Importance of blood work prior to spay?
 

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. :(

My Gracie just got spayed last Thursday and did great. My vet said that they normally don't do pre-op blood work for this but since I asked they did it. I was told just to make sure everything is ok with her it was a good idea to have it done. My dh dropped her off at nine oclock and the vet called about 10:45 and said that she did great. When I went to pick her up they told me that she didn't need to wear the cone or anything and it was ok if she would lick it because the stitches are on the inside. I was quite surprised about that and also she didn't even get any pain meds and she did great. She was very hard to keep calm and seems to be getting along just fine. Good luck to you and your little one.

I didn't get the blood work. I did not feel it was important either.
Maybe if my dog was tiny, I would think about it more.

Hammer tried to lick his stitches a few times, but never to rip them out. They dissolved rather quickly. Not sure about the onesie thing, I just kept a longer tee on him and this discouraged him mostly.

The blood work for me is a must. It checks their kidney and liver function to make sure they are able to handle anesthesia. I used the onesies on mine just as a precaution, but none of them bothered with their stitches. Also, the other's didn't bother the one who was spayed. I will keep Mya in my prayers for a safe spay. I think it is harder on us than them.

Here's some <<<quick healing vibes>>> for after Mya's spay!

I'd always opt for pre blood work - surgery is a big deal with these little guys no matter what kind - some doctors won't offer or mention it but YOU can and it's well worth the little extra to be on the safe side.


Edited to add - pain meds are often not sent home with you after the vet visit - you can always ask about what is the safest one to use and use as little as possible. I did give Cheri pain meds after her surgery but only what was recommended by the vet and I only gave it to her when I saw she was very uncomfortable. Again - you have to ask sometimes - not all vets will offer it. They can bounce back pretty fast so even if you have more than you need - you don't have to use it all

I would always opt for the pre-surgery blood work. You want your vet to know before surgery if there are any kidney or liver issues.

Good Luck!

Just think about all the things that a CBC and blood panel show. It's not worth skipping.

Blood cells. Platelet count. Infection?
Liver and kidney values. Organ function?
Electrolyes?
Etc., etc., etc...

A lot of times it is skipped for young dogs, but the problem with that is young dogs still have organ dysfunction and they can get infections, etc. IMO, for an elective surgery it should absolutely be done and spaying is elective in most cases. They wouldn't skip it in human medicine. :)

