# Spaying experiences?



## jammin (Jan 14, 2011)

Hi,

We are getting our pup spayed in a couple of weeks. Just curious how other people have experienced this procedure? Has it been difficult afterwards? I've heard you have to keep them still for 12 days!! That sounds impossible, Ebba would go mental.

Thanks!


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## Bellababy (Mar 31, 2010)

My dog was spayed in November, two months later she became spay incontinent. The whole experience has been a complete nightmare, and I have a 21 month old dog that will be on medication for the rest of her life. I would never ever get another dog spayed. Sorry but that is my experience and I wish someone had warned me. We are devastated.


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## petal (Apr 24, 2011)

Hi Bellabay - a friend had this with her labrador after spaying - she was reffered to a specialist and had an op and is now dry - I think she was given lots of different options including a collagen injection into the valve of the bladder but went for an op which completely cured her - I think it involved changing the position of the bladder ??? Would be worth asking your vet about seeing a specialist as friends dog no longer needs any medication (she was on 2 types before) and now is completely dry - she felt it was well worth it as she was also a young dog - about 18 months when she had the incontinance op and is now completely dry


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## Bellababy (Mar 31, 2010)

Thanks for that Petal, I am at the stage where I am considering other options and the vet initially mentioned that there was a surgery option, but by a specialist, and as we have her insured they would cover the cost. We are desperate so thank you very much for that info, the more advice and experiences we hear about the better. 
Thank you


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## nick (Dec 18, 2010)

Molly was spayed at 6 months and did just fine. We did keep her on a very short leash for 10 days...no horsing around or running. It wasn't bad although we thought it would be. For us spaying was not an alternative...we did not want the aggrivation of an unspayed dog. I wanted a male but my wife thought a female was supposed to be calmer....so far that has not proven true....nor has the spaying improved that aspect.


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## Bernie (Jan 17, 2011)

Morgan was spayed at 6 months. No problems. Drugs helped to slow her down for a few days afterwards. She is now 12 months and happy.


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## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

Savannah was spayed at almost 7 months. No issues. I opted for the drugs, too. Read the instructions. Follow the vet's directions. Practice getting her out of the car before the surgery. There are other threads on this forum about spaying that are worth reading.

Mostly, when your little darling is just about to go stir-crazy, remind yourself that if she pulls her stiches out, her down time will only be extended. Take a deep breath and find a distraction to help her keep control.


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## sarahaf (Aug 17, 2009)

Rosie was spayed at 8 months. They kept her overnight the first night, so she had begun her healing before she was sent home. Thereafter, we were given pretty liberal instructions as far as activity (just minimize running and jumping), and we were told she had to keep the cone on. Rosie would have none of the cone, and we did give in--one of us was home with her all the time, but I regret giving in about the cone, because we had some near misses where she started showing an interest in her sutures. I've heard horror stories about dogs who have had to be rushed in for surgery after chewing their stitches, and the whole thing sewn up again (if you're lucky). So I definitely recommend holding firm on the cone issue. We did find that giving her the next dose of the pain medicine they prescribed often seemed to stop her from being interested in her sutures, so it may be that pain or itching is what triggered her to want to lick. And I would ask the vet about pain medication; I've heard stories of vets who don't use it, but somehow that doesn't seem right to me, it's pretty major surgery. We didn't have to ask, they just gave it to us to give her. At any rate--in spite of being more active than we would have liked, she healed up fine.

Sarah


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## JillandDan (Sep 8, 2010)

Holley was spayed at 6 months and is now 10 months so far so good. The hardest things for us were having to carry her up and down the steps for 2 weeks (we live on 2nd floor apartment) and trying to keep her calm. She was ready to play the next day when she woke up. The meds to calm her didn't have any effect so we just kept her crated for the first couple days. Only let her out to go potty and to eat/drink. We just put the crate closer to the couch so she would relax some. After that, we had her on a leash and restricted her as much as we could. We bought her a "Comfy Cone" instead of the one the vet gives to try and make it a little better for her. She had it on for 10 days and all went okay.


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## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

JillandDan said:


> . We bought her a "Comfy Cone" instead of the one the vet gives to try and make it a little better for her. She had it on for 10 days and all went okay.


What size of comfy cone did you get? Ruby will be spayed in June and want to be prepared. Also, I read the cone didn't help with their peripheral vision like the plastic one did.


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## sarahaf (Aug 17, 2009)

We tried a comfy cone too, but Rosie still freaked. I think if we hadn't given in though, it would have been fine in the end; she would have adjusted. I'm pretty sure the brand name is "Comfy Cone" but I'm not positive. They're black padded fabric, as I recall. 

Edit: whoops, you were asking about the size. I'm pretty sure we had to measure her. I'm afraid I don't know where our cone is now or I'd check for you. I want to say we got a large? But again, not sure--sorry.


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## JillandDan (Sep 8, 2010)

I think we bought a large as well but I am not sure. It was an adjustment for her and you have to bend it back for them when it is time to eat or drink but it worked out well for us.


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## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

I bought a comfy cone. Savannah the contortionist was able to reach around it. I took it back to the store and bought a regular plastic cone. The next time she reached for her stitches, the cone went on. She freaked. The cone came off. An hour later, she went for her stitches again. The cone went on. She freaked. The cone came off. The stitches were left alone thereafter. 

It wasn't my preferred way to help her avoid chewing stitches, but it was effective. Whatever you decide to buy, make sure the store will take it back if it doesn't work. Monitor her and be ready to try something else if needed. As with everything else about this breed, your solution will probably be individualized.


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## Mischa (Feb 17, 2010)

It wasn't a bad as we thought it would be either. I asked for some painkillers just in case. We used them for the first 2-3 days. The thing that really helped us out was a bag of raw bones we got from a farmer up north. Whenever she seed bored or stir crazy we gave her a giant bone to gnaw on. 

My best advice though is to expect the worst so you'll be fairly surprised.


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## dghubbard06 (Nov 4, 2010)

We had scheduled Stella for her spay for this Friday, but we saw signs of her going into heat late last week (enlarged vulva, increased licking, but no discharge yet). She is 11 months. We wanted to get her surgery done before she had her first cycle, so we took her in first thing Saturday morning. Our pet clinic was able to accommodate our request... thankfully!

Stella came home with us on Saturday afternoon and was pretty groggy. In addition to the spay, we also had a tooth removed and a microchip inserted. She didn't want to do much besides lay on the couch with us. We fed her about 1/2 her normal dinner and one of the pain pills the clinic gave us. She was whimpering a bit when we arrived home initially, but the pain pills do seem to help. We bought an inflatable collar for her and she seems to tolerate it so far:

http://www.petco.com/product/100555...e-Protective-Collar.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch

She wears the collar anytime she is in the house. When she goes outside for an on-leash walk, that is the only time we take it off of her. I figured we better get her used to it now because from other's posts, we'll need it in the upcoming days as the scar begins to heal.

By Sunday morning, Stella was back to her old self again. Her energy was up and although we tried to keep her from jumping, some people came by and she jumped about three feet over the back of the couch because she was so excited. We try not to let her ram in the house, but v's are v's I guess.

All in all, she seems to be doing well so far, but I am assuming the worst is in front of us.


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## Big Rick (Apr 14, 2009)

Scarlet was spayed at about 5 months. They used skin glue to close the incision and it did open up but we took her back, they used staples and it healed perfectly. There were no further complications.


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