Dog being castrated today…

[BonosToupee]

I’m a ridiculously soft dog Mum who feels like the worst person on the planet at the moment.

Before anyone has a go at me, it’s a vets recommendation as one hasn’t descended. I’ve left him until he’s 21 months to fully mature.

Has anyone got any words of wisdom to make me feel better? I’m worried about his recovery as he’s really high energy and bounces around like a nutter. He usually sleeps on the bed with me, but I’ve been told no stairs or jumping. I don’t know how I’ll keep him off the sofa, he likes to lie on the back of it to look out of the window.

Poor lad. Apart from it not descending, there was absolutely no reason to have it done 🙁.

You’re getting it done because you’re a responsible pet owner. He will be fine

My dog had no down time save the day it was done. I walked him on lead from the following day and he was off lead again within 3 days. I kept a close eye of the stitches and kept it clean. Not many dogs can put up with not going out for days on end and mine cant cope for 24hours. I took the view that if i keep walking, training etc then he wont get the chance to go stir crazy and then pull some daft manouevre when finally released that would pop stitches.

I didnt limit sofa, bed or stairs access at all.

I feel like this when I have the feral cats done. The boys all just jump back out of the carrier, run to their gang and get serious cat attentions all day and are back to normal within 48 hours. The girls get a brief stay in a warm room but no way would I put a cone or anything on them as it would drive them wild and I'd never catch them again to take it off so they just have to be contained as long as I can and then let free again. The momma cat who had 10 kittens in 2023 was released after one night as she was going bananas being contained even in a large shed with food, water and a warm heat mat on tap.

They are all so much happier and calmer afterwards.

If you don’t want him fully castrated , they can remove just the undescended one and leave him with testosterone from the remaining testicle, which is more important if he is a large breed, prone to skeletal issues.

If they are opening him up to remove a testicle, recovery will be slightly longer. You could try putting cushions etc against the sofa so he is stepping, rather than jumping down.

We converted the sitting room into one massive ‘crate’ using cushions from the outdoor furniture to prevent any jarring.

All of that said, neutering is routine in this country and does prevent unwanted litters , and I thought it the responsible thing to do given that the area we are in is dog central.

He will be fine. I’d suggest taking him on sniffy lead walks to exercise his brain rather than not take him out (resulting in unwanted zoomies). Also use enrichment toys for feeding, frozen stuffed bones etc to occupy him.

If he's an energetic breed, and large, they can give you medication to sedate him for a few days/weeks after. That's what my local vets do for Labs and Goldies or similar breeds when they castrate - because bigger (energetic) breeds are more at risk of doing damage to themselves afterwards. And the damage they can do can be significant (both to the dogs recovery and your bank balance)

We’ve had 2 big energetic golden retrievers castrated our first one also had an undecended testicle so they had to go looking for it he was quite sore after and had to go back for extra pain relief and was like a cuddly bear for days - I was also due baby no3 at the time so lifting him in the car was fun. No 2 was fine, he was sore but fine made him a nice cosy bed and kept him confined for a few days. It’s hard seeing them sore but it’s worth it. The cats on the other hand, my goodness slithered out of their suits and were maniacs

He’s a cocker spaniel, so not large but very hyper. People keep saying it’ll calm him down, but I like him spanieling and living his best life.
I’m going to take @Deargadvice and am busy trying to convert the lounge into a large dog crate. I’ll sleep downstairs with him tonight and see how he gets on.
Thank you all for taking the time to respond x

I had my best boy done because he is quite fond of me and would ejaculate when I arrived back.
The worst thing for me was his little whimpering noises.
I comforted myself with the knowledge that he wouldn't get testicular cancer and there's a reduction of incidences of prostate and anal cancer

I have a castrated cocker spaniel , yours isn't 2 yet so he is still a bit bonkers. Mine so sleeps upstairs the first 2 nights dh carried him up and down. You might need to lift him if you are worried about stitches, he will.come away with a cone or a recovery suit mine hated the suit because you have to un button to.pee, we didn't walk ours for 2 or 3 days he was fine tbf then it was on lead walks

Your dog will have metacam so it might settle him a bit, can you get a foldaway step so he can get on the bed?

Mine still spaniels about he just doesn't pee on every blade of grass or oversniff females in the park, he is more settled now though

This will be a bit more complex than a normal castration as they may have to root around to find what they're looking for. It's hard to advise on aftercare till you know what they actually do. Google 'crate games' for ideas on how to tire a dog out mentally while keeping them physically quiet.

You don't get a dog or a cat neutered so it makes your life easier or better because it calms them down.
You do it to be a responsible pet owner.
So that we don't end up with more unwanted babies that are not being properly cared for, so that beautiful adoptable animals have to be killed because the shelters are full and they can only have so many there.
You do it because they can't get cancer in organs they don't have.
You do it so that they will have a better life (they won't go through the aggression and sexual one mindedness that causes many animals to try to break out of the house in the spring when the unffixedfemales are in heat... Get into fights, Roam farther than they should, get hit by cars...)
I hope that makes you feel better

I had my bitch spayed. I felt terrible when I left her at the vets but I knew it was for the best. She soon recovered and all was well.

You’re a good dog mum, doing the right thing.