How to Care for a Pup After a Spay Surgery

An ovariohysterectomy, or spay surgery, is a procedure involving an incision in the middle of the abdomen, during which the uterus and ovaries are removed. It constitutes major surgery and needs care afterward to ensure your puppy's recovery. The incision sutures, in most cases, are on the inside and will be absorbed as the wound heals. Surgical glue seals the outer layer of skin and the sutures will not be visible. If the sutures are on the outside, however, your puppy's veterinarian will tell you when to bring her in to have the sutures removed, and provide different post-operative instructions.

Things You'll Need

  • Dog crate or small room
  • Dog leash
  • Elizabethan collar
  • Cotton balls
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Instructions

    • 1

      Restrict your puppy's activity for 24 hours, keeping it away from other pets, children and other environmental stressors. Keeping your puppy's activities to a minimum will ensure that the incision doesn't tear. Put your puppy in a dog crate or small room, making sure it can't jump, run, climb or play. Don't put your puppy on an elevated surface such as a bed or a sofa. If the incision does tear, call your puppy's veterinary immediately.

    • 2

      Allow your puppy to sleep as much as she wants for the first few hours after surgery. It is normal for her to be tired. Rest will facilitate the healing process, but if by the morning after surgery your puppy is listless and groggy, contact your puppy's veterinarian.

    • 3

      Check the incision twice each day, for seven to 10 days. Some bleeding and discharge is normal immediately after surgery. If it continues for more than an hour after returning home, contact your puppy's veterinarian.

    • 4

      Keep your puppy inside, protected from extreme temperatures and precipitation, except to eliminate, during which you should walk her on a leash. If your puppy has difficulty urinating, contact the veterinarian.

    • 5

      Introduce a small amount of food when your puppy returns home. Don't worry if she isn't hungry for the first few hours after surgery. Anesthesia, used during surgery, can cause minor stomach distress. If your puppy vomits or has diarrhea during the first few hours, remove the food and monitor her condition. Continue to give water freely. If vomiting or diarrhea continues, or if your puppy still isn't eating the morning after surgery, call the veterinarian.

    • 6

      Place an Elizabethan collar, or e-collar, on your puppy, which is a protective device shaped like a cone that surrounds your puppy's face, preventing her from licking or biting the incision. Your puppy will find the cone uncomfortable, and will try to get it off. It is important, however, that the cone remain in place. When the incision begins to heal, it will become itchy, making it difficult for your puppy to abstain from licking and chewing it.

    • 7

      Keep the incision dry and clean. Do not bathe your puppy or allow her to play in water, for the first seven to 10 days, or until healed. If the incision gets dirty, gently clean with a cotton ball, dampened with lukewarm water.