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Originally Posted by jenn1381  Forgive my ignorance... but I don't know what the importance of blood work is before a spay. I know it's important, I just don't know WHY... so I thought I'd ask before I call and make Mya's spay appointment (eeeek.. that time already!!!). Is is just to make sure everything is ok to prevent complications? I was 12 when we got our first dog neutered, so I have no idea if blood work was done - and Oliver was neutered in rescue, so I (thankfully) did not have to deal with that with him.
Also, do onesies really work for keeping them away from the stitches? Oliver will likely rip a collar right off her head, lol. A friend of mine is going to keep Oliver for a few days (yikes... 2 nights without my baby boy! Oh, the stress!), but I am assuming the stitches need to be protected longer than that.
Is there anything else I need to think about or prepare for as we make plans for her surgery? I am soooo nervous about it and really am at the point now where I just want to get it done. She's almost 6 months old, so it's time.  |
Pre-op blood work should be done to make sure everything is functioning properly. If anything is seriously off then surgery should be canceled and the blood work should be further looked into.
When i got morgan spayed 4 years ago i had it done by vets i used to work for in a general practice hospital. They typically do not do blood work on young healthy dogs unless its requested by the owner or something is suspected to be wrong before surgery. while i was there (2 years) we never lost a puppy or kitten during a routine spay/neuter and we did multiple surgeries every day. I didn't have the blood work done on morgan before hand and she did perfectly fine. picked her up an hour after surgery. (side note: a year or so later i had a dental done on morgan,don't remember if i requested bloodwork, and she did perfectly fine with that too. both these procedures were done before i decided to do bile acid tests on her)
however, today if i were to get a puppy i would opt to do the blood work before spay/neuter just to be on the safe side and to have a baseline blood panel to refer to in the future.
After surgery, a lot of people here have used onsies but i just do not trust that they will fully protect a dog from getting to their sutures if they really wanted to. I recommend an e-collar at all times unless she is watched by you. it only takes a few minutes (or less) for them to get to the sutures and cause some real damage. its not pretty and will cost you more money and them more pain/surgery/or worse. Mom to Hot Rod makes soft e-collars that are very nice and comfortable for pups.
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...ne-collar.html
the sutures need to be protected the entire time they are in (10-14 days). She has to be restricted in her activities (no running, jumping, playing, stairs, etc) because you don't want her stretching out the surgery site and possibly ripping her sutures. A crate or ex-pen should be used to confine her when you cannot watch her. She also cannot be bathed while the sutures are in so make sure you give her a good bath before surgery.