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Spay day

Nik

Well-Known Member
today is Kahlua'spay day. We dropped her off and I am a nervous wreck waiting.
 

Bailey's Mom

Super Moderator
Super Moderator
Sweety....trust me a robust red in a larger than large glass will get you through it. It worked a charm for me. Your baby will be home soon and probably, like Bailey, not feeling any pain, just happy to be with her mom.
 

Nik

Well-Known Member
Post surgery and kahlua is miserable

She has crawled on top of me and groans and moans if i am not actively holding her. She also complains if the tv is on or if i look at anything other than her.

Which means i need to get back to holding her and staring at her.

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marke

Well-Known Member
poor dog , that's a brutal surgery ....... does she need the cone ? a lot of dogs don't ...........
 

Nik

Well-Known Member
poor dog , that's a brutal surgery ....... does she need the cone ? a lot of dogs don't ...........

She keeps trying to lick without it.

I am worried that she hasnt had any interest in eating since coming home yesterday and usually she loves to eat
 

marke

Well-Known Member
she'll be ok , it's a horrendous surgery .............. make sure she drinks , give her chicken broth if she won't ......
 

Bailey's Mom

Super Moderator
Super Moderator
OMG! She looks so very sad and needy. And the cone of shame always makes it look 10 times worse. It's unlikely that she is experiencing a lot of pain from the procedure, but there will always be exceptions. I've seen film of it and I couldn't be calm about it. But the worst part was trying to mask my emotions so that I didn't make matters worse. When are you scheduled for the follow-up appointment?

We took Bailey's cone of shame off the same day. We don't have other animals so no other dogs pushing and nosing at her. I took her for a walk in the neighbourhood the next day and she was fine. We were charged on the street by another dog that was loose in it's own yard, and I lost all my rational thought. I got ready to throw down and kill with my bare hands. Good thing the owner jumped into action and pulled his dog away before it got further than snarling and threatening. Through all of it Bailey was as placid as can be. She never reacted at all.

I kept her at home doing low energy things for about four days. And we had a check up with the vet and she was great, no complications. She never licked at it, it remained clean and healed well. Within the week she was play fighting with her best friend and showing no signs of pain or discomfort. So, I bet Kahlua will be just great! And if there is any way to get rid of the cone...do it. The cone is always half the issue. Every dog hates it. And, I'd bet, she won't feel herself until it's gone.

Let's face it Nik, every time we have our dogs to the vets, we are the babies, not the dogs. They pick up on our level of concern and magnify it. And, we probably extrapolate the whole losing the ability to procreate back on how we'd feel as humans...And They Don't. If they think anything it's probably, "I feel sore...but, I'm getting extra mom time and I'm getting treats and I'm the centre of attention" and, "Isn't this great!."

Having said all that, and being a worry wort, if there is any increased redness or swelling or if she's pacing and being worried, or if she continues to refuse even high value treats, get back to the vet's ASAP. I don't know what the stats are on complications, but I'm sure there are some. Perhaps Boxergirl will jump on and share what she knows. She's a font of knowledge. Take care of your girl....update us when you can, and let us know what the vet says after your follow-up visit.
 

Nik

Well-Known Member
she'll be ok , it's a horrendous surgery .............. make sure she drinks , give her chicken broth if she won't ......

Thanks Marke! I'm having my husband pick up some chicken breasts on the way home tonight and we are boiling chicken for her. She was willing to eat a small amount of kibble just now finally and a couple of blueberries.

She is drinking water though I worry it isn't as much as she should be but she is drinking so that is good as well.

She has figured out how to take off her cone and immediately goes for the stitches so I am not letting her out of my reach or my site.
 

Nik

Well-Known Member
OMG! She looks so very sad and needy. And the cone of shame always makes it look 10 times worse. It's unlikely that she is experiencing a lot of pain from the procedure, but there will always be exceptions. I've seen film of it and I couldn't be calm about it. But the worst part was trying to mask my emotions so that I didn't make matters worse. When are you scheduled for the follow-up appointment?

We took Bailey's cone of shame off the same day. We don't have other animals so no other dogs pushing and nosing at her. I took her for a walk in the neighbourhood the next day and she was fine. We were charged on the street by another dog that was loose in it's own yard, and I lost all my rational thought. I got ready to throw down and kill with my bare hands. Good thing the owner jumped into action and pulled his dog away before it got further than snarling and threatening. Through all of it Bailey was as placid as can be. She never reacted at all.

I kept her at home doing low energy things for about four days. And we had a check up with the vet and she was great, no complications. She never licked at it, it remained clean and healed well. Within the week she was play fighting with her best friend and showing no signs of pain or discomfort. So, I bet Kahlua will be just great! And if there is any way to get rid of the cone...do it. The cone is always half the issue. Every dog hates it. And, I'd bet, she won't feel herself until it's gone.

Let's face it Nik, every time we have our dogs to the vets, we are the babies, not the dogs. They pick up on our level of concern and magnify it. And, we probably extrapolate the whole losing the ability to procreate back on how we'd feel as humans...And They Don't. If they think anything it's probably, "I feel sore...but, I'm getting extra mom time and I'm getting treats and I'm the centre of attention" and, "Isn't this great!."

Having said all that, and being a worry wort, if there is any increased redness or swelling or if she's pacing and being worried, or if she continues to refuse even high value treats, get back to the vet's ASAP. I don't know what the stats are on complications, but I'm sure there are some. Perhaps Boxergirl will jump on and share what she knows. She's a font of knowledge. Take care of your girl....update us when you can, and let us know what the vet says after your follow-up visit.

