[Islander]

Well I'm not sure which of us had a worse day today... Ziva or me! :-\

Had to drop off my baby girl at the vet's office this morning for her to be spayed. I was a wreck. She means the world to me and just knowing that she was going to go thru the surgery made me want to sit down and bawl.
I know I know I was being overly protective.

We love our vet and all his assistants but still leaving her there just about did me in. Well I got to pick her up at 3:30 this afternoon and she did fine.
She slept all the way home, even while I had to sit in 45 minutes of traffic to get up and over the bridge to get back on island. (It's peak tourist season here right now )

I got her out of the Jeep and she wobbled over to the grass and managed to squat to pee and then up the stairs we went. She came in and went right to one of her beds and basically has remained there. They gave her a shot of pain meds before sending her home so I guess she'll be pretty much out of it until tomorrow. Then the fun begins, trying to keep her calm for several days! No running, jumping or stretching, as in counter surfing.

It's just so odd seeing her so sedate - then she looks up at me with those
sad eyes, like what did you let them do to me mom?! :-[

Well at least the worst part is over and now the healing can begin.

 

[Sahara]

I'm glad Ziva made it through surgery well. When Tizane went in for hers, I was a wreck too. My hubby picked her up because I was working and he told me she was okay, but I wasn't good until I got to wrap my arms around her when I got home. Tizane went through this four months ago and keeping her calm...yeah right. She was back to her boisterous self about ten to twelve hours after her surgery. We ended up going back to vet for sedatives that worked about 25% of the time. She would kick back for a while and then get up and try to sprint out the door. Seven to ten days feels like a long time to keep her calm, but she's trying to heal on the inside so it's important. Just try to get her lay around with you some during the day and take her for short leisurely walks. Not as much fun as running at breakneck speed I'll admit, but better for her in the long run. Good luck with her.

 

[Crazy Kian]

Good luck to you.
I know when we picked up Kian from his surgery which was not a routine surgery, he just ran right for us when he saw us. It's like nothing had happened to him.
So, from the day we brought him back he was raring to go, it was strange. We thought he would have been in some pain or at least discomfort.

In a day or two she will be back to normal, then the fun begins trying to keep her relaxed and restraining her from going full V speed.

 

[gunnr]

She'll be right as rain in no time.

This is actually a prime opportunity to do some close bonding and leash reinforcement work.
She'll be on the leash for the next 2 weeks to go out and do her stuff. It's an excellent opportunity.

 

[Tali]

Jemma has an appointment on April 19 and I am so scared.

 

[Islander]

Thanks all for the support I'm telling you it's hard being a doggie mom! Especially when you are a really emotional sappy pet owner like me. HA!

Ziva did well through the night.... was still semi-out of it... but let me tell you she is getting back to normal quickly. Trying to keep her CALM is now the tall order for the next 10 days! ughhh :

She has licked all the Betadine off the incision but hasn't pulled on stitches at all....and she's moving around much quicker as opposed to her pathetic wobbling when I brought her home yesterday after the surgery. Her eyes are bright and ornery again so that makes me feel much better.

I keep telling her no jumping around, no running and no counter surfing and stretching herself out... she just looks at me like - YEAH RIGHT MOM.... YOU DO REMEMBER WHO YOU'RE TALKING TO DON'T YOU?!!!!! It's like she's saying, Repeat after me... I am an 8 month old Vizsla with energy to burn.... yea they cut me open and removed some parts but heck that was yesterday, this is today, let's have some fun!!!

Ziva with her Mr. Bill doll ....

 

[Crazy Kian]

sorry, couldn't resist ;D

 

[gunnr]

Islander

She does have an Elizabethan Collar doesn't she? Watch her around those stitches, they can get them out quite quickly. If they're whip stitched she just has to get one undone and the rest will unravel. They don't look like whip stitches from your photo though.
Tika got at her stitches 6 days after her spaying, and we got to start all over again.
Gunnr just got done with 17 days in an Elizabethan Collar. She needed surgery on her foot.

