[medmom2002]

Hi,
Our dog had his neuter on Tuesday (2 days ago). He has refused to walk or stand since the procedure. I carry him out every few hours, and while outside, he limps a few steps, pees while sitting, and just stays sitting except may be a few steps. His lower body is shaking--I am assuming from pain, when trying to stand or walk. At home, he just lays down, does not even get up to eat or drink.
The vet says this could be normal since he is not a puppy. Has anyone seen this? When do we expect things to get better? Does not want to eat or play. I force him to drink, but that's about it.:afraid:

 

[PoodlePowerBC]

This does not seem right to me! 2 days seems enough time to recover from a neuter.

 

[Debra J]

This does not seem right to me either. I have never heard anyone say this before and never experienced this with any of my dogs. My spoo Khyber I had neutered when he was 2 yrs old and he was fine. Did you bring your dog back to the vet or call him? Did your vet give you any pain medicine? Use your instincts even if you have to bring him to an emergency walk in vet just to get a second opinion. Our dogs rely on us to be their voice. When my dog Khyber was diagnosed with Addison's I called my vet and she told me that my dog had blood work a month prior that where normal. I spoke up with a determined voice that there was something wrong with my dog, and then she said come right over i'll wait. Thank goodness I did his kidneys were shutting down. So that's why I tell you to use your gut instincts.


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[julietcr1]

This is not normal, Sushi was neutered 2 weeks ago at 12 months old and the same day he could sit and walk. The next day he was jumping on the sofa and trying to play with my older dog. I would bring him to a vet to have him check, he could be in a great pain.

I know Sushi had a 24 hours pain killer shot before leaving the vet clinic.

 

[Chagall's mom]

I don't know what instructions your vet gave you for post-op pain management, or what he told you to expect. But I would not be shy about speaking with him again to get some clarification. How old is your poodle? My mpoo was neutered young and never showed any signs of pain, other than finding me to be a pain for limiting his activity while he healed.

I googled to see what advice might be out there and found this. I sure hope your boy if feeling better soon!

Male Dog Neutering - all you need to know.
Pain after surgery (common).
It is not uncommon for dogs to show some signs of mild to moderate discomfort and pain immediately after having a desexing surgery. It stands to reason: the vet has just performed a surgical procedure on a very delicate area of the male body.

Dogs that are in discomfort after desexing will normally show signs suggestive of pain in the groin region. The animal may pant a lot; pace the room (not want to settle); adopt a stiff hind leg gait (these animals are reluctant to move their hind legs much when walking) and refuse to sit down in a normal sitting posture. Some dogs will be irritated by the sutures and/or by the fact that the delicate scrotal skin was shaved (and thus abraded a little) and keep licking the region obsessively (this licking needs to be discouraged by placing an Elizabethan Collar on the dog or a bitterant on the wound - see section 5 on aftercare). Some dogs will even go off their food for a few days after desexing because of the discomfort.....

Most vets send their neutering patients home with a few days of pain relief as a matter of course, however, some vet clinics do not. If you haven't been sent home with any pain relief for your pet and your pet shows signs of pain after surgery, you can return to your vet clinic and request pain relief pills - these will normally be enough to keep your pet comfortable. If your pet is very old or it has compromised kidney or liver function, certain pain medications may not be recommended and other pain relief solutions may need to be found....

If your pet's discomfort lasts more than about 1-3 days after surgery, you should seek advice from your vet. Most pets don't show signs of surgical discomfort beyond about 3 days and pain persisting beyond this point may be a sign of wound infection, suture-line reaction or some other issue.

 

[Mr Babykins Jasper]

My dog did not walk or eat for 24 hours after the procedure. He had to be carried out to pee and then just laid there until he was carried back in. It could be the effects of the anesthetic and pain killers---but I would call and ask.


Please let us know what happens.

 

[medmom2002]

Things are not better

2 days later, and still not really trying to walk.
Went to the vet yesterday, who thought this was stress and pain-related. We took off the cone today after seeing the vet, and Pushkin went right back for incision, before I even could grab and pull him away... having accidents (never happened before) but not peeing outside when we carry him out. In fact, has not peed since 10:30 am... Not playing, not getting up, looking sick... I wonder if he had a problem before neuter that got uncovered? He was a perfect dog until this Tuesday--playful and smart and trained, but we only had him for 3 weeks...

 

[My babies]

Is he on pain meds? If not, I would ask the vet for some.

I don't think it's normal for him to still be in pain after neutering if its been since Tuesday. Gucci was back to his normal self the next evening after the surgery. It was harder to try to get him not to run around and be himself.

Is he eating normally?

 

[PoodlePowerBC]

2 days later, and still not really trying to walk.
Went to the vet yesterday, who thought this was stress and pain-related. He was a perfect dog until this Tuesday--playful and smart and trained, but we only had him for 3 weeks...

Poor guy! I would imagine he'ld be stressed if he was rehomed 3 weeks ago. But dogs are so resilient!
I sure hope you get this figured out How old is your baby-boy?

