Memories of Dog Surgeries
Someone on a message board was talking about getting their dog back from surgery today, and I got to reminiscing:
I sure know that relief! My vet used to keep the dogs overnight, but he started letting mine come home when I kept asking--and even one time took my dog to her breeder's husband, also a vet, because HE would send her home same day!
Veterinary anesthetics have changed and they can bring them up out of it faster. And yes, most vets have no night-time staff, so your dog is unattended down there overnight. I think at my vet's office they leave about 6:30 p.m., check the animals around 10 p.m. (maybe that's only when they have certain types of treatments being done--I don't know) and then someone is in around 7 a.m. If they have a dog who needs overnight hospital care, it stays at a different place, and may or may not be transported back to the vet's office in the morning.
I think it's only a matter of time until our vets will have to start clustering their offices around hospitals that have overnight care facilities as well as equipment too expensive for a vet practice to buy, such as MRI. Meanwhile human care is being done in little clinics and doctor's offices instead of hospitals! One difference, though, is that a family member can often stay with the person around the clock if they need to be watched. You usually can't do that in a vet hospital. A human staying overnight is in a bed. A dog is in a cage. It's a dilemma for us doting dog mommies.
One time my dog did have a complication from spay surgery. It was when the vet still kept them overnight. She came home the next day and while drinking water standing quietly at her dish, began to drip blood onto the kitchen floor from the abdominal incision. The vet had me bring her back and he put on a pressure bandage and kept her overnight. She came back home with it still on, looking like a dog who had been wounded in the war. And dirty. I called and asked him if she was ill. He was upset that his staff had not cleaned her better. He said the stress from having to come back and spend another night had given her diarrhea.
I had another dog I had been to class with and had had her for 10 months when she was spayed and I brought her home the same day. She had a rough flight coming to me at 7 months of age, and felt stressed by a crate because of that for the rest of her life. Vet had said to keep her in a crate. She kept throwing up in there, and crying very softly as if trying not to disturb anyone.
I took her out to potty, lifted her onto the bed and settled with her back against my side and her head on my arm while I propped up my upper body to read. She turned her head back over her shoulder to look into my eyes with a look that said she was my dog now. And she was. It was a profound moment of bonding we would have missed if she had stayed overnight at the vet's. And heck, she might have been so sick from stress the next day that she'd have had to stay another night!
She was my first Belgian Tervuren and looked so much like Believer that it's hard to tell them apart in photographs. I also got Believer at that same age of 7 months. Star was just as good at working around other dogs as Believer is, too. I've been blessed with some great dogs.
When our male Saint was neutered way back in 1983, the vet sent him home the same day (neuters are less invasive than spays). I was working, so hubby picked him up. When I got home he had Saint settled on the sofa like a person with a pillow under his head.
As far as keeping them quiet after surgery, that can be a big challenge. I joke that I had to sit on Star for 10 days, but it's practically true. I mostly kept her on a leash either with me or tethered to heavy furniture in the room I was in. But that's not as bad as when Saint had spleen surgery and had to be so very still so he wouldn't bleed to death while young Spirit also had her spay so she wouldn't go in heat overexcite him. I was running a doggy hospital. So he wouldn't go wild at the sound, I put a sign on the front door not to ring the bell, but to call me instead--and I put my phone number there!
That restricted activity is hard work for the dog mom! It pays off, though. They heal faster and they heal better. It's also good bonding time, because they seem to think you're keeping them near you because you need them. It's a very sweet time.
I sure know that relief! My vet used to keep the dogs overnight, but he started letting mine come home when I kept asking--and even one time took my dog to her breeder's husband, also a vet, because HE would send her home same day!
Veterinary anesthetics have changed and they can bring them up out of it faster. And yes, most vets have no night-time staff, so your dog is unattended down there overnight. I think at my vet's office they leave about 6:30 p.m., check the animals around 10 p.m. (maybe that's only when they have certain types of treatments being done--I don't know) and then someone is in around 7 a.m. If they have a dog who needs overnight hospital care, it stays at a different place, and may or may not be transported back to the vet's office in the morning.
I think it's only a matter of time until our vets will have to start clustering their offices around hospitals that have overnight care facilities as well as equipment too expensive for a vet practice to buy, such as MRI. Meanwhile human care is being done in little clinics and doctor's offices instead of hospitals! One difference, though, is that a family member can often stay with the person around the clock if they need to be watched. You usually can't do that in a vet hospital. A human staying overnight is in a bed. A dog is in a cage. It's a dilemma for us doting dog mommies.
One time my dog did have a complication from spay surgery. It was when the vet still kept them overnight. She came home the next day and while drinking water standing quietly at her dish, began to drip blood onto the kitchen floor from the abdominal incision. The vet had me bring her back and he put on a pressure bandage and kept her overnight. She came back home with it still on, looking like a dog who had been wounded in the war. And dirty. I called and asked him if she was ill. He was upset that his staff had not cleaned her better. He said the stress from having to come back and spend another night had given her diarrhea.
I had another dog I had been to class with and had had her for 10 months when she was spayed and I brought her home the same day. She had a rough flight coming to me at 7 months of age, and felt stressed by a crate because of that for the rest of her life. Vet had said to keep her in a crate. She kept throwing up in there, and crying very softly as if trying not to disturb anyone.
I took her out to potty, lifted her onto the bed and settled with her back against my side and her head on my arm while I propped up my upper body to read. She turned her head back over her shoulder to look into my eyes with a look that said she was my dog now. And she was. It was a profound moment of bonding we would have missed if she had stayed overnight at the vet's. And heck, she might have been so sick from stress the next day that she'd have had to stay another night!
She was my first Belgian Tervuren and looked so much like Believer that it's hard to tell them apart in photographs. I also got Believer at that same age of 7 months. Star was just as good at working around other dogs as Believer is, too. I've been blessed with some great dogs.
When our male Saint was neutered way back in 1983, the vet sent him home the same day (neuters are less invasive than spays). I was working, so hubby picked him up. When I got home he had Saint settled on the sofa like a person with a pillow under his head.
As far as keeping them quiet after surgery, that can be a big challenge. I joke that I had to sit on Star for 10 days, but it's practically true. I mostly kept her on a leash either with me or tethered to heavy furniture in the room I was in. But that's not as bad as when Saint had spleen surgery and had to be so very still so he wouldn't bleed to death while young Spirit also had her spay so she wouldn't go in heat overexcite him. I was running a doggy hospital. So he wouldn't go wild at the sound, I put a sign on the front door not to ring the bell, but to call me instead--and I put my phone number there!
That restricted activity is hard work for the dog mom! It pays off, though. They heal faster and they heal better. It's also good bonding time, because they seem to think you're keeping them near you because you need them. It's a very sweet time.
posted by Kathy Diamond Davis | 3:33 AM
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