Dog not eating after surgery

[Hanspannerly]

Hello
I’m feeling very stressed and really hoping someone has had similar experiences and can reassure me. Milo is a 1.5 year miniature labradoodle. Like an idiot he eats everything in sight and this week he ate a plastic hexagon from a game when we weren’t looking. Had no idea until on Thursday morning he was very unwell indeed and we rushed him to vets. Surgery went well and he was sent home Thursday night with impressive stitches and very sad face.

The next morning he wasn’t keen to eat or drink at all. I rang the vets and took him back for the day where they force fed him special food with a syringe. He obviously hates this and hated being back at the vets and away from home when he’s obviously feeling awful.

He was sent home last night with the liquid food and the vet showed me how to feed him which I’ve been doing last night and this morning. He’s still rejecting everything else- I’ve tried chicken pieces, pate, tuna and mackerel and cheese. All of which he’d usually snaffle up in a second. He’s very depressed and lethargic altho peeing fine and vet said he pooped yesterday.

Is this something that will pass in a few days? I need reassurance! We are back to vets at lunch time to check him. His stitches look good and his temp was good yesterday. Thanks

[missbattenburg]

Provided the vet is happy he is ok, get him up and moving (obviously, don't overdo it if he has stitches etc). Our JRT was like this after major surgery - happy to lie on the sofa all day being hand fed rice. She would reject all other foods but as soon as we started acting normal and encouraging her to follow us round the house, walk herself out to the garden, even a little gentle ball play - this all seemed to trigger her appetite again.

In short, the more normal you act, the quicker he will get back to being normal. With our dog, I thought of it as her needing empathy but not sympathy.

[Hanspannerly]

Thank you- that’s helpful. I know bowel surgery can take longer to recover from - the vet said he will be feeling rotten. Unfortunately we can’t reallu be normal with him as such as we have to force feed him. And then he gets in such a huff as obviously he hates it 😂

[mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork]

My much older dog had an abdominal operation and just shut down for about 36 hours afterwards. She withdrew totally into herself and certainly would not eat. I was terrifically alarmed and thought she had given up but (I presume as the pain receded a bit), she then got a bit of light back in her eye and began to recover. I'm sure your dog will get better when he has got over the initial shock of the whole thing.

[tabulahrasa]

My dog had very major stomach and intestine surgery a few years ago... he didn't eat for a good few days afterwards and didn't eat normally (as in not pickily) for what seemed like ages after that.

Your vet will tell you if it's worth worrying about

[Hanspannerly]

Thank you- that’s reassuring. The vet is concerned he’s not eating but he has managed a few tiny bites of cheese this afternoon. Poor little dude is definitely not happy.

[mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork]

I've had several sorts of surgery (3-4 majors) and, of those, the abdominal ones were the most painful for the longest afterwards, so it isn't surprising dogs are also slow to get back to normal.

[Hanspannerly]

Thank you. I’m amazed really that they send them home the same day- I’m sure it’s not the same for humans! Well today he has eaten some chicken from my hand and he has drunk from his own water bowl 4 times. This is definite progress.

[Hanspannerly]

Hi- an update. We’ve been at the vets every day post surgery except Sunday. The surgery was 6 days ago and milo has just not been improving. He wasn’t eating and then he developed a temperature. Today the vet opened him back up and found his bowel had been leaking into his his abdominal cavity causing infection :(

They fixed the leak and he survived the operation but he will be in until at least Friday which iv antibiotics and close observation. I feel so awful for him he must have been in so much pain. The vet is ringing again at 6 to update me and again in the morning. I knew there was something else wrong I just knew.

[BiteyShark]

Poor thing. Hope he starts to get better now.

[Hanspannerly]

Thank you- me too

[wheelwarrior]

Hope he cancan now start picking up now and home soon

[Hanspannerly]

Unfortunately we had to put Milo to sleep this afternoon. He just wasn’t getting better and had started to retain fluid in his belly. His kidneys had also started to fail. We went to visit him and he was so so sad it broke my heart. We made the right decision as he was really suffering but oh my, it’s so so sad. Home isn’t the same without his little face.

[BiteyShark]

I'm so sorry to hear that he didn't get better

[mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork]

So sorry to read this.

[Tootyfilou]

So very sorry x

[Angel1001]

I am so sorry for your loss. I just lost my gsd Star to bone cancer. Yesterday I brought my new gsd I rescued from a shelter. She had her girl surgery and then after it was a 3 1/2 hour drive home. She won't eat either and will go to my own vet today. I hope they did not screw up her surgery. After all this time, i know you still miss your baby..prayers you have new fur babies to add live and joy to your life.

[mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork]

ZOMBIE THREAD ALERT!