 

[Abbe gails Mom]

Did the vet put him on any pain meds? If not Ask for a very mild one, start giving him some low sodium warm broth,mine like chicken, beef,&veg.After they start drinking the broth pretty well, I will some times mix a little pediatric electrolyte water in it.Please,don't misunderstand, what Im going tosay, this is just the way I am, if things don't get better very soon, or after all this is said & done, me and that vet, would have a come to Jesus,meating, just in case I might need to find a new vet, that understands me, and my baby.Good luck, hope by the time you get this, your little one is up,& running about. Kay

 

[outwest]

We took off the cone today after seeing the vet, and Pushkin went right back for incision, ...

Aaahhhh....here's the clue right there. The cone. My sister in laws poodle had a cone on when he came back from the vet. He would not eat, would not drink, would not walk and also had to be carried out. She called it the cone of shame. She took it off and luckily he did not bother his sutures at all. Within a couple hours he was up and about.

It's the cone.

 

[katbrat]

Like Outwest said it sounds like the cone is it. The two times we had to use a cone with Lexi, she turned to stone. She would not walk, turn or lay down, she would just stand there. I thought if I gave her time it would change, but it didn't.

 

[petitpie]

How is Pushkin?

 

[Chagall's mom]

2 days later, and still not really trying to walk.
Went to the vet yesterday, who thought this was stress and pain-related. We took off the cone today after seeing the vet, and Pushkin went right back for incision, before I even could grab and pull him away... having accidents (never happened before) but not peeing outside when we carry him out. In fact, has not peed since 10:30 am... Not playing, not getting up, looking sick... I wonder if he had a problem before neuter that got uncovered? He was a perfect dog until this Tuesday--playful and smart and trained, but we only had him for 3 weeks...

medmom2002: Poor Pushkin! He's in a new home and he just had surgery and he feels lousy! I feel for the poor guy. I'm just going to throw out some thoughts because I want to help, they maybe way off the mark, but here goes:

If you can catch even a little bit of urine before it hits the floor, maybe take a fresh sample to your vet for a quick dip stick test to check for a UTI.

Another possibility is simple swelling in the area may be pressing on nerves that are causing him to feel pressure on his bladder. Some kind of anti-inflammatory meds might help with that, you might discuss that with the vet.

Some people have success putting a bitterant like Yuck! around the incision to prevent the dog from fussing with it, but failing that, the cone is the way to go. You could try one of the inflatable dog collars instead to see if it will work for him, but keep your receipt, they don't always.

When did the vet ask to see Pushkin again? And listen, you may like your vet very much and he/she may be terrific, but if you aren't seeing improvement, think about getting a second opinion. Maybe ask your friends which vets they use so you have one lined up.

I hope Pushkin's recovery is already coming along by the time you read this. Wishing him, and you, well!:clover:

 

[Fluffyspoos]

My dogs sulk like the floor is made of glue when they have to be coned. That's still scary though, please keep us updated.

 

[Angl]

Now I'm scared about Max's neutering on 1/22. All of my previous dogs never had cones and never bothered their incisions. I sooo hope they don't send a cone home with Max. I hate those things.

I know they did tell me that he would receive an injection with pain medication that would last 24 hours.


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[CT Girl]

My Aussie was neutered at 12 because he had an enlarged prostrate. He hated the cone but not to the extent of having to be carried two days after the procedure. The first day he was wobbly because he was put under but your dog seems worse. To make sure I would have another vet check him. I hope he starts to feel better soon

 

[Oklahoma]

Now I'm scared about Max's neutering on 1/22. All of my previous dogs never had cones and never bothered their incisions. I sooo hope they don't send a cone home with Max. I hate those things.

I know they did tell me that he would receive an injection with pain medication that would last 24 hours.


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Don't worry at all! I've had dogs my entire life, some poodles and we've also fostered a lot of rescues. We've taken care of about 10 dogs in the last 2 years after being fixed and we've never had a complication! It's a very safe procedure nowadays. Even the older foster dogs we helped through being fixed were resilient and bounced right back. We did have one Lhasa pup that had to wear a cone because she wouldn't leave the incision alone, but she did fine even with the cone.

Complications from the procedure aren't very common so don't stress. Just make sure that you're communicating with your vet and watching your poodle closely afterwards. We always make sure they get a pain injection and then we get some meds to take home, just to be safe. With puppies, they typically don't need much by way of the pain meds. Adult dogs seem experience more pain.

 

[medmom2002]

Hi, everyone,

First of all, thanks to everyone for caring, for suggestions, and for getting involved. Pushkin is very little changed at home. So yesterday, we took him to a friend's house where 4 other dogs live. He had a blast--first, he went running around the yard with them--and peeing and pooping like there never was any problem. Then, he spent the rest of the night lying down, as he does at home--but definitely showling his normal cheerful personality--asking people to pet him and jumping on the couch a few times between walking dragging his legs. I wonder, if you are right and a lot of this is emotional--transition from homeless to shelter to a new unknown home and getting taken to surgery by the family he does not probably trust yet? That and added cone/ pain in spite of daily pain meds. We are going for a second opinion if things at home don't change by Thursday, but that was extremely reassuring. This morning, however, with the cone off and diaper on, he shows no interest in geting out of bed. I wonder if we totally confused him by babying so much last week?

 

[CT Girl]

That is a very positive sign. I am still concerned that he is dragging his legs and that is not an emotional response. Usually your dog should be back to normal after this much time. I hope heck iTunes to improve.