Spay tips?

[puppygalore]

Hi all, my Lab is being spayed next week. I wondered if anyone had any top tips for me to help her recovery or any essentials you found helped yours.

I'm not really sure what to expect and the info from the vet doesn't say much about the time spent at home. I've read various things online but they all seem to be about smaller dogs. Things like will I need to find a giant onesie to cover the stitches, will she need more regular toilet trips (she's a champion bladder holder currently!), will she wear a cone for the full 2 weeks to recover and if so how does she sleep comfortably?

Thanks so much if anyone can advise or point me to a good uk site for info.

Following w interest. Advice has changed since my last dog, so my standard poodle won't be spayed till after her second season (which has just started at 19 months) and I'm finding up to date information hard to come by for a bigger, older dog.
Old instructions used to be immediately they hit six months as I recall.

Hopeful bump for the evening doghouse folks...

Check what kind of collar your vet gives. Mine gave a nice soft one which seemed relatively comfortable and I could bend back when she was sleeping. My friend had a stiff collar which looked very uncomfortable. You can buy soft ones online. None of the vet vests fitted my dog so we had to have a collar.

Apart from that I’ve no other too tips really. My dog was very sorry for herself for a couple of days and then perked up. I kept her topped up on her pain killers. We went for short, gentle lead walks from about a week later as she seemed ok and was desperate to get out.

Oh thank you @MrsBungle that's reassuring you did short walks. I was under the impression it was strict rest and had no idea how to keep my girl rested for a full fortnight, she's used to at least 1.5 hour walk per day plus training, games, daycare etc.

We used the babygro, and she was a little angel about not touching her stitches. The poor thing was doped out of her tree on pick up, and we had to carry her to the car and then to the house.

She needed tramadol for the pain for days. It's essentially a major abdominal surgery, so it's very painful for them.

No one warned us about her first poo though - she was clearly in agony trying to bear down which makes sense with the cutting of the stomach muscles 😭. She didn't poo until day 3.

I had to syringe water into her mouth the first day, she struggled to wee at all the first few days. However, she's also a 27kg drama queen, so hopefully you'll have fewer issues!

And yes, short on lead walks were fine. Slowly building them up. She's a sprinter and did NOT want to go out for a week!

My staffy didn't have a cone or collar. The vet put a giant clear sticky plaster thing on the incision, and we left it until it fell off.

It was quite thick and seemed to protect the wound from scratching and licking. Brilliant thing. I don't know why they aren't standard.

My old girl didn’t have a collar either. The vet had put her in a sort of doggy baby grow that fastened on with poppers, soft jersey type material. Possibly with her legs being so short a collar would be a nuisance for tripping over for her. It was brilliant.
She isn’t tiny, 37lb, Skyes are big dogs on short legs & it had been an emergency spay after pyometra , not spayed young as she was one of my show dogs ( Champion) . As ill as she’d been I was surprised just how quickly she recovered. She felt sorry for herself for a couple of days but then was more or less back to her usual self, eating, drinking & peeing normally though she did struggle a bit with poos for about a week. I kept her on a fairly sloppy diet to help with that. Just toddling round the garden for the first week then slow, gentle, short lead walks, just 15 minutes or so, for the second week till the stitches came out.

Our vets had a doggy baby grow ‘surgical suit’ so we didn’t need to worry about that
I phoned ahead and checked. Think it cost a bit more than a cone but she would have been too miserable in the cone I think.

Our girl was v lethargic for a few days after, so I mostly just let her sleep. I had lots of nice chews in and made sure we were around the house all the time so she was never left unattended.

I can’t say I noticed the more frequent toilet trips, but we just took her out on a lead and it was fine.

It’s more a few days in when they’re perking up again - then I had loads of puzzle treats, chews, did lots of training and then eventually doing little walks around the block.
And I had to put a barrier around the sofa and keep her away from the stairs so she didnt try to jump up

Lab mix here. Spayed at about 18 months. A bit nauseous the evening of but the next day you wouldn’t have known any different which was fun trying to keep her still! Also was being a drama queen about going to the loo. We gave her ice cubes to up her fluid and eventually she did do but vet said to not let it go on too long. We tried to take her on gentle walks but she became so excited seeing her doggy neighbour pals that we had to keep her in. In terms of sleeping I out a few different surfaces out, her bed, duvet, towels etc and she eventually found somewhere to be comfortable although she wasn’t happy with the cone.

Thanks so much for your comments everybody, they've really helped me and given me somewhere to start. I spoke to the vet and they're ordering her a soft cone so if I'd not rang ahead she'd have just been in a standard firm one, I'm so glad of your replies!

@SoddingWeddings mine is about a 27kg drama queen too, so def not looking forward to it. I'll have to get DH to heave her into the car as I can't lift her and she won't be allowed to jump up to her travel crate.

@Missfelipe that's such a good idea about the ice for fluid, she's rubbish at drinking enough at the best of times. And the idea of offering the different surfaces, thanks. I'll have a think about what I have available for her. If I give her any kind of blanket or bed in her crate currently she'll always push it to one side (or eat it) and just wants just the metal base, or wants to lie on the hard kitchen laminate floor. So she might like a softer surface for once. I was wondering if she might like to come to bed with me, but then it's the issue of getting her up and down for the loo and she's not a snuggly sleeper whatsoever.

@Nogardenersworld I hadn't thought about her jumping up to sofas etc. I can't really bar her from her chair or our sofa so will have to play that by ear.

@Darklane that's a very good point about sloppy foods for making poos easier, I'll make sure to get some in as she's normally just on kibble and they're pretty solid.

Thanks again everyone, you've all been so helpful.

Honestly. Don't do it. There's been a mountain of research recently showing a full spay is NOT the best option for your dog. Whilst they can protect against some conditions, there is increasing evidence that spaying dogs and removing their hormones is responsible for a lot worse, and potentially life limiting issues in later life.

Take some time to look up OSS or ovary sparing spay. You'll be glad you did.

My advice would be to pay a little extra and have it done by keyhole surgery. Our youngest dog was done a year ago, and the difference in recovery was massive. She had no stitches at all, didn't react to pain at all like our previous dogs have - she was just sleepy that day, and a bit the next, then after that she was 100% back to normal. I will always have it done keyhole in future.

It does depend on the size of the dog whether keyhole is an option though. Ours is too small unfortunately.

Oh, and I have always had female dogs over the years, many of them, as we have multiple dogs at a time. We have always speyed them. And to date (touches wood frantically) we have had no Spey related issues, and all our dogs have lived to pretty old ages. I'm not saying that problems never occur, but having worked in vets, and owned many dogs, I have seen far more dogs with problems as a result of not speying, than problems in speyed dogs.

@Treacletoots thanks for your opinion but I have researched and on our vet's advice this is the best way to go for her.

Unfortunately @Gigglebiscuit keyhole is not an option at our vets or at any of our local surgeries. I was hoping to get it done that way originally but our vet told us it's not an option without a referral for an extreme circumstance.