Desexing Puppy- Recovery Time

[Scarlett Dog]

I'm sure this has been asked a million times (I did troll through old posts trying to find an answer).

I'm trying to plan around having my (almost) 6 month old girl de-sexed in the next couple of weeks.

I know it's more involved for de-sexing females, does anyone have an idea of the recovery time. We're trying to plan around taking time off work etc. She is outside when we are at work so we'd need to be home if she needs to be confined etc (she is crate trained).

What have people's experiences been like?

[lilli_star]

What kind of dog do you have?

[Scarlett Dog]

What kind of dog do you have?

She's an English Bull Terrier (standard not miniature)

[wuffles]

We picked my girl up from her surgery after work. She was groggy and slept the whole afternoon/night. She woke up the next morning almost like nothing had happened.

Stitches were in for 10 days. We were home with her for 4 days. We gave her short on leash walks after a few days as she was going a bit stir crazy. When we went to work, she was outside but confined to our pergola and separated from our other dog so they couldn't play. The stitches can't get wet so it's harder if it rains. The stitches did pull a bit but everything was ok in the end. Stitches came out after 10 days and she was back to normal.

[lilli_star]

My dog had one stitch that looked a bit icky, but they ended up healing well and the vet decided to take them out short of the 10 day period (I think it was 8 days or something) because the stitches were annoying her more than the wound itself. I bought some Woundgard from DStore (but you could get it from Petbarn or your vet I think) and sprayed it on the stitches for the last few days- it kept her from licking them and is an antiseptic, but the vet suggested putting Vicks around the area to stop her going near it as well. It's a LOT harder to keep a bigger dog "quiet" like the experts say. My vet just said to keep the area dry and try not to let her jump around too much.

[Scarlett Dog]

I think I'd prefer to have someone home with her until she's back to her normal self. I'd hate to have dramas from ripping stitches! I'm not sure how easy it will be to keep her quiet though. She likes her crate but a I can't see her staying there for more than a few hours- she seems to think she'll miss out on something. Thanks for the responses

[persephone]

provided she is settled..she can be sitting/lying at your feet - if you are with her she does not need to be crated all the time. NO jumping up & down on furniture/into vehicles /up on fences..and no racing around.

She may need an elizabethan collar on to stop stitch chewing... or you can try her with a plastic basket muzzle (get one fitted properly, and only use when supervised)

[Rozzie]

Have her done on a Friday, then you have the weekend to make sure she is ok.

[luvsdogs]

Previous 2 bitches had no problem with their stitches but Tilba came home on antibiotics after a bad case of fleas & associated rash. She didn't have them prior to going to the vets. I had to leave her elizabethan collar on most of the time because she wouldn't leave the stitches alone. I asked for the single stitch because our older dog had that & it looked great & she never touched it. But Tilba's was also very tight & didn't look good at all. After a coupled of days I caught her jumping onto the lounge so had to keep her crated a lot of the time when I couldn't watch her. With a check up visit after 5 days the vet said it looked ok, but to me it looked swollen around the stitch. I think it eventually dissolved & after a couple of months the swelling went down & now nearly 2 yrs later you wouldn't know it had been done

The main thing is to try & keep her quiet as much as possible.