Pet Surgery
Spay and Neuter
What to Expect After Surgery
If your pet has already had surgery with us, please read and follow the post-operative instructions to lessen your pet’s risk of injury or infection during the healing process. Your pet’s care after surgery is extremely important. You can find the full post-operative instructions here. We also have a Spanish version for post-operative instructions you can find here.
Your pet has just undergone major surgery, and you may notice a few temporary changes. These changes can include your pet being groggy or sleepy for up to 24 hours after surgery. This is a normal side effect of anesthesia, and it is important that you keep your animal confined to a small quiet area away from other animals or children where they can peacefully rest while they recover. Animals can also appear clumsy and uncoordinated, so it’s’ a good idea to help them in and out of the car on the way home so that they don’t accidentally damage their surgery site. Avoiding stairs or elevated surfaces is recommended as well to prevent animals from falling and injuring themselves.
Diet
Often animals are not hungry after surgery, even though they have fasted. It may take 12-24 hours for a full appetite to return. You can offer their regular diet or a bland diet of boiled chicken and rice to encourage eating. Do not be alarmed if they are not interested in eating on the night of surgery. If they are supposed to start the pain medication the night of surgery, it is ok to hold off until the next day if they are not eating. This will help minimize further nausea.
Activity
Following surgery, keep your pet indoors in a warm, quiet room for 24 to 36 hours. Activity must be minimal for ten days after surgery, as running, jumping, and wrestling with other pets or children can cause damage to and swelling at the incision. We recommend keeping your pet away from other animals to discourage playing or grooming, which would irritate the incision. It is especially important to keep puppies or kittens away from females. Dogs should only be walked on a leash, and cats should be kept indoors.
Pain
Pets may experience some discomfort or soreness for 24 to 36 hours following surgery. Cats receive a post-operative pain injection that lasts 72 hours and will not be sent home with pain medications. Dogs will go home with an anti-inflammatory and pain medication from the Spay Neuter Clinic. Please follow the instructions given to you by the veterinarian on the packaging of the medication. The medication may start the night of surgery or may start the next day; this depends on the size of your dog. If you have any questions, please call the clinic immediately at (910) 400-7682. DO NOT ADMINISTER ANY ADDITIONAL OVER-THE-COUNTER OR PRESCRIPTION PAIN MEDICATION TO YOUR PET. DOING SO CAN CAUSE GI ISSUES, ORGAN FAILURE, OR DEATH.
Urinating and Defecating
Your pet should still be urinating even if it is not eating, although the amount may be lessened. It is important to verify that your dog or cat is urinating. If you have more than one cat, you must watch the litter box to ensure your cat is urinating. Anesthesia may cause diarrhea or constipation for a day or two, but if your pet does not defecate normally within two days, please contact us.
Incision
Your pet has buried absorbable stitches, also known as sutures, under their outer layer of skin, and the skin edge is sealed with surgical glue to provide an extra layer of protection. There is no need to return for suture removal for most pets unless they have received external sutures or staples. Some pets receive staples in their skin, normally due to the incision being larger than normal, loose mammary tissue, skin issues, or if they were pregnant. If your pet has staples, they will need to be removed here in 10-14 days after surgery.
You will also notice that we have tattooed a very small line on their abdomen to indicate to others that they have already been spayed or neutered (male cats do not receive a tattoo).
Please look at your animal’s incision site before you go home. At this time, the site will appear as what we would call “normal.” Check your pet’s incision twice daily for swelling, bleeding, discharge, or redness at the incision. Some of these symptoms are expected and are not cause for alarm, but if it seems excessive, please call the clinic for a recheck at (910) 400-7682 option 4.
Keep your pet clean and dry for ten days after surgery. Do not wash the incision or use hydrogen peroxide on the area, as this may introduce infection and cause sutures to prematurely absorb. Bathing your pet is prohibited for at least 14 days after surgery. Never apply any topical ointments, creams, or bandages over the incision as they may cause the sutures to absorb prematurely, causing the incision to open. Band-Aids and bandages cause significant irritation to your pet’s skin and can lead to infection and serious complications.
Color
Check your pet’s gum color when you arrive home after the surgery. The gum color should be pink and quickly return to that color after you press on the gum above the large canine tooth with your finger. Repeat this check throughout the evening after surgery. If your pet’s gums become pale and do not return to pink color during your check, please call the clinic at (910) 400-7682.
Licking
Discourage your pet from licking or biting at the incision line. Male dogs especially are notorious for this. All dogs and female cats go home with an Elizabethan collar to prevent damage to the incision. The collar should stay on the pet for 7-10 days. No animals, cats or dogs, should be let outside off leash with an Elizabethan collar on due to the risk of strangulation. If the Elizabethan collar is not used or instructions are not followed, fixing the damage a pet does to the incision will be done at the owner’s expense.
Fertile
Male cats and dogs remain fertile for 3-4 weeks after surgery and can still impregnate females. Please keep them confined. If females are in heat or coming into heat at the time of surgery, they may still show signs of being in heat for the next several weeks. This includes attracting males. We strongly recommend keeping your pets away from other animals after surgery to allow them time to heal. Puppies and kittens should be kept away from females as well to make sure they are not interfering with the healing.