# Depression After Spay/Neuter?



## SaveTheDogs (Mar 15, 2009)

Has anyone ever had a dog who got depression after being spayed/neutered? I had my female spayed today. She's 5 years old and she has had 1 liter of pups before. She absolutely LOVED being a mommy. I really didn't want to have her spayed for fear that she may become depressed or withdrawn but I had to. Anyone ever heard of something like this before? She's acting very weird (which I know may be the after effects of the meds), but I'm so worried that she will get depressed...


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## Pai (Apr 23, 2008)

The pain and anaesthesia would make ANYONE wonky for a few days. She's supposed to be resting anyway, so it's a good thing. She'll actually perk up way sooner than she should, so be sure to keep her on mostly bed rest for as long as your vet recommended.


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

She's not depressed, she's sore from the surgery and woozy from the anesthetic. Dogs don't have any concept of "Oh Crap...now I can't ever be a mommy again". Hence, no depression from a spay. Now if you are moping around and talking in a sorrowful voice saying " I'm so sorry, Sweetikins. You can't be a Moooommmy anymore", then she will feed off of your sad tone and think something is wrong, (in addition to being sore and woozy).


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## wimsey (May 19, 2009)

She doesn't know there won't be more puppies. She just knows something weird happened and now she feels pretty terrible physically. She'll perk up in a few days.


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## SaveTheDogs (Mar 15, 2009)

Thanks for all your replies everyone. LoL at spotted nikes... at least I'm not doing that. Haha. My friends are telling me that I'm going through "mommy syndrome" and not to worry so much. 

However, I'm still very worried about the shakes she's having. Seems like everytime she breathes in, her body trembles...


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

Did your vet give you any painkillers for her, like Rimadyl? If not, call your vet in the am and ask if you can give her something like aspirin (No Ibuprophen, Aleve, Advil, etc...they can be toxic). Normally, I would say aspirin is fine for pain relief, but it also makes the blood less likely to clot, so the vet may not want her to have aspirin after surgery, but might give you something else instead, if she still seems in pain tomorrow.


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## SaveTheDogs (Mar 15, 2009)

Just wanted to update everyone that Keena is back to herself and she doesn't seem depressed at all.  Yay! Thanks for the encouragements...


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