My 6 months shih tzu was spayed on Thursday, she did very well after her operation. You wouldn't even noticed that she had a operation unless you saw her scar. She acted normally and didn't seem to loose her appetite. Last night, I noticed that there were some blood on the floor, I immediately went and check on Bella (our pet) and noticed that her spay wound was slightly open with a very small piece of fat tissue coming out. I took her to the emergency and were told that they would had to open the spayed area and make sure that the abdominal area was not open. Unfortunately, it was open and they had to suture her back. The vet gave me some antibiotic and I feed it to her this morning along with her pain medication. I noticed that she is extremely tired throughout the day. I'm thinking maybe she is slowly recovering right now. My question is this normal for her to be so tired? I called the vet and was told that it is not normal for her to be so tired, she might be in pain. They requested that I should take her in for another check up.
I got different responses from her emergency vet and her regular vet. The emergency vet told me that it was not normal and her regular vet told me that it was normal. I also spoke to one of my friend who work at the vet. and she told me that it was normal for Bella to be tired. MY friend and the regular vet, said that Bella is like us, if we gone through a surgery, our body takes time to heal. It seem like her body just took a little longer to heal this time around. She didn't have any problem eating or potty, in fact, she love to eat. She is back to her normal self at this moment. I will continue to keep in eye on her and take her to the vet if anything changes with her behavior. Thank you all for the advices.
I would take her in right away if that is what they suggested you do. She could have an infection (since the area was opened) or she could be in pain.
Animals behave as though exhausted when they are in pain. Your vet has reason to worry. If she's on pain meds and still that lethargic, take her in again to be safe.
It is absolutley normal for them to be tired after surgery. Since you say your dog is still eating and drinking that is good.
The vet said it's not normal, I'd take her back in right away. Good luck to Belle!
Hmmm. I worked as a vet tech for four years. Frequently we saw external suture sites opening, but never the internal sutures. That is extremely rare. Makes me wonder about the vet. Sometimes pain meds and antibiotics can make a dog tired. Sounds like she went through a lot. As long as she's eating and drinking, I'll bet she'll be fine. Good luck and speedy healing!
Since she has already had to have it repaired once, you may want to get it double checked again. Usually they are tired the first day from the anesthesia, but after that are fairly normal. I'm sure you are keeping her quiet, try not to let her lick or chew at the incision or exercise much for about 7-10 days to allow the area to heal. Hard I know. Most pets are tired after surgery and the antibiotics could be making her tired too. Some pain medications can have a sedative effect (ie tramadol), but if it is a regular NSAID (rimadyl, deramaxx, etc) it shouldn't make her tired. Dogs can also have reactions to the suture material, usually just redness, but it cause a break down of some of the tissue around it also. Acting tired can be a sign of pain too, so especially with the vet recommendation I would take her in and have her looked at again or at least call the emergency hospital if your regular vet is closed and talk to one of the techs or vets again. You sound like a good pet owner and really care about your little girl. Hope everythign checks out good.
I would never take her to that emergency vet again. It was completely unethical for them to tell you a dog should not be tired after major surgery. They obviously just wanted to charge you for the visit.
First of all, you need to go back to where you got her fixed. It IS normal for a dog to be tired or not eat for the first few days. You should have been offered pain meds where she was fixed if not go get them. Did you put the ecollar /cone on her? If not that was the reason for the suture to open. Dont you think you would be tired & in pain if you got a Hysterectomy......
Vet Tech,,,,
My own experience with surgery is that the body dedicates a tremendous amount of its available energy toward healing, the pain can be exhausting and make me unwilling or unable to move around much, and the pain meds make me sleepy.
What you're seeing is probably normal enough, considering what your pup has recently experienced, but follow your vets advice on this one.
Is she eating and drinking? Is there anyway you can take her temperature (normal is between 100 - 103.5) Do you know her normal temperature? She could have infected fluid in her abdomen which would be a more pressing concern.
