What is your personal experience getting your dog spayed?

my experience was not the best but i would never use the spca again for a spay ... i brought my last dog at six months old to the spca cuz it was almost more than a hundred dollars cheaper than my normal vet ... and i regret it ... the saying you get what you pay for was true for me in this situation ... first of all the place was filthy ... they do operations like the dogs are on a conveyer belt ... and they used substandard sutures that affected my dogs health for her entire life ... her incision became infected and when i brought her to my regular vet he admonished me for using the spca ... he told me it is so bad that he would have cut me a deal if money was the issue ... and the METAL sutures left in her could be felt easily for her entire life ... my new pup, i paid a real vet to do the surgery but he was neutered to far less invasive ...

Why didn't you just wait until your dog was out of heat? Or do it *before* she ever went into heat?

My first dog got spayed at age four. (She is a 13 lb. Shihtzu.) She was about to go into heat. Probably about 2 weeks to a month before she went into heat. But she wasn't in heat at the time of surgery. She was sent home with pain meds. And the incision was about 1 to 1/12 inches long I can't really remember. She was sent home the same day. She was groggy the first day home and didn't really move around much because of the anesthesia. She didn't really have much of an appetite or move around much at all for a few days. She wouldn't eat her dog food unless I hand fed her. (she ate human food fine though.) It took her about a week to 10 days for her to fully recover.

She didn't get an infection or have any complications from the surgery and healed nicely and quickly.

Four years later she has no ill effects (and nope didn't get fat!) and her scar is barely visible.

My second dog got spayed at age 2. (5 lb. Yorkie.) She wasn't in heat either. I think she had her last heat cycle a few months prior to the operation. She wasn't sent home on pain meds. Her scar was probably around 1-2 inches in length. Groggy didn't really do anything the first day home and no appetite. She pretty much just layed around for a few days and didn't move much. After about day 5 or 6 she was much better. After a week she was completely recovered and was very active and playful after about 4-5 days after the operation. She didn't have an infection and didn't have any complications from the surgery. 2 years later and again no ill effects and her scar is slightly visible.

Is sounds like your dog has infection. This doesn't sound like normal behavior at all. I would take her back to the vet asap. They shouldn't charge you anything for this. If you take her to the vet and no change and she's still not acting "right" in a couple of weeks etc, I would take her to get a second opinion.

Good Luck! I hope your dog gets feeling better soon!

I dont typically spay my females due to personal choice, research and well thought out decisions. With that said, I used to. I also worked as a CVT and assisted surgeries too numerous to count.

The girl coming into heat and being spayed is experiencing a major hormone crash. You say she seems depressed which is a fairly accurate assumption...she is in pain and dealing with hormones fleeing her system. The surgery most definitely is more traumatizing whilst in heat. I have never seen one die because of being spayed in heat. But the organ is more vascular, tying of bleeders is going to be assumed. The uterus, while normally a fairly small organ, is quite pronounced in a bi tch in heat, hence the bigger incision and all that goes with it. Her recovery is going to be a bit harder and she may not bounce back quite as fast as the other dog as a result. Where these dogs given pain meds to go home with? They should have been and if not, I would call and demand.

They do recover fast. Consider what it takes for a human to recover a hysterectomy vs a dog and you will be amazed what a week or even a few days does. I always tell people who are considering this surgery for their females...to do so in between heat cycles. Roughly 2 mos after a heat cycle is decent timing. They are fully out of heat and not coming into heat yet. Unlike humans who have a typical 28day cycle. Dogs experience a 6mos cycle. The being in heat, as we know it, is what we see. However, hormones are strongly at work quite a time before. So by spaying in between cycles I feel it is best for the female so she does not experience the major hormone crash involved.

My experience was quite good...I had my girl done just before she hit 5 mos old (before her first heat)...she stayed overnight, and when I got her back she was happy to see me and trying to jump around and be her usual hyper self...I had a hard time keeping her calm and low-energy for the week ahead until her follow-up visit...she never seemed to feel "off" and her incision looked great...she never touched her stiches and since she's a large dog her incision was I'd say a good 3" long...

She was frighented of going to the vet for a while after that, but outside the vet's office she did smashing, healed properly, and never had a problem...

Sorry to hear one of your pups isn't doing well...keep an eye on her in case she needs a visit to an emergency vet over the weekend...

A dog is in season for 3 weeks, twice a year.

That means you have 5-6 months between 'heats' when the dog is not in season.

So why schedule the spay operation just as the dog is in season?

Is it really too difficult to schedule the spay operation during the few months when the dog is not in heat?

So call your vet and have the dog checked out. Most likely it is not depression (very rare in dogs) more likely an infection or a bleed. I've have lots of dogs spayed over the last 50 years, if they aren't up and about with in two days, I'm on the phone to the vet. I've never seen this, so you need to call the vet and get the dog in ASAP.

Some dogs heal slower than others. You don't say how long it's been. Most dogs take a week or so to get back to normal. That's how it was with all the ones we had fixed. Sammy was already fixed.

Feel free to go to an emergency vet. Infection may have set in. If so, this cannot wait until Monday.

I haven't had a female dog in decades, but the last one I had was definitely spayed.

The surgery never bothered her and she resumed normal activities within a few days. We did have one issue with a stitch tearing out but the vet had sown her up well enough that this was never an serious concern.

If you didn't wait so long there wouldn't have been any drama.

I have had five female dogs (and numerous cats) in my life so far. None had any drama or complications after the surgery. My mom has had lots of female dogs. All spayed, no complications.

Spays can be very difficult and dangerous. If your worried find an emergency clinic near you and get a second op. on how she is recovering. Two different vets may see things differently.