Vizsla's, sheesssh.

 

[Islander]

HA!! Love the Mr. Bill ..... and yes this crazy doll that she was given for Christmas does yell ..... Ohhhhhhh Nooooooooo Ohhhhhhhh Nooooooo
every time Ziva squeezes him..... My husband and I still laugh when she does it.... I know it's stupid but ya just can't help yourself! And she delights in running through the house making him yell!

Shhhhhhh - it's 7:45 p.m. here and dark now and she is actually curled up on the sofa here in my home office snoozing. About an hour ago she was out on our screened balcony rolling around a coconut she had found the other day in the Mangroves between our house and the canal. Let me tell you this girl can husk a coconut getting down to the actual round coconut faster than any human can I think!

 

[sarahaf]

Rosie had her surgery on the 12th. She wasn't having the Elizabethan collar, and ultimately we (probably foolishly) decided to try close supervision instead (one of us has been home with her at all times). I shopped around for a more tolerable substitute, but didn't have much luck finding one until she was already past most of the danger (now we have the fabric comfy cone in case of future surgeries). We were fortunate, she only licked there briefly very occasionally, no chewing or obsessive licking. She was kept overnight for night 1, then sent home. Perfectly normal energy from the get-go, you'd never know she was post-op. It's been crazy having her home from day care and full of zip. I too was very scared on surgery day until I knew she'd come through okay. She's healing up quite well.

 

[barrel browner]

Glad to hear all good stories on this sudject Have all your V's had their first season? Purdey will be 10 months on the 25th and showing no signs yet ???... Our vet would like her to have her first season but I must admit I am forever looking out for the signs and worrying when of leash just in case she is comin into it and a male dog shows tooooooo much attention shall we say!!

 

[Islander]

In answer to your question - no Ziva did not come into season before she was spayed. Our vets here prefer they do not ....

She has done quite well and did not wear a 'collar' of any sort. I am home with her as I work from home, but she really never bothered the stitches at all. She did lick off the betadine but other than that she hasn't bothered the area. Every now and then I might look over and see her raise her leg - to think about licking and I just tell her to 'leave it' and down goes the leg The big thing has been keeping her from running and jumping and acting crazy since that is what a Vizsla is all about :

So we are anxiously awaiting Friday when we go back in to the vet for her
to be check and have her stitches removed. Oh and she got to come home the same day as her surgery which seemed to be easier on both of us.

 

[sarahaf]

I think there was wisdom at some point that it would be better if the dog has had one season, but to my understanding, currently the spay is mostly done earlier. Rosie is 9 months now, no signs of sexual maturity before her surgery (although I must admit, we were curious to see the changes with maturation--because the V's have short hair, you can kind of see how everything is anatomically right down to the belly button--so human-like--and I did notice a little bit of what looked like darker "pubic" hair ? growing in around the genital area).

P.S. Ziva looks a lot like Rosie. She's pretty. I'm very vain about Rosie's looks

 

[Shivangi]

Imli is going in for her surgery on Monday!! And I've been conjuring up all sorts of scenarios where things would go wrong! I need to constantly remind myself that its a regular surgery and nothing complicated is likely to happen.

Our vet recommends not putting her on pain meds. This to me seems a little cruel but I understand her argument that Imli will feel comfortable enough to run if she's put on pain meds.
Have any of you tried this? She has no idea what's coming and it kind of makes me feel very guilty! :'(

 

[sarahaf]

I've certainly heard the perspective that lack of pain may cause dogs to be more active. On the other hand, I've also heard that discomfort may trigger a dog going after the lesion (chewing, licking). We were given pain meds for Rosie (just anti-inflammatories, no narcotics) and she did fine. She was fairly active, but her incision healed okay. If you're uncomfortable with it, you could voice that to your vet and ask if he/she would settle on a compromise of pain meds for the first couple of days only. And be sure your dog wears that cone so she doesn't lick or chew.

Sarah

P.S. The good thing about a spay operation is that every vet has done a ton of these procedures, so they're all pretty experienced with it.