Spay Surgery

[adora's mom]

Adora will spayed soon and I just wanted to find out the experiences of others here that have spayed already...here are a few of my questions:

- At what age did you spay (I will definately have Adora spayed before her first heat, I would like to know what the 'general' age is though)

- Did you request any special anesthesia or medications that are particular to Frenchies?

- Did you have any complications?

- How long was the recovery time?

I'm a total worrywart and want to make sure I have all my bases covered :)

Thanks for indulging me!
:rolleyes:

[Borgan]

You'll, like, SO be fine!

We had Luna snippity-snipped at 9 mos.
She went in at 8am, they gave her a mild sedative
while I was there, put her in a crate, she went to sleep,
and I left. When I came to pick her up at 6pm that same
day, they had shaved her belly and she had a 5 inch long incision.
She was all dopey and floppy and couldn't keep her head up,
like she was drunk. She didn't eat, pee or wake up for about
10 hours (I kept prodding her to make sure she was still alive,
much to her irritation), then she was fully herself again.
So much so that I was constantly chasing her around,
trying to keep her from canonballing off/onto the furniture.
Cheeky monkey. That carried on for 10 days until she was
allowed to see her friends again, at which time she went
ballistic in the park.

When selecting a vet for this procedure, I made sure it was
someone who had done a million flat faces. Infact, I went to the
SPCA who have (at least here) an excellent track record &
fair pricing.

Hope that helps! It's normal to be scared!

[franp]

Dari was spayed at 6 months;if I did it over again I would do it earlier; they recover faster.

Tell your vet NO ACEPROMEZINE and make the dr write it on the chart,. This anesthetic KILLS flat face dogs.. Frenchbulldog rescue gives this protocol to all the vets that we use as does the French bulldog club. Also make sure your vet is experienced with flat faced surgery. Intubating can be hard.

Dari stayed overnight. My dr has 24 hour nursing. I am so crazy that this was better,. I would have stared at her the whole night otherwise. She was not allowed to play for 2 weeks at thedog park. It is major surgery. But by her behavior, you never would have known :lol: When I picked her up at the dr she was as happy as could be.

As long as your vet is familiar with the breed and does a full blood panel pre surgery. there is nothing to worry about.

fran

[gilazno]

Well Biggie was neutered and not till he was 2 but I thought I would reply because I was such a worrywart I took a 1/2 day from work that day..I just could not concentrate on anything but my little guy..We dropped him off earliest we could which was 8am by 3 that afternoon the surgery was done and we got a call from the vet that he was ok and we could pick him up anytime after 5. He slept the rest of that night but by the next afternoon he was much much much better, it was really hard to keep him calm..biggie had laser surgery (which i am not sure if spay offers this) it is a little more expensive but is supposed to cause less pain and be a quicker procedure so you may want to see if your vet offers this..Lastly, please please please heed Frans advice about the anesthetic, some vets who are not used to seeing flatfaces may not be aware or may not think of this. We wish you the best and let us know how it goes!!
Jennifer and Biggie

[adora's mom]

Thanks so much for the good advice and rational thoughts! I did not know about that specific anesthetic so I'm glad I asked! I believe my vet uses Isofluorane exclusively, but I will definately make sure beforehand.

I'm sure Adora will be fine, I just haven't had a female animal that needed to be spayed in a long time! With the boys it seems much easier (even though I worried just as much) since they can glue 'em back together now ;)

Thanks again - I certainly feel a bit more relaxed now :)

[ilmfrenchies]

I feel so fortunate because I have such a great vet and one that I can really talk to(not that others aren't). He is with a group but I always schedule with him. Before I had Pickles spayed I had a consult with him because I was really concerned about putting her to sleep. He probable spend 20 minutes with me and checked her over again and did not charge me a dime. I made the appt. and dropped her off at 7:30 am. He did the surgery (also a hernia repair). They kept her one night and I picked her up the following day around noon. Never had a bit of trouble and the charge for the spay was $160. I have an appt. to have Buster neutered on Wednesday. As always I am pretty worried about them putting him to sleep to perform the surgery. He is a year old and Pickles was about 6 mos. when I had her spayed.

[frenchiesmom]

I am glad his topic has come, since I will have that coming up in a few months. It always scares me also, due to their being a flat faced breed, and my experiences with pugs, although I have never had a problem with the anesthesia part of it. It is still very scary and serious, as each dog will act differently to anesthesia. My vet has doctored my pugs for years, and done many spays and neuters so I trust him thouroughly, but there is always that chance even with the best of them. I did not know about that drug. I will be sure to write the name down and be sure he doesn't use it.

Thanks !!

frenchiesmom

[franp]

Frenchiesmom;
I tried to post the anesthetic protocol we use with FBRN ;but I am computer challenged :o
So, when I get in the office tomorrow, I will type the entire page here.
It talks about the drugs;intubating etc.

I took it to my Vet when Dari was spayed; I NEEDED Valium that day..

fran

ps. Hope you have a Happy Holiday.

[franp]

What I forgot; Frenchiesmom.Your Vet probably is familiar with the protocol because he already treats flat faced dogs.

But it is good to have handy.

[kwb]

Mia just got spayed last week. Everything went ok..... I was very stressed over the whole deal. I know my Vet and she knows what a freak I am about my Mia. I took Mia in first thing in the morning and dropped her off and made sure they didn't use Acepromezine as Fran recomended - and they don't. My Vet agreed to let me pick Mia up the same day late in the afternoon. I am overall glad I did this rather than leaving her overnight, although it was more difficult for me, it was better for her. I think she felt better being home and not in a strange place, but it was hard on me to see her in pain. She was sleppy and was shaking and whined a little - it broke my heart... This lasted for 24 hours, then she was back to her old self. During the first 24 hours I gave her a pain medication perscribed by my Vet called Rimadyl (which is a commonly perscribed pain medicine for dogs). I didn't like giving her medicine - but didnt like seeing her in pain either. I also gave her 60mg of aspirn - which seemed to work well. She didnt eat or drink for 24 hours. It has been a week and she is 100%. appicon
Mia is 1 year old and I waited 3 months after she completed her first cycle.

[franp]

Is it recommended to get these dogs neutured? I was just wondering since everyone is getting their dogs spayed or neutured.

Spaying a bitch is (In North America) a highly recommended procedure.
Most people do it before the first heat. The statistics are ; chances of mammary cancer are .05% if spayed BEFORE the first heat. If you wait till after the first heat the chance of mammary cancer increases to 5% and every heat cycle the rate of cancer goes up exponentially.

Having an intact bitch also poses the risk (besides cancer and unwanted pregnancy) of pyometria. This is a horrid infection of the uterus always involving emergency surgery that is NOT always successful in saving the life of the dog.
These are only 2 of the reasons to have your bitch spayed.

Neutering a male (again here in North America) makes the dog less dog aggressive. In no other way does it change the dog's personality.

The old wife's tales about a dog getting fat or making it listless etc. are just that; stories...

Yes, have your dog/bitch spayed or neutered if the breeder has not done it for you. It can be done as early as 3 months if your vet is comfortable with the surgery.

[quinnybear]

i just want to add that spay/neuter is recommended UNLESS you are planning to show him/her . once a dog is altered it is no longer eligible for the show ring.