Spalko - Delilah is getting Spayed!

MrsSheeler518 · July 2012

Hello! I was wondering if you could give me any advice as to how to prepare for Delilah getting spayed..

What should I have ready for when she is done with her procedure? I feel so bad for putting her through this, and she is definitely my baby, so I just want to make her as comfortable as possible.

She is also getting declawed at the same time. Our vet offers laser for that, so I feel more comfortable with doing that.

Thanks for any and all advice

comeongetdown · July 2012

i'm assuming it's similar for puppies and kittens (not a vet.. so i don't know). my vet didn't really give me any prep advice (that i can remember) but i do remember that my puppy took a while to recover afterwards. i gave her the pain meds as often as the vet would let me, and she mostly just slept. poor thing looked soooo sad, it broke my heart.

i scheduled the surgery for a thursday (we had fridays off at that office) so i could pick her up afterwards and spend a full three days with her before going back to work. by the time i went back monday she was acting well enough so that i didn't feel bad leaving her alone, of course, i came home at lunch to check on her.

for the most part she just needed the time to recover, so if you have any other pets you might want to keep them away so she's not bothered or stressed out. i hope surgery goes well for her!!

spalko · July 2012

Hi!

Good choice on doing both surgeries at the same time, no point in putting her through the anesthetic twice. I would definitely do the laser for the surgeries if at all possible but doing it for the declaw is really great. Laser surgery causes less pain, less bledding and less chances of infection so it's a good thing to go that route. Is the hospital keeping her for a night after the surgery? We typically keep declaw patients for 24 hours just to make sure there is no bleeding and to keep them medicated.

You'll want to get a non-clay litter for when she comes home. You can get Yesterdays News (its shredded paper) or you can get plastic beads at most pet supply stores. The clay can get into the paws and cause infection so you want something that won't stick in there. She may not want to eat when she gets home so don't be alarmed, just have stuff available for her and she'll come around eventually. You'll want to watch her with jumping onto and off of stuff because you don't want her spay incision to come apart or get infected, watch her with licking the incision too. Most animals leave them alone but some animals are really bothered by them. The best thing you can do for her is to just love her up. The first couple days she might be more lazy or hide than usual but she'll come around eventually. Just keep an eye on her and make sure to continue with the pain meds and anitbiotics even if it looks like she doesn't need them anymore.

She'll do great during the surgery and if the vet offers additional pain meds, I would opt for them. Declaw surgery is quite painful, imagine taking off your first knuckle then walking on it! She'll be just fine and just give her lots of extra loving afterwards. Keep an eye on her incision for redness and swelling but I don't think she'll have any problems. If you have any questions, just ask at your vet. It's what they get paid to do and they shouldn't mind answering a few questions for a concerned mama! I'll be keeping Dalilah (and you) in my thoughts