# The Big Snip for Ryu! (just caught up with all the threads- whew! ) So, we just got back from the vet where Ryu got his blood taken at his pre-neuter appointment. We've never experienced the Shiba scream to its full extent until today. Boy, was it hard on Mama! Overall, the vet said that he did OK - that he was just fu… ## Thread In Health · started by Ryu · 94 replies - **Category:** [Health](https://nihonken.org/community/c/health) - **Forum:** [Nihon Ken Forum](https://nihonken.org/community/) ## Ryu · 2008-04-14T22:10:58.000Z (just caught up with all the threads- whew! ) So, we just got back from the vet where Ryu got his blood taken at his pre-neuter appointment. We've never experienced the Shiba scream to its full extent until today. Boy, was it hard on Mama! Overall, the vet said that he did OK - that he was just full of nervous energy. They had to muzzle him while they took his temperature because he sort of lunged back at the vet tech at first. The vet said that he seemed most uncomfortable with the restraint part of the ordeal but he did fine with the needle. I wasn't in the room or else I would have probably passed more of my tension onto him. So, the surgery is scheduled for this Friday. I wanted to get this leash that said, "One of us has no balls" but that wouldn't work because I usually walk him, not Tim... haha I thought it was funny though ## _dlroberts · 2008-04-14T22:34:49.000Z That is funny. And I should point out that just because you both don't have balls doesn't mean the leash is incorrect. In fact the irony could be even funnier in that case. ;-) ## Romi (admin) · 2008-04-14T22:39:22.000Z LOL, thats pretty funny!  Pam - When I took Ninja in to get his blood work done pre-neuter, my vet asked me to not be in the room also.  Just because he knew Ninja's fear of strangers and he didn't want me to get overwhelmed and feed that to Ninja during the process.  So, I think it might be a normal thing.  Give Ryu lots of hugs and good wishes from us!  I know everything will go great and he'll be back to normal before you know it!  Keep us posted on his recovery! ## _dlroberts · 2008-04-14T22:47:48.000Z Lucy screams like crazy when they take blood. It's not the restraint or the needle that freaks her out, its the scent of the alcohol. She goes nuts. I'm sure Ryu is gonna do great on Friday! Keep us posted. ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2008-04-14T23:06:19.000Z i almost punched the vet for just doing his job the last time we were there!!! Tsuki contracted Kennel cough and had a very high fever and they had to inject a sodium solution into her back to break her fever and she screamed and pooed and had this bubble in her back and I was all 'get off my baby!!!!!!!!' but i knew he was just doing the right thing by her! Ryu will be fine. Actually our female's spaying was much less uneventful than our males. Are you having laser or suture? If they do dissolving sutures, make sure you ask for signs of infection in case they don't dissolve! That happened to the basset, he was fine, he just had to go under again to get the suture out! p.s.  that leash is HILARIOUS! ## Ryu · 2008-04-14T23:07:51.000Z Yea, I got the feeling that the vet tech was frowning on me when he freaked out about the thermometer being thrust up his butt. I tried to explain to her that we do handling exercises with him almost every night, I take him to the vet's office every Wednesday for 30 minutes to practice handling on the table, and that he usually does very well. She kind of made me feel like I wasn't fit to own a Shiba because (in her words) "This breed is very protective and I wouldn't let him get away with that. He's still young right now but you need to show him that he can't be this way". urg. I'm doing my best, lady! Thankfully, this was the only time I saw her there so maybe she doesn't work there very often. The plus was I got the doctor that I REALLY like today. I guess he evened out the score. ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2008-04-14T23:11:23.000Z what a nerd - i bet she doesn't have the balls to own a shiba!! (get it?? balls! ha!) i allow my dogs to be protective because there are some instincts that are theirs and theirs to keep. who likes a thermom shoved up their pooper? not me! and certainly not my dog!! ## okiron · 2008-04-15T02:16:04.000Z So unless you get a breed to throw away all natural instincts and become your drone puppet you're not fit to own it? ## Ryu · 2008-04-15T03:32:15.000Z This is the conversation that just occurred at the dinner table: Pam (to Ryu): "That lady doesn't know what she's talking about, right, babe? I bet she wouldn't like to be stuck up the butt either!" Tim: "Maybe she does.." ## okiron · 2008-04-15T06:00:35.000Z Hahahaha >.< ## _dlroberts · 2008-04-15T10:25:56.000Z LOL. That might explain a few things... ## brandon_w (admin) · 2008-04-15T10:29:44.000Z If any vet ever shit talked my dog.  They could kiss my business goodbye.  I mean, I understand my dogs shortcomings, I don't need you to point it out, I'm paying you.  Also, Nemo does not get his temperature taken. You seem to run into a lot of dog "know it alls" lately. ## Ryu · 2008-04-15T22:49:38.000Z Brandon, I get it all... from "Boy, he must shed alot because you know, short-haired dogs shed and long-haired don't" to "looks like someone needs to watch the Dog Whisperer".... grrrr ## Ryu · 2008-04-18T18:37:16.000Z So, Ryu's out of surgery now. The surgery went fine but the dr.  nicked a blood vessel near the urethra during the neuter. He stopped the bleeding and inserted a catheter into his urethra. So far, no bleeding or swelling but they want to keep an eye on him until 4 pm (it's 10:30 am now) at the clinic. They said that he's on good pain killers right now but we should keep a close eye on him all weekend to see if there is any swelling or blood in his urine. If so, we need to take him to the 24-hr ER. Oh boy.... i'm all tense..... ## okiron · 2008-04-18T18:46:40.000Z Are they going to compensate you for the pain killers for nicking his blood vessel? Poor Ryu. I have a special place in my heart for the little one. ## Ryu · 2008-04-18T18:58:20.000Z They aren't going to charge me anything extra.... nor should they! :) I can't be mad because I know the dr. would never do anything like that on purpose but it's my little baby! ## _dlroberts · 2008-04-18T19:01:57.000Z I can understand why you are tense, but I'm sure that kind of thing happens during surgery all the time. They are right to be cautious though. Better safe then sorry. I'm sure he'll be back making your allergies go nuts again before you know it! Keep us posted on how he is (and you are) doing. ## okiron · 2008-04-18T19:10:04.000Z That's a good thing :) Like Dave said, it's probably a common thing in surgery but better safe than sorry. Keep us updated :) ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2008-04-18T22:24:51.000Z the first time i had a foster (a boston terrier MANIAC dog) this happened to him. They kept him overnight when they usually release mid afternoon for neuters and everything was fine after that. we just had to leave the stinky e-collar on him a bit longer than normal (like 4 days) and he was a little vomitous from the extended use of pain killers mixed with antibiotics. all is wellthough, you will see! ## Ryu · 2008-04-18T22:31:52.000Z Thank goodness... I'm all nerves here at work - just praying that it will heal quickly and didn't damage his urethra....  anyway, if something did happen to his urethra, what would happen? I mean, is it fixable? ## brandon_w (admin) · 2008-04-18T23:06:48.000Z Even routine surgeries can run into a mishap.  I'm sure little Ryu is going to be just fine. Yes I think urethra problems can be fixed. ## diggah · 2008-04-18T23:56:19.000Z Here is hoping all goes well, Koda got her third shot on Wednesday so Ryu only has a couple weeks to recover. The stress surrounding medical procedures is largley unavoidable (it certainly doesn't get any easier when you have kids). All you can do is try to make informed decisions and hope for the best. ## Romi (admin) · 2008-04-19T00:34:50.000Z Wow, that was fast!  I didn't know Ryu was getting neutered TODAY!   Well, congrats on the surgery.  That sucks about the little nick.  Im sure Ryu will recover with no problems.  Keep us updated!  Poor little guy.  I remember when I picked up Ninja and brought him home, he was sooo out of it.  But the next morning he was back to his usual self.  Don't worry too much, im sure everything will be fine. ## Ryu · 2008-04-19T00:47:07.000Z Thanks everyone for the hopeful wishes! I can't imagine what I'd be like with kids... only time will tell I guess! Well, Ryu is home and I think I'm on his black list today  So far, so good with the doc - he peed in his run at the clinic and they didn't find any blood. And when we got home, he peed (on the carpet! Bad mom, he only whines when he needs to pee but I figured he was whining about the pain... nope, he definitely needed to pee) and I didn't see one drop of blood. So we're hopefully in the clear about the urethra thing. [image no longer available: Ryu 143.jpg] [image no longer available: Ryu 144.jpg] ## _dlroberts · 2008-04-19T00:55:55.000Z I'm glad he isn't too upset with you and even more glad his pee is normal! On the bright side for him, it looks like his satellite dish is an appropriate size for him. Give him hugs from me. ## ddowdemers · 2008-04-19T01:23:49.000Z Poor baby.  He looks sooo dejected. ## brada1878 (admin) · 2008-04-19T14:20:45.000Z He'll bounce back in a few days! Poor guy, give him some love from us and our pack. ## Ryu · 2008-04-19T18:16:48.000Z Well, things aren't looking so good for Ryu - at about 2:33 am this morning, he started screaming bloody murder and we couldn't figure out what was wrong with him... eventually he settled down and we assumed his pain killers wore off. So, this morning, we took a look down under and he was swollen and bruised. We took him to the vet and they confirmed our suspicions that something was up. They think that there is fluid buildup from where the doctor had to mess with the nicked blood vessel. They don't suspect any internal bleeding but it could still be an option. We're supposed to put hot compresses on it 3x a day for 10 minutes. Yea, easier said than done. We can't hold him down to put the compress on him and he goes buck wild when we go anywhere near that area.... I don't know what to do. And I'm just making the situation worse because I can't stop crying this morning. If the swelling doesn't subside by tonight or tomorrow morning, we have to take him to the ER so they can check for internal bleeding..... ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2008-04-19T18:39:20.000Z we always assume the worse with our furbabies - its scary but vets are very cautious and knowledgable and wouldn't let him go home if he was in any real danger by doing so. In a couple days he will be back to being his spry puppy self, you'll see. the first couple days after the surgery are the worst. that foster boston terrier i told you got nicked also had some bad swelling and a tad of bruising which went down within 24 hours of being home and on antibiotics. Extra hugs for the poor little man! Hang in there!!! ## _dlroberts · 2008-04-19T18:40:28.000Z Awww, Pam. Lucy, Joey and I send hugs to you and Ryu. I was lucky with Lucy. When she needed warm compresses she just laid perfectly still unless they were too hot. It was almost like she knew I was treating her. Do your best to apply the compresses, that's all you can do. And try to be strong for the little man. I'm sure this is all very overwhelming for him and if you're upset it probably confuses him more. Give him lots of hugs and keep us posted on how he's doing. --- **Navigate:** [Forum home](https://nihonken.org/community/?format=md) · [Sitemap](https://nihonken.org/community/sitemap.xml)