How Long After Spaying Until an Animal Can Return to Agility?

Spaying a pet has many health and behavioral benefits, including for agility training. Pets may be more focused and less likely to cause trouble at the competitions when spayed. When you have your dog or cat spayed, consider the vigorous activities of agility training when allowing your pet to recover from surgery.

  1. Agility Activities

    • The agility course itself, and the training involved is much more intense than the exercise that a dog or cat would normally partake in. The course involves fast running, jumping and other maneuvers that can apply unusual stress on the healing incision.

    Normal Healing Time

    • Under normal circumstances pets can usually get back to their regular activities within a few days. Cats need confinement after the surgery before getting back to their normal activities. This is usually about three to four days. With dogs, The Mar Vista Animal Medical Center recommends restricted activity for about a week. However, for both cats and dogs, if there is swelling or fluid buildup, full recovery can take 3 to 4 weeks.

    Healing Time and Agility Training

    • Spaying involves a long incision in the abdomen of the pet. Due to the strenuous activities of agility training, it is best to wait longer than the few days usually recommended for normal activities as the incision is not completely healed at this point. Otherwise, there is a risk of opening the suture and causing an infection. Healing time will vary with each individual pet, but can take several weeks. If your pet develops an infection or other complications, it may be even longer (several months) before you can get back to agility training. It is best to ask your veterinarian about when to start agility training with your pet following spaying.