Recovering from surgery

tobyshibatobyshiba
edited May 2008 in Shiba Inu (柴犬)
So, we decided to wait an extra week to neuter Toby, so this past Tuesday he finally got neutered. He wasn't sick anymore ( from last week ), and the procedure apparently went smoothly. I got it done through my work for much cheaper than what the vet had quoted. ( I got it for $95 - excluding the pain meds + collar and the vet wanted $200+ for it )

So, hes been a conehead for the past 3-4 days. When is an okay time to let him run around? Hes been penned up all this week and has his E-collar on and I feel bad. :0 His area was a little swollen the other day, but i'm sure thats just the healing. Everything looks normal, and we've been letting him around the house freely and the stitches seem to be fine in him, no bleeding or anything.

I'm totally extra cautious. Though, a few days ago, he kept making a funny noise. I don't know if its from the collar or what. It sounded like he was snorting snot or something, like when you have too much flem in your throat. It seemed to have stopped and not come as often. We had him on pain meds, and we didn't know if that was doing anything bad to him ...

Just figured I would give an update. xD I'm still around. :)

Comments

  • GreensageGreensage
    edited May 2008
    Brave little Toby,

    I would remove the collar and just monitor him. He may lick and do his normal cleaning; just make sure he does not fixate on it.

    As for the phlegm/snot/snorting sound. When they put him under anesthesia they insert a tube into his throat past his tracheal passage into his lungs. It is quite rough to those soft tissues. It will pass. I remember my own last surgical procedure, afterwards it felt like my throat was ripped up.

    If it appears that his throat is bothering him you might give him a bit of butter to sooth him.

    Goodluck, and Biggest Huggs to Toby.

    Ron and Rudi
  • tobyshibatobyshiba
    edited November -1
    Thank you! That was very helpful. :) I'll be sure to give him time today without the collar on. Its just terrible watching him run into everything and wear it.
  • dlrobertsdlroberts
    edited November -1
    Hehe. Yeah, I know that feeling. Taking the collar off is fine as long as you can keep an eye on him. If you aren't going to be around or are likely to be distracted by something its probably a good idea to keep the collar on until the stitches come out. As for when it's ok to let him run around, with females they say 10-14 days (Lucy was tugging at the leash after 3, but I did my best to hold her back). I suspect with males the recovery time is much less (assuming his testes were both descended) because they don't have to cut as much muscle. I don't want to tell you he's fine to go back to full activity if he isn't so I'll defer to someone on here they has gone through it with a male.

    I'm glad he seems to be recovering well!
  • tsukitsunetsukitsune
    edited November -1
    be wary of taking off the e-collar before you are advised to, he might lick to clean but his licking may affect the healing process your vet has planned for his procedure. I had a foster that after altered had started using a front paw to aggrevate his wound.. slight infection, more pills, all that jazz.

    He is young with many, many days ahead free of the e-collar! He can stick it out!
  • tobyshibatobyshiba
    edited November -1
    Well, I didn't get it done through my vet, so I really don't have a process planned for the heal time. We just got him done during the day, bought an e-collar and some pain meds from my work, and then brought him home at night.

    I let him collar free for a good hour, and he was fine. He was too distracted by everything else to care. He only checked it out once, but he didn't even lick the spot where the stitches are.
  • BradA1878BradA1878
    edited November -1
    wow, sounds like you got a great price!

    *hugs* to Toby, I'm sure he will have a quick recovery!

    ----
  • tobyshibatobyshiba
    edited November -1
    Yeah, i'm sure he will. :) Considering we did it a little early ( 5 mos ). The vet wanted us to wait until late June, and I just couldn't let Toby get too full of himself. I didn't want any aggression to come out of his 'coming of age'. He also was attempting to hump a dog at the dog park a few weeks ago, so I knew I had to get it done ASAP.

    And yup, an excellent price! :) This is where I got it done:
    http://www.affordablespay.com/index.html

    I work at the store there, and I figured it wouldn't hurt to get my dog there than bother with the overpriced vet.
  • HarlowHarlow
    edited November -1
    So glad to hear Toby is doing well after surgery.
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