We are keeping her and Diesel separated for the time being as I know he would try to clean her stitches for her which would not be good. Diesel is being as big a baby about not being near me and Kahlua as Kahlua is being. He just keeps making mournful sad sounds from outside the room. He settles when we tell him to but he is letting us know that this whole being left out thing is not okay by him.

Kahlua does seem like she is in some amount of pain, she is very needy and when she is awake she is being vocal about her discomfort. Lots of moaning and groaning.

Unfortunately, she does want to lick the stitches so the cone stays on... although the clever girl knows how to take it off so she has to stay right by my side all the time so I can stop her. We did try to see if she could do okay without but she kept going for the stitches. We would tell her no and she would stop only to start again two seconds later.

Our follow up is in two weeks to remove the stitches. Luckily she likes to lay on her back or side a lot so I am able to check on the condition of the stitches easily without disturbing her or making her anymore uncomfortable. The stitches look good so far.

I don't blame you at all for being ready to go after that other dog. One time when a dog attacked Diesel at the dog park that is exactly what I did (minus the killing). I full on tackled the other dog. Poor Diesel wasn't defending himself. He was in submission posture on his back but the other dog wasn't backing off the attack and the owner made no move to help so I tackled their dog to keep it off my Diesel. Maybe not the wisest course of action as far as self preservation goes but it was all instinct and pretty much instantaneous. And luckily the dog had no interest in going after me so my actions kept everyone involved from getting injured. But ya sometimes those instincts just come into play especially when our dogs are injured.
 

Smokeycat

Well-Known Member
I noticed that she has started eating now but just wanted to share that some pain meds can cause a loss of appetite. After Kryten's first elbow surgery he refused to eat for nearly a week. It wasn't until the high doses had been finished that he wanted to eat again.
 

Bailey's Mom

Super Moderator
Super Moderator
Kiss her nose for me....poor baby. I really hope that she's playing you and that she isn't in pain. I hate the thought of our pups suffering.
 

Nik

Well-Known Member
So I had to run to the dmv as soon as my husband got home from work so he could take over watching kahlua. When I got home (three hours later... you got to hate the dmv) he complained that Kahlua had been restless and kept complaining and he had to scold her. I looked at him horrified and said "What? You didn't just hold, pet and comfort her????" And he replies "No I scolded her and she settled down and stopped making a fuss."

I got home and she was so happy to see me. She was right on my heels pushing me to the bedroom so we could crawl back into bed and she immediately crawled on top of me and started licking my face. So now she gets to be held and petted again and her little tail stub is going a mile a minute... so either she thinks Sean is super mean or she is somewhat playing me. lol That's okay though. As far as i am concerned she deserves a little bit of extra attention. I know how healing from surgery feels and it just isn't fun.
 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
I think a spay can be considerably painful if it's done the traditional way rather than laparoscopic. Ella had some complications during surgery and she was older so I'm sure that contributed to her discomfort, but her recovery was pretty awful. I hope Kahlua is feeling much better by now and her recovery goes smoothly. It's good you have the week home with her. You'll feel better being able to keep an eye on her.
 

Nik

Well-Known Member
I think a spay can be considerably painful if it's done the traditional way rather than laparoscopic. Ella had some complications during surgery and she was older so I'm sure that contributed to her discomfort, but her recovery was pretty awful. I hope Kahlua is feeling much better by now and her recovery goes smoothly. It's good you have the week home with her. You'll feel better being able to keep an eye on her.

She does seem to be feeling better today. Her appetite is back in full force and when we went out in the yard for her potty break she ran for her ball and started running full speed circles until we called her back and took it from her since we are worries that strenuous activity wont be good for the stitches and healing.

In the room she is still wanting the extra snuggles and attention in bed and she has been insisting that I feed her kibble to her by hand as she seems afraid of trying to eat from the bowl with the cone on. Somehow drinking water is fine though.
 

Bailey's Mom

Super Moderator
Super Moderator
Glad to hear that she is better, Nik. Mastiff Mommies make good nurses. I'd tell you to give her a hug and kiss from me, but I expect that you have that covered.

It takes a weight off, doesn't it, when they start to be interested in playing? Now you can relax a bit and have that extra-big glass of wine, your girl is on the mend.

By the way, did the husband finally get around to putting the air conditioner in? I hope so, I know Kahlua would enjoy the cool, especially right now.
 

Nik

Well-Known Member
Glad to hear that she is better, Nik. Mastiff Mommies make good nurses. I'd tell you to give her a hug and kiss from me, but I expect that you have that covered.

It takes a weight off, doesn't it, when they start to be interested in playing? Now you can relax a bit and have that extra-big glass of wine, your girl is on the mend.

By the way, did the husband finally get around to putting the air conditioner in? I hope so, I know Kahlua would enjoy the cool, especially right now.

No ac yet but he did finally measure the window and the ac and we know that it will fit in the window he just needs to create a shield for above it as the window is taller than the ac but the width is luckily correct. He is a machinist so creating the spacer should be within his realm of expertise.
 

Bailey's Mom

Super Moderator
Super Moderator
When we had window a/c, we got Lexan plastic cut to the size and, voila', a tight fit that you could see through.

But I love...Love...LOVE my central air!
 
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DennasMom

Well-Known Member
Ah, A/C... good stuff. Even here in Seattle. It's 85F outside, and a reasonable 75F inside today (even in my upstairs office).

Glad Kahlua is feeling better.
I was lucky that Denna totally ignored her incision. It healed so nice that there's not even a scar as "proof" that she's "fixed".
We did make sure to take it easy - no zoomies - until her stitches came out two weeks later.

Funny about Sean scolding her - and her listening to him - that's totally how my DH handles needy animals, too (myself included). :)
As for her 'playing you'?? Absolutely!!! From what I've seen, Kahlua is a PRO at that! LOL.