Post Neuter Recovery

[Halcyon]

We've booked Bobby's neuter near the end of the month. He'll be two months shy of 16 months but while it would have been ideal to have it done at 18 months, we can supervise him all day throughout recovery, until holidays finish in February. That way, if the wound becomes infected, the stitches open or something else pops up, we can take him to the vet ASAP.

Bobby is rather high energy. We exercise him for a few hours each day including zoomies. He gets a 30 minute walk everyday. How do I keep him calm during recovery? At the moment, the plan is to freeze part of his meals in a Kong and up training to wear his mind out. Should we be reducing his meals? Is he allowed to mark?

Is there any kind of exercise we can do? I know there can be no running, no jumping and no swimming. This means we'll have to prevent him from the zoomies, tethering inside the house as well as, outside for potty breaks. Will this last until his stitches are removed? He will come home with a cone of shame to prevent licking.

Are there any games we can play? What kind of training can we do that won't open stitches? Is there anything else I need to know/be prepared for?

[Doreen Davis]

We found it to be not as scary as we anticipated. We've always had girls which is a more invasive surgery. We kept him leashed, did the Kongs but had the inevitable hop up on the bed with no bad results. The stitches remained intact and we had no issues. We were pretty vigilant the first 5 days but probably not as rigid day 7-10 as the incision looked very good. I've heard others speak of swelling etc but we experienced none of that. Good luck!

[Halcyon]

Thanks for the information. We'll need the luck!

[doubledip1]

My vet said no exercise whatsoever for 14 days. Leash walk to pee and poop, as soon as she did her business, back upstairs. No jumping on and off the furniture. I posted a thread on her spay if you want to read it Surgery Thursday

My vet said we could give her 50mg of Benadryl, 2x a day if she needed it. It calmed her down from a 10/10 to an 8/10. If you need the big gun sedatives, call your vet.

We did tons of training, tons of crate rest. Lots of Kongs and raw marrow bones, etc. By day 5 she was a nut case. We somehow lasted a full 10 days, and then did off leash fetch for the rest of the 4 days. It usually takes the incision 7-10 days to heal fully, so 14 days if they rip the stitches a little bit.

We didn't really use the cone, I had her wear an old T shirt of mine and an old pair of my underwear with a tail hole to cut out. She was MUCH more comfortable than with the cone, and it covered the stitches in case she laid down outside or anything.

[Halcyon]

We did tons of training, tons of crate rest. Lots of Kongs and raw marrow bones, etc. By day 5 she was a nut case. We somehow lasted a full 10 days, and then did off leash fetch for the rest of the 4 days. It usually takes the incision 7-10 days to heal fully, so 14 days if they rip the stitches a little bit.

We didn't really use the cone, I had her wear an old T shirt of mine and an old pair of my underwear with a tail hole to cut out. She was MUCH more comfortable than with the cone, and it covered the stitches in case she laid down outside or anything.

Well then, I'm going to have to stock up on boxes of chocolate. We're going to have to use the cone. Bobby doesn't like wearing clothes. He just ends up trying to rip it off and chew it. Since she hadn't really exercised for ten days, did you reduce her meals?

[SunDance]

We used the cone for 14 days....I've found that it also tends to calm most dogs down, not just deter licking. Active dogs were kept on leash for potty times....I think Dan was the only male I didn't have to do this with. I never had to crate anyone in the house (well....one of my females was bonkers and ended up crated a good bit).

Good luck with the recovery....Sunnie sends special healing wishes to her buddy.

[Halcyon]

Thanks to both you and Sunnie!

[doubledip1]

I didn't reduce her meals and she didn't gain any weight. My vet recommended reducing meals by 25% because they no longer grow at such a fast rate after neuter, but we haven't cut her food at all and she hasn't gained. She's pretty active and she was spayed around 14 months, after she had stopped growing for the most part.

[Doreen Davis]

I was pretty impressed with the difference between the surgeries of a boy and girl. so much easier for the guys.

[Maxx&Emma]

I have never used a cone for a neuter, never had any issues. We played lots of games, hide and seek, puzxle tpys, nosework, etc and Maxx retired to the crate on his own for naps and rest. His neuter was a dream, no issues at all and was beautifully healed by day 10. His sutures were the type that disolve, it didn't even look like they were there after the first 7 days. I worried way more than necessary. I hope Bobby's neuter is as smooth as Maxx's was!