How To Care For A Dog After Surgery
Recovering
from surgery is often the most vital part of the entire procedure.
If something goes wrong while your best friend isn’t fully healed, there
may be a set back that lasts far longer than you expected. Additional
intervention may even be required.
Of course the length of time and amount of restraint necessary when recovering
from surgery, depends entirely on the procedure that was performed. A dog
recovering from a debark procedure requires much less than a dog recovering
from an abdominal or bone surgery.
Here are some basic requirements:
1.Always have an emergency contact number for your veterinarian
or his after hours hospital affiliate.
2. Fully understand the recommendations and follow up procedures
determined by your vet. Have them in writing so you can refer back to them.
Don't be afraid to ask questions.
Now, for the things that might get overlooked:
3.
Do not expect your dog to eat normally. He should
continue to eat but his portions should be reduced. Feed
him more frequently but less than half the amount he is
used to at each feeding. He needs good nutrition to heal
but not so much at once.
He is not active right now and can not metabolize his food
quite like he is used to.
4. Make sure you are available to help him outside
to relieve himself several times a day. If he is recovering
from orthopedic, bone, or joint surgery, make sure you have
a sling to help support his weight if he is too big to carry
out.
5. No Stairs! If your dog has gone through
surgery that involved abdominal or orthopedic manipulation
you should carry the dog up and down the stairs. He should
not be allowed up on the couch or bed at this time either.
He could easily destroy the internal sutures or false ligaments
that have been placed.
6. Don’t overdo it. We often want
to help too much when our beloved pet comes home from the
hospital. Make them a safe place to be. A crate is best
to guarantee their activity is restricted. Give them what
they need when they need it, but otherwise back off. The
more you let them rest the better they will heal. This is
often the hardest part for most of us.
7.Have
an Elizabethan Collar at home for when you can’t
watch him. Do not allow any possibility that he will chew
on or remove sutures, bandages or splints. He could create
a major problem for himself and an expensive one for you.
He may have to go through anesthesia and surgery to repair
damage. Put the collar on him anytime you aren’t right
there. Through the night is a must. There are many different
kinds of COLLARS.
Some are clear, some have snaps or Velcro, and some
are more like giant stiff wrist bands instead of lamp shades.
Find what works best but have one available.
If your friend is recovering from:
*Eye surgery - Make sure you limit the
time they spend in the light. Brief outside visits are best
and rooms with low light conditions should be maintain for
several days while they heal. The eyes have to work much
harder in bright light.
*Spay or Abdominal Surgery Keep her inside
and quiet. She may not require a crate but she should be
kept in where it is clean and she can be restful. She should
have a comfortable place where you can watch her closely.
If she won’t settle down well she may need to be in
a crate for the first few days if her surgery was more than
just a juvenile spay procedure. She should not go for a
walk or play for at least a week. Reduce her food intake
per meal and offer her more frequent smaller meals. For
example, feed her 1/3 of her normal food, but offer it three
times a day instead of once.
*Neuter Keep him inside and quiet. You
often can barely tell he’s had surgery at all. At
least he won’t act like it to watch him but you should
still keep him from too much activity. Keep him in a clean
environment. And keep him away from his stitches. He will
really want to wash the area because it feels odd and uncomfortable.
He can do a lot of damage if he ruptures sutures inside
or out. If he pulls on himself he may pull a stitch and
find his scrotum filling with blood. Another surgery. Keep
an E-collar on him if he won’t leave the area alone.
This simple procedure can get much more complicated if he
decides to ‘help’ the process along.
*Cancer Surgery Healing after a cancer
surgery can be a problem. Dogs often don’t heal like
we expect they will as the tissue and cells are compromised
and unhealthy. Keep him inside and quiet for the first few
days. Watch any bandages and suture lines for weeping, oozing
and sloughing. Sutured areas involving unhealthy tissue
can tend to pull and fall away before it has healed. Feed
him often. Recovering from cancer takes a lot of fight and
a lot of good nutrition. You may even check into a special
diet for him at this point.
*Bone or Joint Surgery Keep him confined.
A crate is the best place as long as it is big enough to
accommodate whatever apparatus he comes home with. He should
be restricted as per the vets recommendation . No exceptions.
You should either carry him out if it is more than a few
steps or if he is too big to lift, invest in a harness
or use an old towel as a sling to help take weight off
the recovering structure. He will need a lot of help and
patience if you have stairs.
Our store offers a variety of surgical recovery equipment.
Check the surgical area several times a day to make sure
there is no swelling, redness beyond what it was when he
came home, heat, oozing, or weeping after the first 24 hours.
If there is a splint or bandage you should smell it to make
sure there is no dead tissue smell. A splint can often rub
in one area and create sores and lesions. Be away of these.
They are painful and take a long time to heal. A
cast MUST be kept dry at ALL times! A wet splint
can lead to tissue damage and gangrene. Special
Boots are
available to aid in keeping splints free of moisture.
Ear Cropping Requires constant vigilance.
Please find the Ear
Cropping Aftercare section of this site for complete
information and guidelines.
De-barking
While you probably don’t have to make too many modifications
to your pups activity and you may be surprised how lively
he is, you will have to be careful with how you feed him
for a few days. His throat will take several days to heal,
similar to having ones tonsils out.
You might offer himcold or ice water if
he will drink it, instead of room temperature. Do not feed
kibble for a few days, or if you do be sure to soak it in
water for a while until it is soft and won’t scratch.
The first day or two it is even advisable to offer something
as smooth as baby food from a jar, or pureed meal of some
kind. He needs his nutrition, but getting it down will be
uncomfortable for a while.
Any household
with dogs should have a few first aid items on hand at all
times. It is a good idea to keep gauze pads and dilute
betadine on hand at all times when you have pets. These
are some of the best things to have around for incidental
injuries and post surgery care. For a complete list of first
aid supplies look here. If you don’t have the time
to compile your own kit, you can purchase one for a few
well spent bucks. Be proactive with your best friend. You’re
his best advocate!
About The Author
Laura Anderson is a veterinary technician with a 15 year history as a veterinary office manager and emergency technician. She founded Puppys-Place to help new puppy owners find a compatible lifestyle with their new friends.
Copyright(c)protected 2008. All rights reserved.
