Standard Spay recovery advice, surgical suit recs?

3105 Views 32 Replies 15 Participants Last post by Oonapup, Jan 24, 2022

Oonapup

Discussion Starter · Jan 6, 2022

Oona is getting spayed on Jan 14 and I'm somewhat nervous about managing her recovery.

Stairs: Our situation is that it is pretty easy to keep Oona off the long staircases in our house, as we already have gates blocking off the basement and the upstairs. But there are small sets of 5-6 steps to get outside either in front or back. Oona is 54 lbs and big, and it's possible for me to lift her but it might be hard for my short arms to carry her in a way that protects her belly. My husband will be able to do it more easily but probably won't be able to do it every time she needs to potty for 2 weeks. In your experience when did it seem safe for them to slowly manage a few steps?

Sleeping: Oona likes to sleep on the back of the sofa. This is probably not safe for her when recovering because she often flips on her back and uses the space between the back cushion and the sofa like a hammock. It can take some effort for her to extract herself from this position which is fine when she's not recovering from surgery. She should probably not be getting on and off the sofa at all, but if at some point this seems safe, I can at least remove the back cushions. I don't know what she will be happiest with if/while she can't have sofa access, maybe the dog bed next to me on the sofa or a mattress on the floor.

I'm considering a surgical suit because if she does need to be crated there is zero chance she will be happy having a cone hitting against the sides/top of her crate. Does anyone have any recommendations or features to look for in a surgical suit? I'm currently looking at the ones that look like vests where their legs stick out.

See less See more

1 - 20 of 33 Posts

PeggyTheParti

· #2 · Jan 6, 2022

Is a ramp an option? If you’ve got a place to store it, you might find it’s useful again at some point. Even for the humans.

Peggy hopped onto the couch herself the day after her spay. I completely freaked out. I even posted about it here as I wondered how to get her down.

I ended up sticking her bed in front of the couch, with a bunch of blankets on it, and she stepped down, no problem.

She also regularly did a single step in our backyard, to get up to her preferred grass patch. She did this from the day of her surgery.

We purchased this surgical suit:

SUITICAL Recovery Suit for Dogs, Black, Medium - Chewy.com

Buy Suitical Recovery Suit for Dogs, Black, Medium at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!

www.chewy.com

And this inflatable collar:

www.chewy.com

CALM PAWS Basic Inflatable Dog Collar, Large - Chewy.com

Buy Calm Paws Basic Inflatable Dog Collar, Large at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!

www.chewy.com

But had no use for either.

We let Peggy gently explore the area around her incision, but if she got too close, we gave her a little ah-ah. That was all she needed. It helped that the incision was the best I’ve ever seen. It healed super fast and clean.

The first night I slept in the living room, on a cot, with camping pads and blankets spread all over the floor for her. She vomited the whole night and it was traumatic for both of us. She was very out of it. We absolutely could not have managed 5-6 stairs together.

For a few nights after that, she slept in the human bed with a leash looped around my husband’s wrist. My husband had no trouble lifting her on and off the bed.

Then (much to her relief) it was back to the crate. No suit, cone, or collar.

See less See more

Reactions: 1

Oonapup

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 7, 2022

PeggyTheParti said:
Is a ramp an option? If you’ve got a place to store it, you might find it’s useful again at some point. Even for the humans.

Peggy hopped onto the couch herself the day after her spay. I completely freaked out. I even posted about it here as I wondered how to get her down. I ended up sticking her bed in front of the couch, with a bunch of blankets on it, and she stepped down, no problem.

She also regularly did a single step in our backyard, to get up to her preferred grass patch. She did this from the day of her surgery.

We purchased this surgical suit:

SUITICAL Recovery Suit for Dogs, Black, Medium - Chewy.com

Buy Suitical Recovery Suit for Dogs, Black, Medium at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!

www.chewy.com

And this inflatable collar:

CALM PAWS Basic Inflatable Dog Collar, Large - Chewy.com

Buy Calm Paws Basic Inflatable Dog Collar, Large at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!

www.chewy.com

But had no use for either.

We let Peggy gently explore the area around her incision, but if she got too close, we gave her a little ah-ah. That was all she needed. It helped that the incision was the best I’ve ever seen. It healed super fast and clean.

