# How long does it take for an adult dog to recover from a spay?



## CarmeeKitty (Feb 22, 2008)

As some of you may know, we adopted Savannah yesterday. She's a two-year-old collie. She was spayed on the 12th, and I'm assuming she's gone into heat before. I heard that this makes the spaying procedure more complicated, is this true? How long, on average, does it take adult dogs to recover from this? Also, it's been about eight days. Can she safely play with our other dog, even with the stitches still in? In a couple days, her foster mom said we should take her stitches out.

Also, we've been putting a little bit of of Bacitracin (antibiotic) ointment on the wound. Is this safe? We're pretty sure it is, but just wanted to check.

Thanks!


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## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

You should not be taking out the stitiches. That is a chance for the vet who did the surgery to inspect the wound and examine the animal for complete recovery. TAke the dog to the vet for the stitches.

Our dog, at 8 years old when we adopted and spayed her, was back to her old self within 4-5 days. I wouldn't let her get extremely physical with the other dogs until the stitches were out. But I did let her play with them after about 5 days. 

Think of a spay like a hysterectomy and what you would feel like afterwards.


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## rosemaryninja (Sep 28, 2007)

Thanks to my mother, Honey was spayed late at the age of 7 years old. She recovered within 3 or 4 days. Your dog should be able to play with others by now, but please do not remove the stitches. Take her to the vet for a follow-up appointment to make sure everything is healing as it should be. He will remove the stitches for you.


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## CarmeeKitty (Feb 22, 2008)

My mom has removed stitches before, so she knows how to do it and insists it will be more comfortable for our new addition versus going to the vet's. We can't bring her back to the vet who spayed her, because that vet is about 3-4 hours away, but my mom is confident that she can remove the stitches herself. 

However, the incision has looked red since the day we got her, and it's getting worse because she's licking it. This is another problem we're trying to deal with. We tried a cone collar, as the vet recommended, but that didn't work because her snout is long enough that she can still lick her wound, since she's a collie. Then we tried putting gauze on it, but that fell off. Now we're trying an Ace bandage (don't worry, we tied it loosely so it won't cut off circulation!). If it doesn't get better in a couple of days, we're going to take her into the vet's anyway, so once we're there, we'll probably ask them to remove the stitches.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

I almost always remove spay stiches myself. No reason to go to the vet for that. But if the incision looks icky, definitely get her in to see the doctor. That's not normal.


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## agility collie mom (Jan 26, 2008)

CarmeeKitty said:


> My mom has removed stitches before, so she knows how to do it and insists it will be more comfortable for our new addition versus going to the vet's. We can't bring her back to the vet who spayed her, because that vet is about 3-4 hours away, but my mom is confident that she can remove the stitches herself.
> 
> However, the incision has looked red since the day we got her, and it's getting worse because she's licking it. This is another problem we're trying to deal with. We tried a cone collar, as the vet recommended, but that didn't work because her snout is long enough that she can still lick her wound, since she's a collie. Then we tried putting gauze on it, but that fell off. Now we're trying an Ace bandage (don't worry, we tied it loosely so it won't cut off circulation!). If it doesn't get better in a couple of days, we're going to take her into the vet's anyway, so once we're there, we'll probably ask them to remove the stitches.


A pair of men's boxes shorts put on with the fly opening on her back and pull her tail though legs though the leg openings i should help keep her from licking her incision. 
Or a men's T shirt tail through the neck legs through the arms cut two holes at the hem for her front legs insert a long shoelace into the hem of the t-shirt pull closed and tie. 

My Savannah had a allergic reaction to her internal sutures. It took forever for her to heal after being spayed. What I did (because I sew was to take two men's t-shirts cut the sleeve off the one cut armholes near the hemline and attach the sleeves, put a drawstring in the hemline. Her head went through the neckline front legs though the original sleeves, back legs though the added on sleeves, tail though the bottom which I drew up with the drawstring. All I had to do was loosen the drawstring and pull out her hind legs and kind-of fold the t-shirt up out of the way for her to go potty. She had abscesses for two months until the internal sutures dissolved. I didn't think she would ever heal but, she did.


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## tuesday (Feb 17, 2009)

CarmeeKitty said:


> However, the incision has looked red since the day we got her, and it's getting worse because she's licking it. This is another problem we're trying to deal with.


Eight days post-op, a spay incision should not be red, nor should the dog be bothering the incision site.


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## poodleholic (Mar 15, 2007)

tuesday said:


> Eight days post-op, a spay incision should not be red, nor should the dog be bothering the incision site.


I agree. It's best to not put any ointment on the incision (or so I've been told by many a vet over many years, and I never have). I have swabbed around the area with Witch Hazel on a cotton ball, as this soothes the skin, and prevents itching, often associated with healing. When they don't itch, they don't lick. 

I'd leave it alone, and take the dog to the vet, who will determine whether or not to remove the sutures.


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