog will up and playing within a day or two!


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## GunnersMom (Jan 25, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: KodeeGirlIf we did that to a man, they'd lay in bed for weeks, pizzing and moaning. You dog will up and playing within a day or two!


Ha! Boy, that's for sure. They catch a cold and they whine for a week. (Um... no offense, guys!







)

That was my next question - how long it should take him to recover. From what I remember, it seems like Alomar was back to normal _very _quickly. It definitely wasn't longer than like, two days. 

The other thing I'm wondering about is letting him jump up to lay on the couch, or the bed, etc. I remember the vet telling me not to let Alomar do that for a few days, but I realized very quickly that there was no stopping him. He cleared the baby gate about two hours after I brought him home because I dared to leave the room for two minutes. Scared the daylights out of me, but his stitches held.
So would it be okay for Gunner to get up on the furniture? 

For at least the first day or so, we're planning to keep the boys separated so that Riley won't be trying to lick his incision. Which means that Gunner and I will probably be camping out in my room and my bed is real low to the floor. Just a mattress and box springs on the floor. I had taken it off the frame when Cooper started to get arthritis and I've never bothered to put it back up. So, being that low, would it hurt for Gunner to hop up there?


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## WiscTiger (Sep 25, 2002)

With older males it takes longer than younger pups. You want to really keep them from running and jumping for about a week to 10 days. Before that they can pull their stitches there are internal and external stitches, they can open up a bleeder that can be a big mess trust me on that. So I went 10 days with Lakota, did Ice Packs the First three days. I was the Mod to post about Ice packs, my vet told me. I don't like using fronzen peas because it is wasteful because the thawing and refreezing they are junk. LOL I am cheap, I can freeze water and smash it to make ice packs.

Val


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## GunnersMom (Jan 25, 2008)

10 days? Wow. Okay, now I'm getting really nervous about this. 

Should I really be doing this to him, at his age? (He'll be 6 on November 20th.) Or should I maybe just neuter Riley and see how it goes? Maybe reconsider doing Gunner _if _we continue to have dominance issues??

The vet was telling me that they've done 10, 11-year-old males and they've all come through it just fine. But, as much as I like this vet, my days of taking their word for it are over. (They always told me that annual vaccines were perfectly safe, too, and that didn't turn out so well.) 

So what do you guys think? Honestly?
I think we're doing pretty well with the dominance issues/squabbles between these two. As in, there haven't been any more.


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## GunnersMom (Jan 25, 2008)

I just had another conversation with my vet. My guys are relatively new patients there, and he hadn't been aware of a couple things concerning our particular situation - like that Riley is still intact as well and the exact reason _why_ we're planning to neuter Gunner at this age.

This is his opinion after we had talked for a while:
He said that if they were his dogs, he'd neuter the younger one (the 'challenger', so to speak) first. He said that if Gunner isn't just generally asserting his dominance all the time (which he isn't) he would think that Riley's surging hormones are more of an issue than his own. He added that neutering Gunner while Riley still has those surging hormones could actually make matters worse. He said that it doesn't always happen that way - probably doesn't even happen that often - but it can.

So, I decided to take his advice. As much as I wanted to tell him "Um, let me check with the GSD board for second opinions and get back to you" I couldn't bring myself to say that! I like the guy and he really doesn't know me that well yet, so I didn't want to offend him.

Please tell me that's the right way to go? I figured it can't really _hurt_ anything to do it that way. Riley will be neutered in early January (as soon as he hits 18 months) no matter what. We're managing just fine right now, so I figure the worst case is that it pushes Gunner's neutering back three months. And I'll have the extra cost of paying for new blood work at that time, just so we have current information. Better safe than sorry.

So did I do the right thing, or is this a mistake?


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

I think it's fine. If anything, I would move Riley's neuter surgery up. Rafi was neutered at 12-16 months (I don't know his age) and he has still filled out and looks exactly as he should look. In other words, he did not become leggy and tall like everyone worries about.


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## JeanKBBMMMAAN (May 11, 2005)

I agree with the vet to neuter Riley first. 

I would also do it sooner. Sounds like he'd be around 15 months now? 

Kramer was neutered at 10 months (guesstimate) and he certainly never got leggy.







(he has really short legs)


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## Catu (Sep 6, 2007)

What your vet says make a lot of sense to me.

I also agree about moving Rikey's surgery to be done sooner. I'm all about to neuter dogs once they reached full maturity but in your case you have more things to put on the balance. It's not like neutering a 5 months old pup anyways.


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## GunnersMom (Jan 25, 2008)

Oh, I'm so glad you guys agree with what the vet had to say! That's a big relief.
This guy seems really good so far, but my last one seemed really good too. And given how _that_ turned out, I have some serious trust issues where vets are concerned.

And yes, Riley will be 15 months on Sunday. I probably could go ahead and move his surgery up a couple months. I had wanted to make sure that he was completely filled-out, but I think we're probably there already. This photo was actually taken on his birthday, back in July, and he doesn't exactly look too "lanky", I don't think.














He goes in on the 20th for his annual check-up, etc., so I can have them go ahead and do his blood work while we're there and schedule the surgery. 
Thanks guys!!


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