The first night I slept in the living room, on a cot, with camping pads and blankets spread all over the floor for her. She vomited the whole night and it was traumatic for both of us. She was very out of it. We absolutely could not have managed 5-6 stairs together.

For a few nights after that, she slept in the human bed with a leash looped around my husband’s wrist. My husband had no trouble lifting her on and off the bed.

Then (much to her relief) it was back to the crate. No suit, cone, or collar.

I don't think a ramp is an option because there is not enough space on our property for it to extend into (it would go across our neighbors' driveway). So I think we will have to carry her in and out for a while.

Basil_the_Spoo

· #4 · Jan 7, 2022

@Raindrops had one for her mpoo boy that had a cute little trap door. My plan was to buy one, but then I kicked the can further down the road and never pulled that trigger on the purchase. But, I'll have to soon.

So, great timing for the question

Reactions: 1

Starla

· #5 · Jan 7, 2022

I have a surgery recovery suit that was pretty inexpensive that I’ve never tried on phoebe. I can try it on her and see what it fits like and report back for Oona if you’d like.

Reactions: 1

For Want of Poodle

· #6 · Jan 7, 2022

We were staying at a trailer when Annie was spayed, about 5 steps down for her to go pee. I carried her in the first day, including getting her in and out of the car,when she was too groggy to manage the steps, and after that I let her walk, but on leash, slowly.

Annie was VERY well banadaged by the vet (many of her clients are outdoor dogs/cats, living in straw filled dog houses, so a cone and supervision isn't happening, and she defaults to a bandage) with heavy duty adhesive bandage. I didn't have to worry about her bugging it until I took of the bandage. I kept it bandaged with rolled gauze and vet wrap and sometimes used a backwards tshirt tied to her collar. Annie hates cones, I only used one for a few hours when she was being very insistent.

After a few days, we went home, and I let her go up stairs to my bedroom, too.

Here's Annie in her silly bandage and diaper looks

www.poodleforum.com

Removing adhesive bandage from poodle fur

As part of Annie's spay, her belly was wrapped in adhesive bandage that needs to be removed this weekend. Our vet likes to do this rather than a cone because a lot of the dogs she treats are outdoor dogs and it keeps the incision clean, she thinks they heal better, and it doesnt usually require...

www.poodleforum.com

www.poodleforum.com

See less See more

Reactions: 1

TeamHellhound

· #7 · Jan 7, 2022

I've had several dogs spayed, and never needed to use a cone or suit on any of them. Even when Leo had her emergency abdominal surgery over Labor Day, she wore the cone out of the hospital and for the ride home, but she had gotten stuck in the car crate and was panicking a bit, so I took it off and never used it again.

Concerning the steps, just keeping her leashed so that she doesn't try running up and down them is probably fine. That's what I do.

The couch... now that I probably would try to avoid letting her do until she's healed up a bit.

Reactions: 1

Misteline

· #8 · Jan 7, 2022

Ev's a boy so no spay, but he definitely was insistent on licking his neuter site. It was easy to dissuade him during the day, but he'd lick at it hard enough to wake me at night. Ended up red and angry looking. The t-shirt trick wasn't enough (might not have done it right), he ended up in a shirt and a cone. A suit would have been less hassle.

Dog Dog supply Pet supply Dog crate Mesh

See less See more

Reactions: 3

Starvt

· #9 · Jan 7, 2022

Stairs are fine for a SPoo as long as they take them slowly, on leash, as soon as she is fully alert. This could be anywhere from immediately after arriving back home, up to 12 or so hours later.
The couch would be a no go. Removing the back cushions plus pushing a bed or similar as a step up could be an option.
The incision protection is so variable, its hard to know ahead of time. Poodles are flexible and smart, some will be persistent and get around or through nearly anything (including chewing through surgical suits!) I think only border collies are worse. Others won't bother at all.
I can tell you that on average, the most irritating days are about 2/3-5, as that's when healing is really taking place plus hair starts to grow and is really itchy.
In many cases the skin will be fully healed in 7 days if you did a good job of preventing licking and excess activity.

On a side note, I bet most PF folks are favorites of their vets. We see so many people who ignore the recommendations (an example- owner of a 4-yr old chihuahua who got spayed asked me why the dog stopped walking less than a quarter of the way on her usual walk that night). I love seeing g how conscientious y'all are.

