Post-desexing Issues

[frankiejoo]

My gorgeous was desexed last Tuesday and whilst her operation went well, her recovery was not so smooth. The painkillers which had been prescribed to her (Tramal) were to strong and she had a bad reaction to them. Her behaviour became really erratic and she yelped often, running from things we couldn't see and very twitchy. I called the vet first thing Thursday and took her off the painkillers. The vet checked her out on my insistence and although physically she was recovering she had become very stressed through her 'over-dose'. She is much better now the drugs are out of her system but she had me very, very worried and she was so freaked. She is becoming my happy, exuberant puppy more and more each day now.

Now my issues. ;)

Firstly, it took us longer then expected for us to toilet train her then expected as she picked it up super quick and then regressed to the point where she toileted everywhere but her paper. As we live in a high-rise with no yard she toilets on training pads with newspaper over it. Prior to her op, she was weeing 95% on her mats but only pooing 60% for some reason. The problem is now we're not getting anything on the pads. For about a week before the op she was yelping nearly every time she did a poo but after changing her wet to dry food ratio and constantly taking her to her water bowl (plus bribing with ice cubes) her poos softened a little and she's ok now. :D We just can't get her to toilet where trained to and she weeing on the bed a couple of times! Also on the tiles which is a first.

Secondly, she seems to have developed extreme separation anxiety Previously, we had a little trouble and more then a few sleepless nights as she always wants to be at our side. My partner works from home so she does spend a lot of time with one of us but she had finally become used to sleeping in the living room on her bed without too much fuss. She sometimes would cry a little upon us leaving the house but only for 5 minutes max. We had success and then... we spent 5 days looking after her around the clock. She was so fragile and precious I hated leaving her with my partner while I was at work. Then today came and we went to lunch. As soon as I closed the door she went off. I could hear her howling and whining when I was down the street!! She screamed the place down. 40 minutes later I arrived home and she was still going, just as loud

Tips, Strategies or any advice would be so appreciated. She is a stubborn, willful little girl and so can be hard to train. I fear we are back to square one.

[harley]

My guess about the separation anxiety is that she got used to you nursing her "around the clock" and now expects this as she sees it as normal behaviour. In her world you have spent so much time with her and now you want to go out on your own and she does not like this!

Start by leaving her in another room for a couple of minutes and then walking back in. Only praise and reward her if she is quiet and settled. Gradually increase the amount of time and then progress to going out of the house for a small length of time. Once again only praise her if she is quiet and settled upon your return. Maybe some rescue remedy to help her feel more secure?

Maybe you could leave a piece of clothing that you have been wearing in her bed so she has your scent on it.

Good luck, it can be exhausting and frustrating. Hopefully in the long run, it will be worth the effort though.

[frankiejoo]

We thought we were over this issue but today she has resumed yelping and running around whilst trying to poo.. :D