Post Spaying Recommendations

[Hondo]

Hi Everyone,

With much trepidation I have decided to have my 16 month old female lab spayed next week on July 20th. I don't plan on breeding her and I would like to be able to hunt her without worry of her going into heat. However, I have also read how having a dog spayed can cause urinary incontinence as well as other possible side effects. So I am concerned about having the surgery done.

My 2 questions are: how long until a gun dog can return to normal activities? and what should I do post-surgery to help my dog fully recover? I was hoping to take her to my trainer's facility for the month of August, so that she would be in top physical condition and tuned-up for pheasant hunting in September. Is 11 days from the date of surgery to the 1st of August enough time for my dog to heal before she starts getting in hunting shape. Obviously my concern is for the health and safety of my dog, so I want to do everything possible for her to have a speedy recovery.

Since having a gun dog, I have learned that many times the advice a vet gives is for "average" dogs. The advice is not always for "gun dogs" that are trained, feed, and conditioned to be canine athletes that are expected to go full throtle for hours at a time.

-Hondo

[Sharon]

Those symptoms are caused by the surgeon sometimes. A good surgeon has none of those consequences. Same for women. If the bladder muscle is nicked, incontinence follows.Possibility of an error is rare.

4-6 weeks to return to normal activity, if there is no infection.
Your challenge will be to keep the dog quiet and resting so healing can take place.

Spaying lowers the odds of a bitch getting mammary cancer.

More recent studies have found spaying your dog before her first heat reduces the chances of spay incontinence by almost half.

edit: More recent studies have found spaying your dog before her first heat reduces the chances of spay incontinence by almost half.

[GUNDOGS]

well this is something im familiar with as i have had numerous dogs come to me and got them spayed (rescues) to be honest not all hunting dogs but still active dogs..the stitches stay in for 10-14 days if all heals well, each dog is different you just have to watch YOUR dog and be sure theres no oozing or infection, if all looks good and the stitches get taken out then i still would wait a bit before REAL intense physical activity..although everything is healed outside you want to be sure everything heals inside as well..personally i dont think 11 days is NEARLY long enough but thats JMO....ruth

[Hondo]

I figured 11 days would not be enough time for my dog to be fully healed, but I was hopeful

I sure wasn't expecting a 4 to 6 week recovery time. But I guess it makes sense considering that my dog is having a hysterectomy. Thankfully she is in pretty good shape year around, so maybe it won't take her very long to get into hunting shape.

-Hondo

[Brittguy]

I just had surgery on a dog, the vet wanted to wait 14 days before removing sutures

[Ruffshooter]

Hondo wrote "Thankfully she is in pretty good shape year around,"

I was going to suggest to make sure she is in very good shape before the procedure. Then exercise once the vet says you can.

Rick

[dog dr]

11 days of rest prior to "intense" exercise would be a minimum, but as long as there are no complications like infection, then i dont see why she wouldnt be okay. my dog was back out in the kennel and exercising with the other dogs 2 days after her spay. and how much heavy exercise can she get at a trainer that has other dogs to deal with too? talk to your vet, but i wouldnt be afraid to send my dog.

and as always, I could be wrong, but i think the urinary incontinence side efect in spayed dogs is a hormone (or lack thereof) issue. doesnt have anything to do with the surgeon.

[ezzy333]

I could be wrong, but i think the urinary incontinence side efect in spayed dogs is a hormone (or lack thereof) issue. doesnt have anything to do with the surgeon.

This has always been my understanding also.

Ezzy

[Cajun Casey]

11 days of rest prior to "intense" exercise would be a minimum, but as long as there are no complications like infection, then i dont see why she wouldnt be okay. my dog was back out in the kennel and exercising with the other dogs 2 days after her spay. and how much heavy exercise can she get at a trainer that has other dogs to deal with too? talk to your vet, but i wouldnt be afraid to send my dog.

and as always, I could be wrong, but i think the urinary incontinence side efect in spayed dogs is a hormone (or lack thereof) issue. doesnt have anything to do with the surgeon.

I have a few clients who have pediatric spay dogs from rescue that have incontinence issues that may be surgically induced. The incisions were always in the abdominal muscle, in these cases and the dogs were very young when the procedure was done. The one I have with the problem is definitely hormonal. Hormonal incontinence is more severe.

[shags]

Spay incontinence has to do with urethral/shpincter muscle relaxation, not detrussors. When the sphincter or urethral muscles become too relaxed, urine simply leaks out. If detrussors are insulted, they can spasm and that's more of an urge incontinence where the dog knows she's peeing; or they can be kind of paralysed and that results in not being able to express the bladder.
Bladders can be really touchy and grouchy if they're even a little bit traumatized, but that kind of urinary issue resolves over time, where spay incontinence doesn't.

[Crashola]

I just had my girl spayed and our vet said to wait 10-14 days before any real exercise. She got some short walks around the block starting a couple of days after the surgery. Yesterday -- day 11 -- I took her out and let her run for about 30 minutes with no issues. Her incision area looks fine. Note: She had the type of stitches that do not need to be removed.

[Hondo]

I just had my girl spayed and our vet said to wait 10-14 days before any real exercise. She got some short walks around the block starting a couple of days after the surgery. Yesterday -- day 11 -- I took her out and let her run for about 30 minutes with no issues. Her incision area looks fine. Note: She had the type of stitches that do not need to be removed.

Good to know.

I take my dog in tomorrow for her spaying, and it is my understanding that dissolvable sutures will be used as well. Hopefully, my dog will be doing as well after 11 days.

-Hondo

[Hondo]

It has been 9 days since my dog was spayed and she is doing great.

I plan on taking her to a snake avoidance clinic tomorrow, so it will be her first real outing since she was spayed. It is being held at the pheasant club that I hunt at. I plan on letting her walk/run in the fields before and after the clinic before we head back home.

Hopefully she does well.

-Hondo

[shags]

Yikes! I hope she gets to go to Dairy Queen sometime between the spay trip and the snake trip Don't wanna make her scared of getting in the car with ya

Good luck at the clinic and I bet she'll have a great time getting out after her stint on the DL.