See less See more

Reactions: 4

WinnieThePoodle

· #10 · Jan 7, 2022

Winnie had a surgical suit for her spay and it was wonderful but I only had the one and didn't think about having to wash it before she was out of it (Duh!)

I went to the local supermarket and bought a pack of cheap baby romper suits and cut the feet off them. She wore them backwards so the poppers were on her back and her tail could stick out at the end. It was really easy to flip the back legs off and let her poop and pee. If I had known they were going to be so effective I would have just bought these instead of the suit. So much cheaper.

Reactions: 1

Oonapup

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jan 7, 2022

WinnieThePoodle said:
Winnie had a surgical suit for her spay and it was wonderful but I only had the one and didn't think about having to wash it before she was out of it (Duh!)

I went to the local supermarket and bought a pack of cheap baby romper suits and cut the feet off them. She wore them backwards so the poppers were on her back and her tail could stick out at the end. It was really easy to flip the back legs off and let her poop and pee. If I had known they were going to be so effective I would have just bought these instead of the suit. So much cheaper.

I think I'd need a romper/PJ for like a 12 year old to fit my clydesdale of a poodle! But not a bad idea to check out.

Reactions: 2

WinnieThePoodle

· #12 · Jan 7, 2022

Oonapup said:
I think I'd need a romper/PJ for like a 12 year old to fit my clydesdale of a poodle! But not a bad idea to check out.

Ah yes I hadn't thought about the difference in size

Oonapup

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jan 7, 2022

Oona was very compliant with her heat diapers and left them and herself alone when they were on even though she licked a lot when they were off. So I have hope that she will not chew through her suit. I ordered this, hope it will fit. Can try the T-shirt trick as well:
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08P4W81HH...KaS&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_1_img&th=1

Oonapup

Discussion Starter · #14 · Jan 7, 2022

Good to hear that standards may be able to manage stairs slowly sooner than I thought. Lifting her is totally possible in the short term with my husband's help (and certainly we would make it work as long as she needs) but my arms are too short and not strong enough to be confident carrying her myself, I worry it would be more dangerous than having her go slowly herself.

Reactions: 1

I_love_dogs

· #15 · Jan 7, 2022

I tried a surgical suit with Loki after his neuter/gastropexy. He came pretty close to figuring out how to unsnap it. I think if I had used it more, he would have.
Mine was machine washable, but could not go in the dryer. It took almost a day to dry. He managed to get it wet licking it so I had to go back to the cone. While I was waiting for it to dry, it started raining and didn't stop for multiple days so we stuck with the cone.
I kept him in his playpen for the first week. When the pain medicine stopped, he decided that it was time to escape his playpen. I started allowing stairs at that point so he could sleep in my room as normal. He limited himself to going up slowly until after his stitches came out. That may have been the cone. He was a lot more cautious when it was on vs the surgical suit. However, he could lick his back stitches with the cone on, but he didn't do it much.

See less See more

Reactions: 1

Oonapup

Discussion Starter · #16 · Jan 14, 2022

Ok poodle friends, Oona’s spay is tomorrow. She’s had her last supper and I will bring her to the vet’s tomorrow between 8-8:30 am and will pick her up later in the day when they’re done. I have a surgical suit for her and I think I will sleep with her on the main floor for the first night at least. I practiced lifting her and I’ll be able to do it for in and out of the car but I don’t possess sufficient size or strength to do staircases safely. I hope tomorrow isn’t too rough on my sweet girl. Hold our hand/paw!

Dog Comfort Carnivore Dog breed Grey

See less See more

Reactions: 5

Happy'sDad

· #17 · Jan 14, 2022

Good luck. Hope all goes well. We'll be waiting for good news.

Reactions: 1

94Magna_Tom

· #18 · Jan 14, 2022

I'll be biting my nails waiting on the good news! Be strong!

Reactions: 1

Oonapup

Discussion Starter · #19 · Jan 14, 2022

Heard from the vet at 11:30 am, and everything went great - she is sitting up and looking around. They'll keep her till 4 so the anesthesia wears off, so that's when I will go pick her up. Luckily I had extremely boring performance review documents to put together for my yearly review, so that helped distract me most of the morning. The vet tech says stairs will be fine as long as she goes slowly.

Reactions: 5

Skylar

· #20 · Jan 14, 2022

That’s great news. Hope her recovery is smooth and pain free

Reactions: 1

1 - 20 of 33 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.