# My 9 month old Lab will be neutered tomorrow...=/



## phillygirl61 (Sep 9, 2010)

So why the sad face? I'm so nervous for him., and am afraid for when he comes home. First of all, I am a very emotional person, despite the fact I worked in the cardiac lab for 12 yrs. I still get so upset with the care of people/pets after surgeries or procedures. 

What can I expect in the days to follow? And does anyone know how long stitches stay in? I plan on not even going to work for fear of him being alone during this time even though he will have one of those big collars.

Any information will be appreciated, and I thank you in advance.

Also, will having this done have him gain weight? I hear yes and no. 
I hope I make this easy for him and me! I'm so nervous.

Thanks everyone.


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

Yes, I went through this and the trauma for a man is even worse than for a woman 
1. Since you work in a lab, you might be familiar with the anesthesia. If they use the expensive one (depends on the Vet) then the dog will be awake fairly quickly. The Vet may keep him overnight to verify that everything is OK ... more with the dog than with the procedure.

2. They will give you pain pills - used to be Rimadyl - and you give the dog a handful of food, then give the pills.

3. If the lend you an Elizabethian Collar then take it. The EC is a hassle for the dog, but that's a good thing because it will make him timid and slow down his enthusiasm. When I took off my EC, my Lab ran around like a Tasmanian Devil, because he had been cooped up.

4. Try to keep him calm and don't let him lick the stitches (do they still use stitches, mine was 10 years ago). The stitches stay in for about a week - just like people - and the Vet will make another appointment to check. Plus or minus a day or two may be OK, if you need to accommodate your schedule... ask the Vet.

5. It really is "minor surgery" from the Lab's perspective. Sometimes, I believe that you could do the surgery and let them watch ;-) However, it is a big concern for you, because you have to keep him quiet and you have to keep the area dry. 

6. Take the cautions from the Vet seriously. Because the Lab is not in much discomfort, other than some itching from the healing, he is very capable of chewing on the area or pulling out the stitches. Although it isn't really life threatening under most circumstances, the emotional hassle for you is worth doing what is needed to keep him quiet. 
Remember, he is not really in pain (at least not much), so he doesn't understand why he should be quiet. The EC helps. However, mine did not lick his wound much, so I was lucky ....

7. You can stay home for a day or two to let yourself feel better, but after his second night's sleep, he should look fine. I recommend that you leave the EC on when you aren't around. He will get bored and go to sleep, which is a good thing for the next ~ 7 days ... And you might feel comfortable enoght to go back to work - discuss it with the Vet, he should have plenty of experience ... Ask him to tell you stories about men owners....

8. I repeat. Keep the EC collar on. He will look oh so pitiful. Deal with it... he's a Lab and his mother trained him how to act pitiful... If he's not running or chasing something and not stuffing his face, then he is unhappy ... too bad 

9. Yes, he will get fat. He's a Lab and he knows how to tell you that he is starving, even though he just finished half a bag of food, and the Thanksgiving Turkey. I gave my 6 mos puppy 4 cups of dry food and he grew to 80lbs. My Vet diplomatically said that she couldn't feel his ribs. I read the dog food package recommendation, and it suggested only 3 cups of food for his size... and he is now a slim, trim 65 lbs ! (He had suckered me into that extra 4th cup of food - his fault, not mine.)

10. After the surgery, my dog stopped growing for about a month, then continued at the same rate (I record the rate of growth of my dogs, because I can glance at the graph to see when something is wrong and to predict adult size, etc.). After about two months, he started to gain weight, but I didn't realize he was getting fat - in denial. So when he finally reached a nice, fluffy 80 lbs, the Vet had to tell me to back off - as I indicated in the previous paragraph. 

11. It is terribly cruel to with hold food from a Lab, because they are starving ... if they aren't waddling 

12. This is MUCH MUCH worse for you than it is for him ! You are not able to believe me and won't be able to believe it, until the Vet removes the stitches. He really won't care much, and he will do his best to trick you into removing the EC and into over feeding him.

13. Finally, getting a Lab fixed only does one main thing... it stops them from having puppies. My dog learned to lift his leg and mark two years after he was fixed. He is gentle, but I think that is 100% from socialization. He didn't hump other dogs... until he was 8 years old, and my Vet refuses to fix him again 

I've given plenty of other folks this same story and I've never heard of a bad outcome. I hope I've entertained you without raising your anxiety. Everything I've said really happened... with only a little exaggeration ... and you can see a picture of my happy, healthy Lab on my Facebook page. ... And, you can't tell that he was fixed...


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## amdeblaey (Jun 27, 2009)

The two hardest things for me when both my labs got fixed, is not being able to feed them before (which as a lab, food is about 90% of their life), and the other is making them stay calm after the surgery-all they wanted to do was run around and play. Otherwise everything went fine!!


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## That'llDo (Apr 13, 2010)

What you can most likely expect is that he will feel like running and playing almost immediately, and your worst problem will be keeping him calm for a week while he heals. 

A lot of vets use the internal stitches that dissolve, so you may not need to take him back at all. He won't gain weight if you watch him and pay attention, keep him well exercised, and adjust his food accordingly. Keep on eye on the incision to make sure he doesn't get any infection, and watch him the first night while he recovers from the anesthesia. He should do fine.


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## phillygirl61 (Sep 9, 2010)

Thank you everyone for your advise., and Jaeger thanks you too!


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