Post Surgical Instructions for Your Pet's Spay
Your pet has received general anesthesia for her spay today. For this reason, you should expect her to be less active than normal for the next 12-24 hours. Furthermore, abdominal surgery causes some pain and discomfort for 2-5 days after surgery which will cause your pet to be less active. If pain medication has been prescribed to relieve her discomfort, please administer the medication as directed. It is usually best to give the medication with food whenever possible.
Although your pet may not be interested in eating tonight, you may offer her food and water after 7:00 p.m. Since general anesthesia can sometimes cause nausea, be sure to offer her one half of her normal meal tonight. Do not be concerned if she won't eat or drink tonight as this is common post-surgical behavior. However, if your pet has not eaten or drank within 24 hours, please call.
Your pet has an incision on her belly. All the sutures are under the skin so you do not need to return for sutures to be removed. Please monitor the incision daily. You should expect to see some redness at the incision site for the first 5-7 days, and you may notice some swelling develop at the incision between 5-10 days after surgery. This is normal tissue reaction and part of the healing process. However, if there is drainage, discoloration, or odor from the incision, please call the office immediately to arrange for a doctor to examine her incision. If your pet is licking at her incision, she may cause irritation or infection. Please call if this occurs so that we may advise you on how to manage this problem.
It is very important to restrict your pet's activity for 7-10 days after surgery to reduce post-surgical complications such as swelling at the incision, breakdown of the incision, or internal bleeding. We recommend that you do no allow your pet to run, chase balls, or play with other pets for 7-10 days. We also suggest that you walk your pet on a leash during this time.
Pets that were spayed while in heat MUST be kept away from intact males for 10 days after surgery. The female will still attract a male and if bred can suffer from internal bleeding.
Your pet can be bathed 7 days after surgery. If the incision gets dirty prior to that time you may gently clean with an antibacterial soap and water and then gently dry the incision.
If you have any other questions, do not hesitate to call.