:dogprints:dogprintsMy Isabella was spayed last wednesday and I asked for the pre-op bloodwork, someone here on YT had explained how important it is. I'm happy I did, at least I know she's ok. She didn't have such a great first night, she was pretty uncomfortable,but by the next day she was back to her crazy self. The Vet did send her home with pain meds, which I don't think she needs anymore. As far as keeping her away from her stitches,I ended up putting a larger size shirt on her, she came home with a cone from the Vet, but escaped out of it, we bought her 2 other different ones and they drove her nuts! The Tee shirt worked the best for her... I know how nervous you must be, I was the same way but it was over so fast and I had her back home with me in no time. Hang in there!
~~~~~Sending prayers and big HUGS to you both ~~~~~~~
Isabella and her Mommy

I personally think pre-op bloodwork should be a requirement for all surgeries. It does let us know if the liver and kidneys are functioning properly and if the animal can withstand anesthesia. It also gives us a baseline of the patients medical condition. If something comes up 6 months to 5 years down the road we can look back and see what is normal for the patient.

I agree

wish the two different vets I went to for dex neuter and dee dee spay had offered it to me especially since my dee dee has mvd. I did not know about all this stuff 6 years ago but would have gladly paid for blood work and urine to be checked for my two prior to spay and neuter :( I am glad you were informed of this prior as so many others are not like myself

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.

There's also one other test that should be done coagulation levels. If levels are off, your dog can bleed out. .

Jackson was almost 7 months when neutered and already 12lbs. He did not have pre-op bloodwork and everything was perfectly fine. However, I think if he were to get put under again, I would do it just to be extra safe.

is this part of the blood panel? or is this an add on?

I had my two girls spayed 12 days ago and we are better than ever...I say we because it was harder on me than either of them. LOL
I did have the pre-op blood work. I would not have surgery without taking all neccessary precautions so why do any less for my girls? It is my responsibility. :)

We did use onesies for a few days but neither girl really paid attention to their incision. Cooper would somehow wiggle out of hers occasionally with all buttons still buttoned..?..little Cooperfield :p

Oh, and ask if they will be tattooed after surgery? LOL My girls were and I was scared to death that night. They were really bruised and, I had decided it was either cancer or a blood clot from my internet findings. Much to my relief, I called the vet the next morning and found out it was just a spay tattoo. :)

do you have this routinely added on when you request blood work? its not typically done unless platelets are off.

Wow, thanks for all the info! I will definitely be requesting the blood work prior to surgery.

Are the soft e collars something that Oliver could rip off her? She HATES wearing clothes... seriously goes nuts... so a long t-shirt will not work. I'm assuming the onesies will drive her insane as well, but hopefully she'd get used to it.

She's a big girl, she's already 9 pounds, so I feel confident that she'll do fine.. she is NOT good with pain though... after her 2nd set of shots she was a nightmare... every time you touched her she screamed for 24 hours. For her 3rd set, we premedicated, and she was fine. I am going to insist on pain meds being sent home. I want her to feel some pain so she stays quiet, but I don't want her to suffer needlessly...

Just want it over with! Going to call this week and get a date set. Thanks for all the prayers and good thoughts, we'll (mostly me) will be needing them, lol.

Farrah got spayed last Tuesday and she did great! She has not touched her stitches. So no collar, no onsies, etc. The vet said it was okay for her to lick at them just not obsessively. She didn't even do that. No pain meds either. She is 7 mos old.
Good luck.

When I took Lily for her rabies shot....My vet suggested that I microchip when we do the spay. He also said he would be doing blood work..before he would put her under, because he would be more comfortable with that, and it was safer for her. He also said that he wanted to wait till she was a year old so that she was a little bigger she was only 3lbs 10oz last visit.

I would never let any of my pets have any surgery without the pre-op blood work.

I lost a great dane when she was taken in to be spay. She never woke up from the anesthesia.

Last week I had my black labs teeth cleaned and I had the pre-op blood work done. Yes, it is a small increase in the cost, but it my save the life of your pet.

what anesthesia did they use? Ket-val (aka special k) ? Did they do iv fluids and catheterization? I know the ket-val can cause problems and why i prefer iso even over sevo. Iv Fluids and cath can save their life many times and I have seen where it was not used to cut cost and it can be deadly if something goes wrong. This is why when i see cheap spay, neuters and dentals I cringe as I feel all safety precautions may not be being taken due to cost.

This happen in the 80's so I can't answer your questions and I was so upset that I didn't think to ask any questions about procedures. I never used that vet again and told everybody that mentioned him not to use him. I don't even know if they had pre-op blood testing back then. I will never forgive him for not calling me when she wouldn't wake up. It might not have made a difference in the out come, but it might have, thanks to him I will never know. To this day I am still not really over what happened. I was young and naive.. I didn't even blink an eye about her having surgery, but that really opened my eyes to the danger of anesthesia, no matter what kind of surgery is being performed. The experience has always made it so hard for me to have neuter/spay done, but I have always had it done, because I feel it is the best for the pet.

An add on. I only became aware of it when 2 years my girl went down a week after whelp. Every blood test was done, sonogram, you name it, it was done. I requested that she be spayed as soon as she was stable. My repro vet agreed, however, he ran a coagulation test. We delayed the spay because of the levels revealed she would have bled out.

so sorry :( I know what you mean about your eyes are opened. Until you go through an experience such as this or having a sick dog you are so trusting of everything as i sure was but no longer am and question everything. I wish I was not like this but our experiences in life make us who we are so thanks for sharing this experience with us as I am sure it is hard but I feel that the death of one animal can save the lives of others through telling their story so for that I thank you.

Thanks,

I might should start a new thread about this topic, but since rimadyl is given out sometimes to animals after surgery for pain, maybe it should be on this thread.

My older dog (Velvet) was prescribed rimadyl for her arthritis in her back legs by her vet. I ask him about the effects this medicine would have on her organs if I used this for long term relief, because I had been using it off and on and it does help her. He told me it would be fine, but she would need blood work done every six months to check things out.

I researched rimadyl this weekend and was shocked to find out that it had serious side effects with one being death! There is alot of FDA research out there on rimadyl and it has been out there for years. There was an ad on T.V. for this drug and the FDA told them they would have to mention it may cause death in some cases. The drug manufactures chose to take the ad off instead of revealing the chance of death when this drug is taken.

My question and I will ask my vet, is why did he not mention this to me... i mean I ask the guy what the dangers of this drug might be!

Needless to say Velvet will never be given rimadyl again. But, what is out there for her that is safe??

this is why i am doing a poll on nsaids right now as just like yourself I was not warned either and my dog had a bad reaction to metacam as vet prescribed it to her while on steroids and she has liver disease - i told him i wanted tramadol we argued he won because he was the PROFESSIONAL and i ended up with a vomitting dog for 30 days who could not keep any food down. This is a very hot topic on this group sadly but I am glad you posted this so please take the poll I started and post this info over and I will post a link to a thread that was going on yesterday for you to review

here is the link and as you can tell many of us have differing opinions of this drug which is ok as good for owners to see both sides :)

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sic...ath-virus.html

here is the poll

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/pol...-give-you.html

Thanks for the info! I will post on the poll question. It must be true that some dogs are not effected by and recevied great benefits from using rimadyl, but how can you take the chance that your pet might be the one who is going to die or suffer the serious side effects from it?

yeah that is each pet owners call whether to take that risk or not but they need to be aware to make the right decision and make sure that dog is very healthy before doing so and realize that there are side effects to any drugs. My dog is sadly on steroids which are not great either but I had to weigh the risk of it to the risk of not doing it and due to her horrible allergies and me trying just about everything I had to come to the conclusion that a short happy life is better than a long miserable one so each owner needs to make that choice when using drugs and be fully informed before using them. I always say contact manufacturer and pharmacists as well as vet or specialist for opinions prior to giving drugs so you can do it as safely as you can to prevent as much as you can any adverse reactions.

That is true and when Velvet gets worse with her walking and the pain I might have to consider giving her something that has risk.

Is it your Yorkie that has the allergies? Velvet also so had bad allergies and when they really get bad I have to give her meds with steroids, but she blows up like a balloon and craves food like crazy, so she gains weight and that makes it harder for her to walk and get up and down. So, i only give her those when I absolutely have to.