ovariohysterectomie

[susie17]

This morning my 6 year old lab x had an ovariohysterectomie. At 6 this evening we picked her up from the vets. When they opened the cage to get her out, she fell onto the floor, completely blitzed out still, The vet managed to get her to her feet, and we got her into the car and bought her home. We put her in a quiet room away from the other dog, to let her sleep it off, but now 4 and a half hours later she is still very much asleep. I go to her every half hour to check on her, i gently call her name , but cant even get her to open her eyes more than a few seconds. Is this normal after having surgery this morning, to still be so out of it. I know its a huge operation, but am worried I should maybe be trying to wake her or, get her to move about a bit. Any advice please would be most welcome.
Sue

[Megan le Fey]

Susie, I would be worried if it was one of mine.  Several times I have had a girl dog spayed and they have always been awake, if sometimes a little dopey, when I have arrived to take them home.  If I was in South Africa or UK I would be 'phoning the vet to ask if she was OK.  Here I would have a problem because my French is poor and lacking spontaneity which would make it difficult.  I know it is late but if you have an emergency number and are comfortable in French, I would say, call and ask for professional advice.  At  the very worst, they can yell at you for disturbing them.

[Cerise]

Susie - I have just read this and hope your dog is OK.  It is not normal.  Did you/vet weigh her before op, as it sounds as though she may have had too much anaesthetic, or she may be allergic to whatever was used.  Trust she is recovered this morning.

[Christine Animal]

Yes, how is she Susie ?

 

[susie17]

Many thanks for taking the time to reply. It is now 15.30 and she is no better today than yesterday, although she lifts her head to greet me now, and is taking water i am hand feeding her from a cup. I managed to get her to go out for a wee in the garden, but she was walking like she was still under the influence of drugs. We rang the vets a cpl of hours ago, and he insists it is normal, and to let her rest, but from the response of other people it would appear that this is not normal, and we are thinking of taking her to another vet , as someone advised on another forum, and getting a second opinion. I dont know if it makes any difference, but I was given tablets for her to take 3 times a day, which I thought was normal to do after the op, but the tablets are for an infection the vet said he found she had got, when he performed the surgery, so maybe this is why she is taking longer to recover. I will let you know anything else as it happens. Thanks again , from Sue and my rescue labrador x Sophie.

[Nettie]

Was the infection pyometra (womb infection) this could be why she hasn't bounced back yet?  Still worth getting a second opinion I think.  Dogs can go downhill very quickly, she also might be dehydrated so some time on a drip might be needed.  Not wanting to frighten you but I'd be going to the vets now.

[PossumGirl]

Susie, didn't you say she fell?  I would be very worried that she maybe pulled an internal stitch and would definitely take her to a second vet right away.

Good luck.

PG

[susie17]

My children arrived home from school 20 mins ago, Sophie wagged her tail furiously and they managed to coax her up, took her in the garden, and had a 5 min wander. Amazing!! She is now lying down again , but not sleeping and looks a lot better than earlier. She loves children,,, maybe i should have invited the local school around to sort her out We will be keeping an eye on her, but hopefully, she is feeling a little better and once she shows signs of eating, which my Sophie loves to do with a passion , I will feel much better. Keeping fingers crossed,
Sue

[Dick Smith]

Excellent. I think I might still have a chat with another vet, though.

[Christine Animal]

It's difficult to know what to say Susie as you do not say the reason of the operation.

If it is just a normal spaying, things are not usually very complicated.  But if there is an infection your girl is maybe less resistant.  As others have said, it's perhaps safer to show her to a vet, either yours or for a second opinion.

Also, if you cannot get her to swallow her antibiotics, this can be done by injection.

 

Edit: Have since seen your post at 17.10, so looks as if she's a bit better.  It probably knocked her back a bit, such an operation.  Please keep us posted Susie.

Put her pills in a bit of paté de foie, if she doesn't take that maybe there is something wrong!

Hope all goes well.

 

[PossumGirl]

Good to hear that she's showing an improvement, Sophie. 

I will say that I found both Maggie and Shmoo rather frightening after the surgeries they had here.  I'm not used to getting a dog to take home that is still recovering from the anesthetic and it does look very, very disturbing.

Even after they've woken up, the reaction can be upsetting.  For one of Maggie's cancer surgeries in L.A., she had woken up enough to come home, but the anesthesia left her crying all night with the most terrifying, pitiful sounds I'd ever heard.  I was in tears listening to it.  She was much improved the next day, but it took ME a long time to recover.

PG

[susie17]

Hi again,

I,m sorry I did not mention the reason for her being spayed.  Although I had considered this in the past, since we rescued Sophie 2 years ago,  the need became definent, after now homing another rescue dog, Theo. As Theo has not been done either, and we really dont want any puppies, we had Sophie done, rather than the male, as we have read all about bitches that can suffer later in life , if this hasnt been done.  We will be getting Theo done as well, so he cannot cause any problems to other bitches he might come into contact with, but for now it was Sophie that suffered. We have kept Theo and Sophie apart since the operation, but in the last hour, have reunited them as Sophie seems much brighter, and Theo seems to sense all is not completely well, and they sort of kissed and he left her alone to rest. Altogether now, ahhhhhhh.     I had assumed the pills the vet gave me for Sophie were routine, because of the op, but have since learnt that the vet found Sophie had an infection, and that is why she has the pills. So maybe in the long run we are lucky to have rescued Theo, so that we got Sophie done, and found the infection before it got worse. Did that make sense[8-)]  Anyway, thanks for all your advice and kind words, I cant believe how attached I have become to my Sophie, and to Theo already too, and to anyone thinking about getting a dog, please consider a rescue centre. Sophie, and now Theo have the most fantastic temperament, are loving and fantastic with my children.  If only I could have more[:)]   I will keep you informed about Sophie should anything happen, but once again , thanks

[Christine Animal]

That's marvellous news Susie both about the operation and your rescue dogs.  Yes, if there was an infection starting, lucky you caught it in time, just more good advice on getting them spayed, also to help avoid mammary tumours later in life.

Now the worst is over, you can enjoy them and love them together.  All the best.

 

[Hoddy]

Susie I'm so glad that your dog seems to be better.

A thought occurred to me - is she a muscular dog ?

When I had my greyhound the vet not only weighed her, usually around five stone, but made separate calculation to allow for the fact that she had no fat, only muscle. It used to take her ages to come round after a very large dose of anesthetic and she used to jump at the sight of her hind legs following her. Maybe something of the sort is happening here.

I hope she continues well.

 

Hoddy

[Nettie]

[quote user="Hoddy"]

Susie I'm so glad that your dog seems to be better.

A thought occurred to me - is she a muscular dog ?

When I had my greyhound the vet not only weighed her, usually around five stone, but made separate calculation to allow for the fact that she had no fat, only muscle. It used to take her ages to come round after a very large dose of anesthetic and she used to jump at the sight of her hind legs following her. Maybe something of the sort is happening here.

I hope she continues well.

 

Hoddy

[/quote]

 

Hoddy, Greyhounds, lurchers and sighthounds in general can be very sensitive to anesthetics, in fact 8 or so years ago when I first got my lurcher I was advised to ask my vet to use Rapinovet which is much easier on the hounds's system, now most vets in the UK use this or similar anesthetic as a matter of course for all dogs.

 

Nettie